Ultima at Broadway, 4968 Yonge St: Menkes Tower in North York Centre

Ultima at Broadway is the building I suggest when a buyer wants to live right on Yonge in North York Centre and still have a full-service amenity package. It is a 2006 Menkes tower, so it trades well below the newest product nearby, and it offers a wider range of suite sizes than almost anything around it. What you need to sort out first is who runs it and what the fee really covers. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two Menkes towers on Yonge, two corporations

Ultima at Broadway is a pair of Menkes towers fronting Yonge Street, with 4968 Yonge as the south building and 4978 Yonge as the north. Both are listed at 36 storeys and were completed in 2006. The south tower here is TSCC-1741, registered in January 2006, and the north tower is a separate corporation, TSCC-1722.

The name ties them to the wider Broadway community Menkes built in the same period, which includes the Broadway towers on Beecroft Road behind. A marketing page for the complex describes a separate lobby in each tower and a shared recreation centre called the Broadway Club.

Two corporations sharing facilities is common in North York Centre, and it matters to your fee. Ask for any shared-facilities or reciprocal agreement in the status certificate package, find out which corporation owns the pool and gym, and see how the costs are split.

A wide range of suites, from compact to family-sized

Suites at 4968 Yonge run from about 505 to 1,928 square feet. That is an unusually wide spread for one tower. At the bottom you have compact one-bedrooms aimed at investors and singles; at the top you have large plans with room for a family, which are scarce in newer North York Centre buildings.

Current listings here cover one-plus-den, two-bedroom and three-bedroom plans, which shows how mixed the ownership is. The listing descriptions for the complex mention floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies. I have not found a published ceiling height, so measure it if it matters to you.

With 384 suites, layouts repeat up the tower, which helps. It means there are usually sold comparables for the exact plan you are looking at, and that makes it much easier to judge whether an asking price is fair. It also means you can be choosy about exposure. A suite facing Yonge gets the city view and the street noise; a suite on the quieter side may trade a little lower for the same plan. Visit at rush hour before you decide which matters more to you.

What the fee covers, and who manages the building

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking and water as included. Heat and hydro are not on that list, so expect to pay for them separately. Across the current listings the fee works out to about $0.97 per square foot, which is on the higher side for a tower of this age and reflects the full-service package of concierge, pool and guest suites.

The management picture is not clear. Condos.ca lists Del Property Management. Dash Property Management runs a resident portal for this tower that lists TSCC-1741, a building phone line and the building rules. Management contracts change, so one of these may simply be out of date, but you should know who actually runs the building before you buy.

Parking in the fee is a plus for anyone with a car. Confirm that the suite you are buying actually has a space and a locker, and whether they are owned or exclusive-use, because the fee on a listing only reflects parking if the suite has it.

Living on Yonge in North York Centre

This stretch of Yonge between Sheppard and Finch is North York’s downtown. You are a short walk from Mel Lastman Square, the North York Central Library, the Toronto Centre for the Arts and the shopping and grocery options along Yonge. The panel on this page shows the walk to the nearest subway station.

A marketing page for the complex says both lobbies connect through an enclosed underground walkway to the subway concourse. In a Toronto winter that is a real advantage, if it works as described. Walk the route from the lobby yourself before you put a value on it, because building access and hours can change.

The area keeps adding towers, and that brings competition. New resale and rental supply is the main reason 2006 buildings like this trade at a discount to new product. If you are buying to rent, factor that in; if you are buying to live, it means more services and restaurants close by every year.

Price per square foot, and what is asking now

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $771 per square foot. That is a clear discount to the newest towers in North York Centre, which is what I would expect for a 2006 building with heat and hydro on your own bill and an amenity package that is nearly 20 years old.

Four suites were listed for sale when I checked, asking between $509,000 and $739,000. Their monthly fees ranged from about $619 to $1,009, which works out to roughly $0.97 per square foot across the group.

Because there are so many repeating layouts here, I would anchor any offer on recent sales of the same plan and exposure rather than on what neighbouring suites are asking. My building sold report pulls those numbers together for this tower.

Building specifications

Amenities at Ultima at Broadway

This is a full-service mid-2000s package: concierge, guest suites, a pool and sauna, a gym and party space. Marketing material also mentions a theatre, billiards and a golf simulator in the shared club, so confirm which of these still exist and which corporation pays for them.

Jatin’s honest take on Ultima at Broadway

Ultima at 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.