Scout Condos, 1779 St Clair Ave W: New 12-Storey Mid-Rise at Osler

Scout Condos is one of the newest buildings on the west end of the St Clair streetcar line, a 12-storey Graywood Developments mid-rise at the corner of Osler Street that registered in 2023. It gives buyers something this stretch has had very little of: a new condominium with a concierge and a rooftop, on a main street of semis and storefronts. The question I spend most of my time on with buyers here is not the building, it is the fee. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A mid-rise built for a main street, not a tower site

UrbanToronto describes Scout as a 12-storey mixed-use building of about 38.65 metres, with retail at grade and condominium suites above. That height matters. It keeps the building in scale with a main street of two- and three-storey storefronts, and it means a smaller, quieter lobby and fewer neighbours than a tower would bring.

The design team is a credible one. UrbanToronto’s project summary names SMV Architects as the architect, while its company list for the same project shows CMV Group Architects, so confirm the firm from the building’s own documents if it matters to you. Landscape work is credited to Strybos Barron King and interiors to TACT Architecture.

Graywood Developments is an established Toronto developer. For a buyer, the practical point is that this is a professionally designed, professionally managed building with a known developer behind it, not a small numbered-company project.

Compact suites: what the floor plans actually are

Suites here run from roughly 505 to 1,255 square feet. Most of what comes up for sale sits in the 500 to 800 square foot range, which is one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den and compact two-bedroom territory. The larger plans near the top of that range are few, and they are the ones families should watch for.

In a building of this vintage, a 600 square foot two-bedroom usually means a second bedroom sized for a child, a guest or a desk, not a second adult. Walk the plan with furniture dimensions in hand. Check whether the den has a door and a window, because that decides whether it can be marketed as a bedroom when you sell.

Ask each seller what comes with the suite: a parking space, a locker, or neither. In newer Toronto mid-rises a large share of suites are sold without parking, and the ones with a space trade at a premium. Do not assume either way at Scout; confirm it on the status certificate and the parking schedule.

Daily life on the St Clair streetcar

The 512 St Clair streetcar runs along the front of the building in its own right-of-way, which is the main transit link east to St Clair West station on Line 1. Carleton Village itself is a small neighbourhood of semi-detached houses, ringed by rail corridors and light industry, with the St Clair Gardens business strip along the main street.

That mix is the honest description of the area. You get independent shops, cafés and service businesses rather than a polished retail district, and you get new mid-rises arriving one site at a time. Further west along St Clair, around Keele and Weston Road, the big-box Stockyards district covers the errands a main street does not.

Rail is part of the landscape here. Carleton Village is surrounded on three sides by rail lines, and Wikipedia notes Metrolinx is working on a flyover at the Davenport Junction nearby. If you are sensitive to noise, visit in the evening and ask which side of the building a suite faces before you fall for the finishes.

The data panel on this page covers the transit stops, schools, parks and food nearby, so I will not repeat distances here.

A 2023 building: warranty and the first-years budget

Scout registered in March 2023, so the condominium is in its first years of owner control. New buildings carry Tarion warranty coverage, including seven years for major structural defects from the registration date. Ask the manager what the board’s performance audit found and whether the claims were filed and resolved.

The first budgets in a new building are often set before anyone knows the real operating costs. Read the last two years of budgets and the board minutes to see whether fees have already been adjusted, and whether the reserve fund study has been updated from the developer’s original.

Ask about deficiency lists too. Common early issues in new mid-rises include balcony door seals, garage drainage, in-suite heat pumps and elevator commissioning. None of those are confirmed problems at Scout; they are simply the right questions to ask in year two or three.

Price per square foot, and why the fee needs a closer look

Condos.ca puts Scout’s average at about $715 per square foot. That is in line with what newer buildings along the west end of St Clair have been trading for, and below what newer suites closer to Bathurst and the St Clair West subway command.

When I checked, eight active listings were asking between $389,000 and $536,000, with monthly fees across those listings of about $427 to $694. Across active listings the fee works out to roughly $1.00 per square foot, which is high for a 2023 building. In my experience, many new mid-rises in the city still sit well below that.

Fee inclusions were not published in the data I had, so get them from the status certificate. If the fee covers heat, cooling or a parking space, the number is easier to defend. If it covers only common elements and insurance, ask why it is this high, and whether the budget includes a large concierge contract that a 269-suite building is carrying on its own.

Thirteen suites were listed for sale and four for rent at the time, which is a lot of supply for one mid-rise. That gives buyers room to negotiate, and it gives sellers a reason to price realistically. My building sold report shows what has actually closed.

Building specifications

Amenities at Scout Condos

The package is short and practical: someone at the front desk for parcels and visitors, a gym, a party room and a rooftop deck for summer. It is not a resort building, and that is fine, but at a fee near $1.00 per square foot you should be sure the concierge and rooftop are things you will actually use.

Jatin’s honest take on Scout Condos

Scout Condos — 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.