Viva Condo South Tower, 3830 Bathurst St: A Quiet 102-Suite Mid-Rise

Viva Condo South Tower is the kind of building most buyers drive past on Bathurst without noticing, and that is part of its appeal. It is an eight-storey, 102-suite Remington Group condominium from 2006, with large suites at the top of its range and a fee that covers heat, cooling and parking. Very little trades here, so you have to know what you are looking at. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small corporation on a two-building Remington site

Viva was built as a pair. The South Tower at 3830 Bathurst has a sister building, the Viva North Tower, at 3840 Bathurst, and the two read as one development from the street. They are separate listings on every condo site, though, so check which corporation a suite actually belongs to before you compare fees or rules.

The developer is Remington Group, the builder behind Downtown Markham and a long list of GTA condominiums. In 2006 this was a mid-rise project on a suburban stretch of Bathurst, and it still is: eight storeys, about 27 metres tall, which TalkCondo ranks among the taller buildings in Clanton Park rather than a tower in any downtown sense.

Small buildings have real advantages. Owners tend to know each other, problems in common areas get noticed quickly, and a single annual general meeting can change direction if owners are unhappy. Turnover is low, which usually means a stable, owner-occupied community.

The other side is cost sharing. With 102 suites, every major repair is split among relatively few owners, and the reserve fund has less room to absorb a surprise. That is why I put more weight on the reserve fund study in a building this size than I would in a 400-suite tower.

Thin turnover also affects you as a seller. When only a handful of suites trade in a year, appraisers and buyers have fewer comparables, and pricing takes more care. That is not a reason to avoid the building, but it is a reason to buy well.

Suites from compact to house-sized

Condos.ca lists suites from about 530 to 1,746 square feet. That is a wider range than most mid-rises of this age, and the top end is a genuinely large home, closer to a small house than a typical north Toronto two-bedroom.

The wide range matters for resale. A 530-square-foot one-bedroom and a 1,700-square-foot suite are different products with different buyers, so a building-wide average price per square foot tells you very little about any one suite. Price a suite here against suites of similar size, in this building first and then nearby.

If you are looking at a larger plan, pay attention to how the space is divided. Mid-2000s layouts often give up square footage to hallways and a closed kitchen, and that changes how a suite lives far more than the number on the floor plan.

A fee that covers heat, cooling and parking

Condos.ca lists heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water in the fee. Hydro is not on the list, so expect to pay for electricity on your own meter.

Having heat, cooling and parking in the fee makes monthly costs predictable. When you compare this building with a newer one, add back a parking charge and a heating and cooling bill to the newer building’s lower quoted fee. The gap often shrinks more than buyers expect.

Condos.ca also tags the building with a pet restriction. I do not know the detail of the rule, so if you have a dog or more than one pet, read the declaration and rules in the status certificate before you firm up.

Living on this stretch of Bathurst

This is the established north-of-Wilson stretch of Bathurst Street, a residential corridor lined with low-rise homes, places of worship and neighbourhood plazas. It is quieter than Yonge Street and much quieter than the Allen Road, and the buyers who choose it usually already know the area.

Day to day, Bathurst is a busy bus corridor and the main north-south road through the neighbourhood, so most errands mean a short drive or a bus ride. The panel beside this review shows the nearest stations and schools, and I would use it rather than estimate distances here.

Highway 401 crosses Bathurst just to the north, which is the main draw for buyers who drive to work outside the core. If you want a walkable main street, look closer to Yonge; if you want a quieter residential street, this stretch fits.

What the per-foot number tells you

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $610 per square foot. That is low for a north Toronto building with heat and parking in the fee, and below several nearby buildings I track, including Park Plaza on Sheppard West at about $662.

Part of that discount is age and part is the suite mix: large suites usually trade for less per foot than one-bedrooms, and this building has a lot of big plans. Do not read the average as a bargain signal until you have compared a suite with similar suites.

Remember that the fee does more work here than in many newer buildings. With heat, cooling and parking included, the true monthly cost of a suite at Viva can be lower than a newer building with a smaller quoted fee, even before you look at the purchase price.

There was only one suite listed for sale and one for lease when I checked, so there is no active asking range worth quoting. With turnover this thin, a proper price takes sales from this building and the North Tower over two or three years. Ask me for the sold report and I will pull them for you.

Building specifications

Amenities at Viva Condo South Tower

This is a practical package rather than a resort: a concierge, a gym and sauna, and rooms for gatherings and meetings. For most buyers here, the concierge and the visitor parking are the features they use every week.

Jatin’s honest take on Viva Condo South Tower

Viva Condo South Tower — 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.