Ultra at Herons Hill, 2015 Sheppard Ave E: The Tallest Tower at the 404

Ultra is the tower you see from the 404. It is the tallest of Monarch’s three Heron’s Hill buildings at Sheppard and the highway, and it was built for a buyer who wants a compact suite, a parking spot and a fast drive to anywhere in the GTA. It does that job well, as long as you know what you are trading for it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Phase two of a three-tower brownfield site

Heron’s Hill is a Monarch community designed by Graziani + Corazza Architects, with about 1,000 suites across three towers. UrbanToronto described it as Legacy at 25 storeys first, Ultra at 38 storeys second and Yorkland at 30 storeys last. Ultra topped off in early 2013 and was being readied for occupancy that spring, and its corporation was registered in November 2013.

The site has a history worth knowing. UrbanToronto reported that the towers replaced obsolete strip plazas and industrial buildings at the corner where the 404 meets Sheppard. It is a textbook North York pattern: rebuild a tired commercial corner near a highway and a subway, and add a thousand homes.

On storeys, sources differ slightly. UrbanToronto consistently says 38, while condos.ca lists 39 floors. The gap is probably how mechanical or podium levels are counted, but use the number on the status certificate if it matters to you.

Small suites, by design

Condos.ca lists suites from about 343 to 929 square feet. At the bottom of that range you are in studio territory, and even the larger two-bedrooms are compact. This is a building designed for singles, couples, first-time buyers and investors, not for families who need a third bedroom.

The listings tell the same story. Most suites for sale when I checked were one-bedrooms in the 500s or two-bedrooms in the 700s and 800s. A two-bedroom at 750 square feet usually means two small bedrooms rather than a primary suite with a guest room, so walk the plan before you assume it fits a home office.

Height is Ultra’s advantage over its sister towers. Upper floors look across the 404 to Fairview Mall and beyond, and the higher you go the more the highway becomes a view rather than a noise. Ask which way the suite faces, and whether a lower suite looks into Legacy or Yorkland.

Three corporations, one courtyard

UrbanToronto reported that the podiums of Ultra and Yorkland were designed to close off the site and form a courtyard shared by all three phases. That inner space is the quietest part of Heron’s Hill, and courtyard-facing suites avoid most of the Sheppard and highway noise.

Each tower is its own corporation. Ultra is TSCC-2345, Yorkland is TSCC-2400 and Legacy is TSCC-2162, and Ultra and Yorkland are both listed with Crossbridge as manager. When a courtyard, a garage or amenity rooms are shared between corporations, there is almost always a shared facilities agreement setting out who pays what. Ask for it and read it with the status certificate.

The shared site also shapes resale. A buyer looking at Ultra is usually looking at Legacy and Yorkland in the same afternoon, so your suite competes with about a thousand neighbours, not four hundred. Floor, exposure, fee and the condition of the suite are what separate one listing from another here.

Living at Sheppard and the 404

For drivers, this corner is hard to beat: the 404 and the Don Valley Parkway are at the door and the 401 is just south. Fairview Mall sits across the highway, and Don Mills station, the end of Line 4, serves the area. The panel beside this review gives the exact transit and walking details.

The trade-off is the immediate surroundings. Around you are a highway interchange and the office parks along Yorkland and Consumers Road, not a street of cafés. If you work in those offices, or commute by car or subway, that is an easy trade. If you want to walk to dinner, look closer to Yonge.

The upside is that this pocket keeps improving. UrbanToronto saw the low-rise frontage on Sheppard as a possible future urban streetfront, and the residential towers around Don Mills and Sheppard keep adding people, which tends to bring more shops.

Prices, fees and competition

Condos.ca puts Ultra’s average at about $719 per square foot, a touch above Yorkland next door and a little below the Emerald City towers on the other side of the highway. For a 2013 building with parking and utilities in the fee, that is reasonable rather than cheap.

Ten suites were for sale when I checked, with asking prices from about $409,000 to $615,000 on the listings I reviewed, plus six for rent. That is a lot of supply for one building, and many of those suites are near-identical. If you are buying, you have leverage. If you are selling, price against the suite two floors down, not against your hopes.

Fees on current listings average about $0.93 per square foot, or roughly $520 to $795 a month. That covers heat, air conditioning, water and parking, so it compares better with newer towers than the headline number suggests once you add those costs back.

For a rental investor, the same supply shows up on the leasing side, with six suites for rent when I checked. Budget for a realistic vacancy month when you run the numbers, and lean on the sales and rent figures in the data panel rather than on the best lease you have heard about.

Building specifications

Amenities at Ultra at Herons Hill

Condos.ca’s list leans toward social and work rooms: a media room, a meeting room, a party room and guest suites, with a concierge at the door. The summary I saw does not show a gym or pool, so tour the amenity floor and ask what is shared across the three Heron’s Hill towers before you count on either.

Jatin’s honest take on Ultra at Herons Hill

Ultra at Herons Hill — 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.