Printing Factory Lofts, 201 Carlaw Ave: A 1913 Press Hall Made Lofts

The Printing Factory is the real thing: a 1913 industrial building on Carlaw where Rolph Clark Stone ran its presses, now lofts, with a glass tower and townhouses added behind it. If you want original sawtooth skylights over a two-storey suite, this is one of the few places in the east end you can get them. Just know which of the three parts of the complex you are buying into. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three buildings, one corporation

The complex has three distinct parts, and they are very different places to live. The original three-storey factory along Carlaw holds the live/work and two-storey loft suites. Behind it rises a new eight-storey glass tower with one-, two- and three-bedroom suites. Along the eastern edge, facing Boston Avenue, are stacked townhouses, including family-sized units.

That is why the address reads 201 Carlaw Avenue and 34 to 56 Boston Avenue. All of it sits in one condominium corporation, TSCC-2073, so a townhouse owner and a tower owner share the same reserve fund and the same budget.

Shared ownership has real consequences. Townhouses usually have their own roofs, doors and yards, the tower has elevators and a curtain wall, and the factory has old masonry and skylights. The reserve fund has to plan for all of it, so read how costs are allocated between the parts and whether any part has its own maintenance obligations under the declaration.

When you see a listing here, find out first which part it is in. A sawtooth-skylight loft in the old building, a glass-walled tower suite and a Boston Avenue townhouse will feel nothing alike, and they price differently too.

The 1913 factory and what was kept

The original building was put up in 1913 to house the printing presses of Rolph Clark Stone, when this part of Leslieville was one of the city’s industrial centres. Montgomery Sisam Architects, working in a joint venture with Chandler Graham according to ArchDaily, led the conversion, and the project was completed in 2010.

The architects restored the Carlaw facade and the classical entrance portico, which opens onto a grand wooden staircase under vaulted ceilings. The original industrial sawtooth skylights were worked into the two-storey loft suites, and those are the units most people mean when they talk about this building.

Inside, suites have concrete floors and exposed concrete ceilings. An old rail spur along Boston Avenue was turned into a green amenity space, and landscaped courtyards and private yards help the complex sit comfortably beside the houses to the east.

Two-storey suites under sawtooth skylights are wonderful in daylight, but they are also harder to heat, cool and shade than a standard suite. Ask the seller about summer temperatures on the upper level, how the skylights have been maintained, and whether any have leaked. Those are fair questions in any century-old industrial building.

The developer question, and other conflicts

The sources don’t agree on who developed it. Condos.ca lists Beaverbrook Homes, while UrbanToronto names Averton Homes. They also differ on the suite count, 256 against 254, and one property manager’s listing says the factory was converted in 2014, although the architects, UrbanToronto and the corporation’s registration all point to 2010.

None of that changes what you are buying, but it matters if you are researching the builder’s record. The status certificate and the declaration will name the declarant, and that is the name to look up.

Management is similar. Condos.ca lists 360 Community Management, and Dash Property Management also lists the building on its site. Confirm who actually runs the corporation today before you buy.

Daily life at Carlaw and Boston

The complex faces Showcase Lofts across Carlaw, a newer Aragon building, and buyers often compare the two. The Printing Factory has the heritage fabric; Showcase has newer systems, a bigger amenity list and more included in its fee.

The townhouses on Boston Avenue have the most neighbourhood feel of anything in the complex, since they face a residential street rather than Carlaw. For a young family that wants a ground-level front door, a concierge and underground parking, that is an unusual combination in Leslieville.

Queen Street East is a short walk south, and the side streets to the east are houses. Two levels of underground parking sit beneath the landscaped grounds, which keeps cars out of sight. The bigger change nearby is the Ontario Line’s Leslieville Station, being built over Queen Street East between Broadview and Carlaw, with column work reported by blogTO from September 2026 into May 2027.

Price per square foot and a fee that covers the basics

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $972 per square foot, a little below Showcase Lofts across the street. For a genuine conversion with concrete ceilings and, in some suites, original skylights, that is reasonable. Expect the two-storey skylit lofts and the townhouses to sit at the top of the range.

The fee is the thing to watch. Condos.ca lists only common elements, water and building insurance as included. Heat, hydro and air conditioning are not listed, so budget for them separately and ask how the suite is heated. The three listings I saw carried fees of roughly $550 to $940 a month, which is a wide spread and reflects how different the suites are.

Three suites were for sale when I checked, a two-bedroom and two one-plus-dens, asking between about $689,000 and $999,000. The sold figures in the panel above will tell you more than asking prices, especially once you separate the tower, loft and townhouse sales.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Printing Factory Lofts

There is no gym or pool listed. You get a concierge and security, a party room and a meeting room, and the courtyards and green space along Boston Avenue. Beanfield Fibre in the building is a real plus if you work from one of the live/work suites.

Jatin’s honest take on The Printing Factory Lofts

The Printing Factory Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.