250 Lawrence Ave W: Graywood’s 9-Storey Condo on the Douglas Greenbelt

250 Lawrence is the newest condo in this part of Lawrence Park, and the one I point to when a buyer wants a ravine edge and a midtown address in a building with a concierge. Graywood handed about a third of the site to the City as greenbelt, so the building backs onto parkland rather than another tower. It is also one of the most expensive buildings per foot on this list. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A medical building, a ravine and a long design process

The site was home to a medical building designed by Peter Dickinson, one of the architects who shaped Toronto’s mid-century modern look. Graywood replaced it with a mid-rise condominium after a design process that went through several versions. UrbanToronto reported in 2017 that an earlier scheme of 12 storeys and 189 suites had already been revised from the first proposal, and the building that was finally built is nine storeys with 173 suites.

What made the site unusual was its back edge. A sponsored Toronto Life feature for Graywood said about 40% of the site would go to public use, with roughly a third handed to the City as an expansion of the Douglas Greenbelt. UrbanToronto’s 2017 report placed the new parkland along the east side of the site, running from Lawrence up toward Glengarry Avenue, and a privately owned public space was planned alongside.

For an owner, that means the east side of the building looks over green space and ravine rather than a neighbouring tower. The Douglas Greenbelt connects to a ravine system with trails and gardens, which is rare to have at your back door this close to Avenue Road. Ask which way a suite faces, because the ravine view is the premium here.

Bronze and grey, and suites from one to three bedrooms

Toronto Life described a building of clean lines, oversized wood doors and a bronze and gunmetal grey palette meant to sit quietly in the streetscape. UrbanToronto’s 2017 report listed window wall and curtain wall, three tones of stone and precast, exposed concrete and metal panels. It is a calm design for a residential stretch of Lawrence.

Condos.ca records suites from about 496 to 1,806 square feet. At launch, Graywood marketed one-bedrooms from about 500 square feet up to three-bedrooms around 1,300, with penthouse suites on the eighth and ninth floors. The 2017 planning-stage mix was evenly split across one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens, two-bedrooms and two-plus-dens.

Finishes were marketed as matte porcelain, wood-plank floating floors and quartz, with tall windows facing either the city or the ravine. Floating floors and window wall are both normal for a building of this age, but they are exactly the things to test in person: listen for sound between floors and check the windows for drafts and condensation if you can view in winter.

Amenities planned around working from home

Toronto Life listed communal terraces at ground and rooftop level, a fitness centre, a yoga studio, meeting and co-working space, two lounges, one with a fireplace, and a dog wash. Condos.ca lists a concierge, gym and party room.

For a 173-suite building, that is a thoughtful package rather than a large one. The co-working room and lounges suit people who work from home a few days a week, and the dog wash and ravine access suit dog owners. There is no pool, which keeps one large long-term cost off the reserve fund.

Check which amenities are open and how they are booked. In a building completed at the end of 2023, the first boards are still setting rules, so the minutes will tell you how the shared spaces are being run.

Lawrence Park North, day to day

This stretch of Lawrence sits between Avenue Road and Yonge Street, with Bedford Park’s shops on Avenue Road to the west and the Yonge strip to the east. Graywood marketed it as a 15-minute neighbourhood, where most errands are a short walk or bike ride, and with two shopping streets this close, that is a fair description.

The surrounding streets are mostly detached houses, which keeps the area quiet and the outlook low. The panel beside this review covers transit, schools and nearby food, which are a big part of why families choose Lawrence Park.

Lawrence Avenue itself is busy at rush hour, so suites on the south face trade some quiet for city views. If calm matters more to you than the skyline, focus on the ravine side and the upper floors, and visit at the end of a weekday to hear what the street is like.

Pricing: a premium building, and a number to read carefully

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,192 per square foot. That is one of the highest figures in this part of the city, a little above 1717 Avenue Road at around $1,163 and far above the 1990s Lawrence Park Condominiums at 2727 Yonge at around $800.

Read that average with care. Nine suites were listed for sale when I checked, and the eight with full details asked from about $449,000 to $1,045,000. Several of the smaller suites were asking well under $1,000 a square foot, so the building average may reflect original pricing or a small number of larger trades. Compare per-foot prices for the suite size you are actually buying.

Monthly fees across those listings ranged from about $391 to $944, or about $0.86 per square foot, with common elements, insurance and water included. That is reasonable for a concierge building. For actual trades, use the 12-month panel data, and ask me for a building sold report before you make an offer.

Building specifications

Amenities at 250 Lawrence Avenue West

The amenity list is built for daily use: a place to work, a place to train and terraces to sit on, rather than a showpiece pool. Combined with the ravine behind the building, it suits people who spend a lot of time at home.

Jatin’s honest take on 250 Lawrence Avenue West

250 Lawrence Avenue West — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.