Cranbrooke Village, 35 Saranac Blvd: Options for Homes Green Build Review

Cranbrooke Village is the building I suggest when a first-time buyer wants to own near Bathurst and Lawrence without paying new-tower prices. It was built by Options for Homes, a non-profit developer, and the City of Toronto lists it as a Toronto Green Standard Tier 2 project with a green roof and solar hot water. The suites are compact and the finishes are modest, but the numbers tend to work. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A non-profit developer, and what that means for you

Options for Homes is a non-profit corporation whose stated aim is to build housing that people of low and moderate income can afford to buy. The Canadian Urban Institute studied the model in 2005 for the City of Toronto, and Cranbrooke Village is one of the buildings that came out of it.

For a resale buyer today, the practical effect is twofold. First, the building was designed around cost, so expect efficient layouts and builder-grade finishes rather than designer kitchens. Second, a non-profit model can come with purchase arrangements that differ from a conventional developer’s, so it is worth asking whether anything from the original purchase is still registered on the suite’s title.

That second point is not a problem, but it is a reason to have your lawyer review title early. If you are selling here, raise it with your lawyer before you list, so there are no surprises at closing.

Greener than almost anything its age

The City of Toronto profiles 35 Saranac Boulevard as a project that exceeded Toronto Green Standard Tier 2, and it was a LEED Gold Canada candidate. Burka Architects designed it, and the energy model projected it at about 39% better than the national model energy code.

The details are concrete. There is a 705-square-metre green roof covering about 60% of the available roof, a rooftop solar hot water system, a rainwater cistern that handles all the irrigation, low-flow fixtures and a heat recovery ventilator in each suite. Every floor has a sealed garbage room with a three-stream sorter.

Why should a buyer care? Because energy and water are among the biggest lines in a condo budget, and a building designed to use less of both has a structural advantage in keeping fees steady. Ask for the current budget and look at the utility lines yourself. If the efficiency is working as designed, it should show up there, and it is a fair point to compare against the newer, glassier towers nearby.

There is one detail I want buyers to notice. The City’s profile says suites were sub-metered individually for electricity and for hot and cold water. Condos.ca lists water, heat and air conditioning as included in the fee. Those two sources do not fully line up, so confirm on the status certificate exactly which utilities you pay yourself and which come through the fee.

Compact suites, and fewer parking spaces than usual

Condos.ca records suites from about 465 to 1,139 square feet. The current listings are all one-bedrooms and one-plus-dens under 700 square feet, which tells you where most of the stock sits. The larger two-bedroom suites exist, but they come up less often.

Parking is the other thing to understand. The City’s profile says the building was deliberately given less parking than the zoning by-law normally requires, to encourage transit and cycling, and it has designated bike storage. In practice that means you cannot assume a suite comes with a space.

If you drive, make parking ownership a condition of your offer, and check whether it is deeded or exclusive-use and whether a locker is included. If you do not drive, the lower parking count is part of why this building costs less, and you are not paying for something you would not use.

Bathurst and Lawrence, day to day

This is a settled, residential corner of North York. Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West carry the shops, groceries and services that make Englemount-Lawrence easy to live in, and most errands do not need a long drive. Saranac Boulevard itself is a quieter side street, which keeps the building a step back from the main roads.

The panel beside this review shows the transit options, schools and nearby food. For drivers, Yorkdale and the Allen Road are a short drive west. It is not a nightlife address, and buyers who want that should look further south toward Eglinton or downtown.

Pricing: an entry point below the neighbourhood’s newer towers

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $685 per square foot. That sits a little above older buildings on Lawrence West such as The Shermount at around $646 and Liberty Walk at around $628, and well below the newer Treviso community at Dufferin, where the first phase averages about $835.

Four suites were listed for sale when I checked, asking from about $319,800 to $499,000, with monthly fees of roughly $344 to $576. That works out to about $0.88 per square foot in fees across those listings. For a building where heat and cooling are listed as included, that is a reasonable number.

For actual trades, use the 12-month data in the panel beside this review. If you want to know how a specific suite compares, ask me for a building sold report covering Cranbrooke Village and the Lawrence West buildings around it.

Building specifications

Amenities at Cranbrooke Village

This is a practical amenity package rather than a resort one: a gym, a party room, a rec room and a rooftop deck with barbecues. The rooftop and the bike storage are the pieces owners use most, and the short list helps keep fees in check.

Jatin’s honest take on Cranbrooke Village

Cranbrooke Village — 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.