One Hycrest Avenue, 1 Hycrest Ave: 69-Suite Mid-Rise in Willowdale East

One Hycrest Avenue is a building I suggest to buyers who want a small, quiet condominium in Willowdale East rather than another 40-storey tower on Yonge. It is a 10-storey building of 69 suites, completed in 1996 by Liberty Development Corporation, on a residential street between Yonge and Bayview. Small buildings like this reward careful buyers and punish careless ones. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small building in a neighbourhood of towers

Most of the condominium stock in Willowdale East is in large towers along Yonge and Sheppard. One Hycrest is the opposite: 69 suites over 10 storeys, which works out to only around seven suites a floor. The lobby is quiet, the elevator is rarely busy and you will recognise most of your neighbours within a few months.

Condos.ca lists Liberty Development Corporation as the developer and builder, and the building was completed and registered in 1996. It is a straightforward mid-rise rather than a design statement, and the age is the first thing to keep in mind when you read its documents.

Condos.ca lists a sauna, a security system and an underground garage, and it lists pet restrictions. That is a short amenity list, so the building’s appeal is its scale and its suites, not its facilities.

At the time of writing two suites were listed for lease alongside two for sale. In a 69-suite building, a handful of investor-owned suites noticeably changes the mix, so ask for the rental share in the status certificate if you want a mostly owner-occupied building.

A wide spread of suite sizes

Condos.ca puts suite sizes at roughly 435 to 1,662 square feet. That is an unusually wide range for a 69-suite building, from compact one-bedroom suites at the bottom to three-bedroom plans at the top that are close to house-sized.

The mid-sized and larger plans are what I would expect from a mid-1990s building: two-bedroom-plus-den and three-bedroom layouts with separated rooms and real dining space, rather than the open-plan compact layouts of newer towers. The compact suites at the bottom of the range are rarer and suit a single buyer or a first purchase.

Ask about ceiling height and window sizes in the suite you are considering, because buildings of this era often feel less bright than new glass towers of the same square footage. Visit at different times of day, and check which direction the suite faces before you judge the light.

Heat, cooling and parking in the fee; hydro on you

Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance and parking as included. Hydro is not on the list, so expect your own hydro bill for lights and appliances.

Current listings carry fees from about $756 to $1,110 a month. On suites of this size that is a moderate fee for a package that includes heat, cooling and parking, but with only 69 suites sharing the building’s fixed costs, small buildings tend to carry higher fees per square foot than large towers. Compare per square foot, with utilities and parking added back to any building you set it against.

The bigger question in a 69-suite building is the reserve fund. A roof, garage membrane, elevator modernisation or window program costs roughly the same in a small building as in a mid-sized one, but there are fewer owners to share it.

Living in Willowdale East

The location puts you between the Yonge corridor and Bayview, on a residential street. Transit, walkability and nearby shops are in the panel on this page; the short version is that it is a walkable pocket with subway access in the area, but not a building with a grocery store downstairs.

For recreation, the City’s Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Community Recreation Centre and Library near Bayview and Sheppard, completed in 2023 and officially opened in March 2024, has a six-lane, 25-metre pool, a double gymnasium, an indoor track, a weight and cardio room and a library branch. For a building with only a sauna, that is a useful neighbour.

To the west, the City’s North York at the Centre study is reviewing how the Yonge corridor between Highway 401 and Cummer Avenue will grow over the coming decades. More towers on Yonge are likely, which brings services closer and makes a quiet low-scale building like this one more distinct.

Price per square foot and what is listed

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $614 per square foot. That is well below what newer towers in Willowdale East typically ask per square foot, and it reflects the building’s age, the modest amenity package and the larger average suite size.

At the time of writing there were two suites for sale, asking from about $649,000 to $895,000, and two suites listed for lease. With so few suites, sales are infrequent, and one sale can move the average noticeably. Compact suites at the bottom of the size range usually trade at a higher price per square foot than the three-bedroom plans, so judge any suite against similar sizes, not the building average.

For recorded sales and leases, use the panel on this page or my building sold report. When I price a suite here, I look at the few in-building sales alongside similar mid-1990s mid-rise buildings nearby rather than relying on the average.

Building specifications

Amenities at One Hycrest Avenue

There is no pool, gym or concierge listed, and in a 69-suite building that keeps operating costs manageable. Think of the sauna as a bonus, and plan on the City’s recreation centre near Bayview and Sheppard for everything else. The trade is fewer facilities in exchange for fewer people and a calmer building.

Jatin’s honest take on One Hycrest Avenue

One Hycrest Avenue — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.