WestBeach Condos, 1630 Queen St E: The Lower-Priced Entry to New Beach Living

WestBeach is the building I point to when someone wants a new mid-rise near the Beach and the numbers at Queen and Woodbine do not work. It is six storeys and 89 suites on Queen Street East just east of Coxwell, finished in 2021, with a proper rooftop terrace and a gym. You trade a few blocks of distance from the heart of the Beach for a noticeably lower price per square foot. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

What replaced the KFC

Before WestBeach, this stretch of Queen held surface parking, a KFC and a bar, according to UrbanToronto. Marlin Spring, working with Altree Developments, replaced them with a six-storey building that has retail along almost the full Queen Street frontage.

Graziani + Corazza designed it to the City’s mid-rise guidelines. The facade mixes traditional brick with larger contemporary panels, which the architects described as a way to tie the building to the older main-street architecture around it. The upper floors step back toward the low-rise houses to the north, so the building does not loom over the backyards behind it.

The street-level detail I like is the cantilevered overhang above the shops, which creates a wider, partly covered sidewalk. On a wet day on Queen East, that is the kind of thing you notice.

Marlin Spring is active across the east end. Its Canvas Condos at 2301 Danforth Avenue, an eight-storey, 166-suite building completed in 2020, is the closest comparison in age and developer. If you are choosing between the two, WestBeach is the smaller building with the Queen Street and lake orientation; Canvas is the bigger one on the Danforth near Main.

Layouts: a wide range in one small building

UrbanToronto’s launch coverage put suites at about 316 to 1,195 square feet, while condos.ca now lists about 420 to 1,040. Either way, this building mixes compact one-bedrooms with two-plus-den plans. Some suites were designed with sunrooms, and balconies and terraces have glass railings.

The mix matters for resale. The smallest suites will be compared with every investor one-bedroom in the east end, while the two-plus-dens compete with older, larger Beach condos and small houses. If you are buying to live here, the larger plans and the terrace suites on the stepped-back upper floors are where this building is strongest.

Orientation is a real choice. South suites look over Queen Street and the retail below; north suites face the residential streets behind and are quieter. Visit in the evening as well as the daytime.

The rooftop and the amenity floor

For a six-storey building, the amenity package is better than average. UrbanToronto listed a rooftop terrace with a firepit and an outdoor grilling and dining area, a party lounge with a catering kitchen overlooking Queen Street, a gym and a pet wash station. Condos.ca lists a gym, party room and rooftop deck.

In an 89-suite building, that is enough to matter without turning the fee into an amenity tax. The rooftop is the space owners actually use, especially in summer.

The pet wash is a small thing that tells you who the building was designed for. This end of Queen is dog country, and having somewhere to clean up after a muddy walk on the beach keeps the lobby and elevators in better shape. Before you buy, ask what the current rules are for booking the party lounge and rooftop, whether there are guest limits, and how the board manages rooftop use on summer evenings.

Queen East, east of Coxwell

This is the Woodbine Corridor, the stretch between Leslieville and the Beach proper. The developer marketed it as the west end of the Beach, and that is fair: Woodbine Beach and the lake are within reach, and Queen East has cafes, restaurants and services. It is a little less polished than the blocks closer to Woodbine and Kew Gardens, and it is changing quickly.

Queen East between Leslieville and the Beach has added several new mid-rises in recent years, including George Condos and Towns and Fieldgate’s The Poet further west. That brings more shops and residents, and also stretches of construction. Transit, schools and parks for this address are in the data panel on this page.

Pricing and fees

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $799 per square foot. That is below Heartwood the Beach near Queen and Woodbine at about $861 and George Condos and Towns at 1331 Queen Street East at about $885, and close to Marlin Spring’s own Canvas Condos on the Danforth at about $816. For a 2021 building with this amenity package, that is a competitive number.

When I checked there were two suites for sale, asking from about $499,000 to about $899,000, with monthly fees across those listings of roughly $647 to $1,094. Heat, hydro and parking are not on the inclusion list, so add them before comparing with older Beach buildings that bundle heat.

Fees on the two current listings scale with size, as you would expect, but they are not small for a building without heat or parking included. The rooftop, gym and party lounge are part of what you are paying for. If you will not use them, compare total monthly costs against a building without an amenity package before you decide.

Two suites were also listed for rent, which suggests a balanced building rather than one dominated by investors. For actual sold prices rather than asking prices, ask for my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at WestBeach Condominiums

The rooftop terrace and party lounge give a small building the shared space it needs for hosting, and the gym covers the basics. It is a well-judged package for 89 suites rather than a showpiece.

Jatin’s honest take on WestBeach Condominiums

WestBeach Condominiums — 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.