Lambton Square, 240-260 Scarlett Rd: Big 1975 Suites, All-In Fees

Lambton Square is where I send buyers who need space more than they need a new building. These 1975 Cadillac Fairview towers on Scarlett Road have suites of roughly 800 to 1,200 square feet, a fee that includes hydro, heat and cable, and the Humber valley and two golf courses next door. You are buying an older building, and you need to read its documents like it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A 1970s Cadillac Fairview complex, and how it is organised

Lambton Square is a set of four brown-brick towers on Scarlett Road with concrete balcony bands, the look of Toronto’s large 1970s condominium projects. The first three, at 240, 250 and 260 Scarlett, were completed in 1975; a fourth tower at 270 Scarlett, known as Lambton Square IV, followed in 1978.

Here is where the sources do not line up, and you should know before you buy. Listing data treats 240 to 260 Scarlett as a single corporation, YCC-241, with 768 suites across the three towers. A brokerage page on the complex describes each tower as its own condominium corporation with its own board, reserve fund, fees and rules. Your lawyer should confirm which corporation the suite belongs to from the status certificate, and you should read that corporation’s documents, not a neighbour’s.

Whichever way it is organised, the scale matters. This is a big community, which spreads the cost of staff and repairs across a lot of owners, but it also means decisions about major work move through a large and varied ownership. Go to an owners’ meeting or read the minutes and you will learn more about the building in an hour than any listing can tell you.

Layouts from an era that built for living

This is the main reason buyers come here. Most suites run from about 779 to 1,196 square feet, with one-, two- and three-bedroom plans, some with dens and some split-level. Those are numbers you rarely see in a new Toronto condo at any price.

The layouts reflect the period: eat-in kitchens, separate dining rooms, sunken living rooms and oversized balconies, with ensuite laundry. If you are coming from a house, this is the closest a condo gets to the room count you are used to.

The flip side is that a lot of suites have original or dated finishes. The asking range here is wide partly because some suites have been fully renovated and others have not, so price the renovation into any suite you are comparing.

The fee looks high until you read the inclusions

Fees across current listings work out to about $0.96 per square foot. That is a big number next to a newer building, but the inclusion list is the most complete I see in Toronto: cable TV, air conditioning, common elements, heat, hydro, building insurance, parking and water. One brokerage page also lists internet and a locker; confirm both for the specific suite.

With hydro, heat and cooling covered, your only regular utility bill may be your phone. Compare that against a newer building at a lower fee plus separate hydro, metered heating and cooling, and paid parking, and the gap closes considerably.

The honest caution is that an all-inclusive fee also passes rising energy and insurance costs straight through to owners. In a building of this age, the fee is as much about reserve fund planning as it is about today’s operating costs.

Golf courses, the Humber and Scarlett Road

The setting is unusually green. Lambton Golf and Country Club, which is private, sits directly to the south, the public Scarlett Woods Golf Course is to the east, and the Humber River valley and James Gardens are to the west and north, with trail connections. Upper-floor suites facing the courses or the valley have views that would cost far more closer to downtown.

Scarlett Woods is a City of Toronto course: 18 holes, par 61, executive length at about 3,749 yards, and pitched by the City at beginners and experienced players alike. For a golfer, having a public course you can walk to is a genuine daily-life perk, not a brochure line.

Day to day, this is a car-friendly location with bus service along Scarlett Road, and Highway 427 is a short drive. The Eglinton corridor to the north is changing as the Crosstown line arrives. Transit, schools and walkability are covered in the automatic panel on this page.

Price per square foot at Lambton Square

The building averages about $558 per square foot, which is well below what newer condos across the west end trade for. That discount is the reason to be here, and it reflects the building’s age and the work an older building needs.

At the time of writing there were seven suites for sale, asking between $489,900 and $735,000, and four for rent. The 12-month sold data in the panel above is the better guide to what actually trades, because asking prices on renovated and unrenovated suites in the same building can sit far apart.

When you work out value, add the fee to the price. A large suite here with an all-in fee can carry at a similar total monthly cost to a much smaller new suite with separate utilities, and you get considerably more floor area. That is the comparison I walk buyers through before they decide.

Building specifications

Amenities at Lambton Square

Listing data shows a gym, sauna, party room, meeting room, outdoor patio, car wash and bike storage, and a brokerage page also describes an outdoor pool and a library, with some facilities varying by tower. Confirm what your tower actually has, because in a multi-tower complex the amenities are not always shared the way buyers assume.

Jatin’s honest take on Lambton Square

Lambton Square — 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.