The Amesbury, 1415 Lawrence Ave W: Five Storeys Near Keele and Lawrence

The Amesbury is a five-storey, 85-suite building on Lawrence Avenue West near Keele Street, and it is one of the more affordable ways into a condo in this part of North York. It was finished in 2004, so it is old enough to have a track record and young enough to avoid most of the problems of the 1970s towers nearby. The fee per square foot is the number you have to understand before you buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A mid-rise in a neighbourhood of towers

Amesbury is a neighbourhood where most homes are in high-rise buildings, and many of those are older rentals. The Amesbury is different. It is a five-storey condominium from 2004, with 85 suites, which puts it closer in scale to a large apartment house than to the towers around it.

That scale shows up in daily life. There are roughly 17 suites per floor, the elevator serves five floors rather than twenty, and the lobby feels residential rather than institutional. Fire alarms, move-ins and elevator maintenance affect fewer people at a time.

The neighbourhood’s borders are usually given as Lawrence Avenue to the north and Keele Street to the east, with Jane Street and the rail corridor to the west. The building sits on the Lawrence edge of it, close to the Keele intersection, which is where the bus routes and shops are.

The fee: higher per square foot, and why

Based on current listings, condos.ca works out the fee here at about $1.11 per square foot. That is high for a 2004 building in North York, and it is the first thing buyers notice. Before you rule the building out, look at what the fee pays for.

Condos.ca lists air conditioning, common elements, heat, building insurance and water. Heat and cooling in the fee mean you will not have a separate gas or cooling bill for your suite, which is worth a meaningful amount over a year. Hydro is not listed, so expect to pay your own electricity.

Parking is not listed either, even though the building has a garage. Ask whether the suite you want comes with a space, whether the space is owned or rented from the corporation, and whether there is a separate charge. In a small building, those details change the real monthly cost.

The other reason fees run high in buildings this size is simple arithmetic. An 85-suite building has fewer owners to share the cost of the elevator, the garage, insurance and staff than a 300-suite tower. That is the price of the quieter building.

Suites from 520 to 1,017 square feet

Condos.ca records suites from about 520 to 1,017 sq ft, so the building has compact one-bedrooms at one end and two-bedroom plans approaching the size of a small house’s main floor at the other.

Suites from the early 2000s tend to have more conventional room shapes than new towers: a defined living room, a kitchen with real counter space and bedrooms with room for furniture. They also tend to have lower ceilings than a 2020s building, so ask about the height if that matters to you.

At more than 20 years old, the original finishes in many suites will be due for an update. Some suites will have been renovated and some will not, and that difference should show up in the price. Compare renovated with renovated when you look at what others have sold for.

If you are choosing between plans, think about how you will use the space in five years. A one-bedroom at the small end of the range is an efficient first home, while a two-bedroom near 1,000 sq ft can work for a couple with a child or someone working from home full time.

Living at Keele and Lawrence

This is a practical location rather than a pretty one. Lawrence Avenue is a busy arterial and Keele Street is a major north-south route, so the front of the building faces steady traffic. If noise matters to you, ask which suites face away from Lawrence.

The neighbourhood has a lot of green space close by. Amesbury Park, Harding Park and the greenbelts along Black Creek are part of the area, and the ravine system gives you walking routes you would not expect from the street. The data panel on this page lists the nearest parks and transit.

For errands, the Keele and Lawrence intersection covers the basics, and Yorkdale is a short drive east along Lawrence or via the 401. Most owners here will still want a car for a big grocery run or for getting across the city, which is another reason to settle the parking question before you buy.

What The Amesbury costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $516 per square foot. That is low by Toronto standards, and it reflects the building’s age, its location and the fee level.

There were two suites listed for sale and none for lease when I checked, with asking prices from $419,000 to $449,900. Asking prices are not sale prices, so use the recorded sales in the data panel on this page as your guide.

The value question here is the total monthly cost. Add the fee to your mortgage and compare that figure with a building that has a lower fee but no heat or cooling included, and a separate parking charge. The gap is usually smaller than the fee per square foot suggests. If you want the comparables, ask me for the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Amesbury

The amenity list is short: a party room, a meeting room, a garage and visitor parking. You are not paying for a pool or a concierge desk, so most of the fee goes to running the building itself, including heating and cooling your suite.

Jatin’s honest take on The Amesbury

The Amesbury — 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.