The Broadway, 153 Beecroft Rd: Menkes Tower Behind North York Centre

The Broadway is the building I point to when a buyer wants North York Centre without living on Yonge Street itself. It sits one block west on Beecroft Road, it is more than 20 years old, and it trades well below what the new towers along Yonge ask per square foot. The catch is that you need to understand which half of a two-tower complex you are actually buying into. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One half of a two-tower complex

The first thing to understand is that 153 Beecroft is not a stand-alone building. It is Broadway I, and Broadway II stands next door at 155 Beecroft Road with its own corporation, TSCC-1603. The two were marketed together, and a leasing page for Broadway II describes the pair as a Menkes complex completed around 2003 and gives its height as 36 storeys. That figure does not match condos.ca, which lists 26 floors here and 28 at Broadway II, so I would rely on the registered plans rather than the marketing copy.

Condos.ca lists 153 Beecroft at 26 floors and 303 suites, and does not name a developer. I have no reason to doubt the Menkes attribution, but it comes from a leasing manager rather than a registry, so treat it as likely rather than certain.

Two corporations side by side matters in practice. Ask whether the pool, gym and other facilities sit in your building, in the other one, or under a shared-facilities agreement, and how the costs are split. That agreement, if there is one, should be in the status certificate package, and it can explain fee changes that have nothing to do with your own tower.

Smaller suites, built for one or two people

Suites here run from roughly 490 to 1,076 square feet. That is a mid-2000s mix weighted toward one-bedrooms and one-plus-dens, with a smaller number of two-bedroom plans at the top of the range. You will not find big family suites or penthouse-scale terraces in this tower.

All three suites on the market as I write are one-bedroom or one-plus-den plans, between about 490 and 700 square feet. That tells you who owns and rents here: singles, couples and investors drawn by the Yonge-and-Sheppard to Finch stretch of the subway, the civic centre and the offices around Mel Lastman Square.

The leasing description for the complex says suites were designed open-concept with a balcony or terrace, and that the towers look over a stand of mature trees. Beecroft is a back street compared with Yonge, and on the right side of the building that greenery is a real part of the view. Ask which exposure a suite faces before you fall for the listing photos.

What the fee covers, and what it does not

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking, air conditioning and water as included. Heat is not on that list, and the Broadway II leasing page states that Toronto Hydro electricity and Enbridge gas are extra for residents there. Confirm how heat is billed at 153 before you compare monthly costs with an all-inclusive building.

Across the current listings the fee works out to about $0.96 per square foot. That is on the high side for a tower of this age, and the reason is partly the amenity package of a full-service building: 24-hour concierge, guest suites, a party room and, according to the leasing page, an indoor pool, sauna and billiards room. Pools and saunas are expensive to run, and an older building pays for that every month.

Parking being in the fee is a plus, but check that the suite you are buying actually comes with a deeded or exclusive-use space. Smaller one-bedrooms in buildings like this were not always sold with parking, and the fee figure on a listing will only include it if the suite has one.

The daily reality of Beecroft Road

Beecroft runs parallel to Yonge on the west side, behind the North York Centre office and civic strip. You are close to the library, Mel Lastman Square, the cinema and the big grocery and retail options on Yonge, but you enter your building from a quieter street. For most of my buyers that is the best of both: the convenience of North York Centre without the bus traffic outside the lobby.

The leasing page also describes an underground route from the complex to the subway, the grocery store, the cinemas and the library. That is a big deal in a Toronto winter if it works the way it reads. Walk it yourself from the lobby before you put any value on it, because connections like this can change with building security, renovations and hours.

The panel beside this review shows the nearest station and Walk Score. What it will not show is the sheer amount of new supply around North York Centre. That competition is the main reason older one-bedrooms here sit at a discount to new product, and it is worth keeping in mind if you plan to rent the suite out.

Price per square foot, and what is asking now

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $716 per square foot. That is well below what new towers along Yonge in North York Centre ask, which is the normal discount for a 2004 building with heat likely on your own bill and an older amenity package that will need money over time.

Three suites were listed for sale when I checked, all one-bedroom or one-bedroom-plus-den plans, asking between $409,900 and $530,000. Their monthly fees ranged from about $458 to $626, which lines up with the $0.96 per square foot average.

Two suites were also listed for lease. With this many one-bedrooms in the building, sold comparables do exist, and I would anchor any offer on recent sales of the same layout and exposure rather than on the asking prices next door.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Broadway

This is a full-service package from the mid-2000s: concierge, guest suites, a party room and, per the leasing description of the complex, a pool, sauna and billiards. Before you count on any of them, confirm which tower each one sits in and whether both corporations share the cost.

Jatin’s honest take on The Broadway

The Broadway — 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.