455 Sentinel Rd: 1973 Cadillac Fairview Condo With Two Pools, Hydro In

455 Sentinel Road is a 1973 building with something most new towers will never offer: an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, and a fee that covers your hydro and heat. You pay for that in the monthly fee, and you buy into a 50-year-old corporation. For the right buyer near York University, the sums still work. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A 1970s Cadillac Fairview building

Cadillac Fairview is better known today for shopping centres and office towers, but in the 1970s it also built housing in Toronto’s growing suburbs. 455 Sentinel is one of its residential buildings: 14 storeys and 180 suites, registered in 1973, in the part of North York that grew up around York University.

That date shapes everything. Buildings from this era were typically designed with generous suites and with central systems, where the corporation supplies heat and often electricity to every unit. That is why your fee here covers hydro, an arrangement you rarely see in buildings put up after the 1990s.

It also means you are buying into a corporation that has been through more than one cycle of major repairs. That history can be a strength, if the reserve fund has been managed well, or a warning, if big items have been deferred. The documents tell you which.

Two pools and the amenities that come with an older building

The amenity list is the surprise. Condos.ca lists both an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, along with a sauna, barbecue permission, a security guard and an underground garage. Two pools in a 180-suite building is rare at any price point in Toronto.

The trade-off is cost. Pools are expensive to run, staff and eventually rebuild, and in a building this size those costs are shared by relatively few owners. When you read the budget, look at what the corporation spends on recreation facilities and what the reserve fund study says about pool equipment, decks and the outdoor pool shell.

Suite sizes and what to expect inside

Current listings sit in the 600 to 999 square foot bands for one- and two-bedroom suites, and the building also has three-bedroom plans. That is generous by the standards of a new tower, where a two-bedroom of 700 square feet is common.

Expect a wide range of condition. Some suites will have original 1970s kitchens and bathrooms, while others have been fully renovated. Older electrical panels, plumbing risers and windows are worth asking about specifically. Price the renovation into your offer if the suite needs it, and ask whether the corporation has rules or approval steps for flooring and plumbing changes. In a concrete building of this age, hard flooring often needs an approved acoustic underlay, and that can affect both cost and timing. A renovated suite with permits and receipts is worth more than one where the work was done quietly, so ask the seller for the paperwork.

York University Heights: new transit and a student market

The neighbourhood is shaped by York University and its research and industrial surroundings. Many owners here are close to the campus for work or study, and the rental demand from students and staff is a constant.

Transit has changed significantly in recent years. The Line 1 subway extension opened in 2017 with new stations around the campus, and the Finch West LRT, Line 6, was reported by CTV News as set to open on 7 December 2025. For a building that was once car-dependent, that is a real shift. The panel on this page shows the exact walking times to the nearest stations.

Proximity to the campus means a steady rental market. Only one suite was listed for lease when I checked, but in buildings near York University, demand from students, graduate researchers and staff tends to keep vacancy low through the academic year.

For an investor, the all-inclusive fee is both a selling point and a cost. Tenants like a rent that includes hydro and heat, but the owner carries the risk if utility costs rise. Model the rent against the full fee, property tax and any condo rules on leasing before you buy as a rental.

For an owner-occupier, a building with a high share of tenants can feel busier, so check the owner and renter mix in the panel and read the board minutes for issues around move-ins, noise or shared facilities. A well-run corporation handles this with clear rules and consistent enforcement.

Pricing and the all-inclusive fee

Four suites were for sale when I prepared this review, asking from $425,000 to $499,999. That puts this building among the more affordable ways to own a full-size suite in North York.

Fees on those listings ranged from $785 to $992 a month, which works out to about $0.96 per square foot. That looks high next to a newer building, but remember what it covers: hydro, heat, water, cable and parking. Once you add hydro, heating and a parking charge back onto a newer building’s fee, the gap narrows considerably.

The real question is not the fee today but the direction of travel. In a 50-year-old building, fees tend to rise with energy prices and with the cost of major repairs. Read the last few years of budgets to see how quickly fees have grown. The sales panel on this page shows actual trades; my building sold report goes deeper.

Building specifications

Amenities at 455 Sentinel

For a family or a student household, an indoor pool for winter and an outdoor pool for summer, inside the building, is a real lifestyle feature. The security guard also adds a layer that many buildings this size have dropped. Before you buy, ask for the pool hours, whether the outdoor pool opens every summer, and whether any facility has been closed for repairs recently, because amenities you cannot use still cost you money.

Jatin’s honest take on 455 Sentinel

455 Sentinel — frequently asked questions

Looking at Downsview, Weston, York University Heights, Rexdale and northwest Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.