Fuse Condos, 1410 Dupont St: Two Towers Above a Grocery Store

Fuse is the building I point to when someone tells me the west end has no affordable entry point left. It is a 2017 two-tower project at Dupont and Lansdowne with a grocery store and a pharmacy downstairs, heat and water in the fee, and pricing per square foot well below the loft buildings around it. The catch is that most suites are small. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Davenport Village’s tallest chapter

Fuse is the third and fourth phase of Davenport Village, the redevelopment of former industrial land bounded by Lansdowne Avenue, Dupont Street, Davenport Road and the rail corridor. Earlier phases, Electric City and Upside Down Condos, sit just to the south. Fuse added two towers at the northwest corner of Dupont and Lansdowne, 27 storeys on the east and 23 on the west.

Neudorfer Corporation developed it with Channington Developments, and the design is credited to Barrett Architect, with Burka Architects also named on the project. The towers are clad in glass and light-toned precast, and an existing brick industrial building on the site was kept and worked into the podium, which gives the base more texture than a typical tower lobby.

Sources differ slightly on the count: the corporation is listed with 575 suites, while project records show 290 in the first tower and 286 in the second, for 576. Either way, this is a large community, and that shapes everything from elevator traffic to how quickly listings move.

Groceries in the podium, and what that changes

The base of the project was planned with a grocery store, a Shoppers Drug Mart and a bank. Project reporting names Metro as the grocer; another project record describes it simply as a 24-hour grocery store. Check the current tenants when you visit, because retail changes, but the principle is the selling point: you can buy dinner without crossing a street.

For anyone without a car, that matters more than any amenity floor. It also means delivery trucks, shoppers and parking-lot traffic at the base, so suites on the lower floors facing the retail entrance will hear more activity than those higher up or on the quieter sides.

Suite sizes, layouts and amenities

Suites run from about 479 to 1,189 square feet, and the heart of the building is the one-bedroom and compact two-bedroom range. A two-bedroom here can be under 600 square feet, which means a second bedroom that works as an office or a child’s room rather than a true primary. Measure the rooms, not just the total.

The amenity program was planned at about 5,500 square feet: a lounge, library, theatre and a wellness gym with an adjoining yoga studio, plus green space on the podium roof. The building also lists a concierge, party room, meeting room and BBQ permission. For a building of this size that is a solid package without the running cost of a pool.

Elevators are the practical question in any tower of this size. With close to 300 suites per tower, ask how many elevators serve each one and how the building schedules move-ins, because a busy first-of-the-month can mean waits at peak times.

Parking is in an underground garage but is not included in the fee, so if a suite comes with a space, confirm whether it is owned or leased and what it costs each month.

Daily life at Dupont and Lansdowne

This corner used to be the edge of an industrial zone. Today it is the hinge between the Junction Triangle to the west, Wallace Emerson to the south and the Davenport neighbourhood to the east. The streets around it are still a mix of rail lines, low-rise homes and converted workshops, which keeps it from feeling like a single-use condo cluster.

Davenport Village was planned to reach more than 4,000 homes in total, so the area is still filling in. That brings more services over time, and it also brings more neighbours and more traffic on Dupont. Transit options and walkability scores are in the data panel on this page.

For a resident, the payoff of being in a master-planned district is that the basics are already in place: groceries, a pharmacy and a bank at the door, with older neighbourhood shops and cafés along Dupont and Lansdowne a short walk away. The cost is that you are in a busy node rather than a side street.

Fuse is priced below its neighbours

Fuse has averaged about $767 per square foot recently. That is well below the boutique lofts a few blocks west on Dupont and Perth, which often run several hundred dollars per foot higher. Part of that gap is size and type: smaller suites in a large tower trade at different numbers from rare hard lofts. Part of it is simply supply, with hundreds of suites competing for the same buyers.

Fees on recent active listings worked out to roughly $0.87 per square foot, and that figure includes heat, air conditioning and water. Hydro and parking are on top. For a 2017 building with a full amenity package, that is a reasonable fee structure.

At my last check there were three active listings asking between $409,000 and $515,000, along with eight suites for rent. A steady supply of listings is useful for buyers because it gives you real comparables and room to negotiate. For an aggregate view of what has actually sold, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Fuse Condos

The amenity package is built for a young, busy building: a gym and yoga room you will actually use, a theatre and lounge for guests, and a concierge to handle deliveries. Combined with a grocery store downstairs, it covers most of daily life without leaving the block.

Jatin’s honest take on Fuse Condos

Fuse Condos — frequently asked questions

Looking at the Junction, Corso Italia, Hillcrest Village and west-central Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.