Thirty Six Zorra, 36 Zorra St: Rooftop Pool, Family Layouts, Real Supply

Thirty Six Zorra is the building I show buyers who want a newer tower south of The Queensway without paying downtown prices. It is a 35-storey Altree tower with a rooftop pool, a suite mix tilted towards two-bedrooms, and, right now, a lot of units on the market at the same time. That last part is the opportunity and the thing to be careful about. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The crinkle-cut tower on a former parking lot

The site was a surface parking lot between The Queensway and the Gardiner. Altree and EllisDon first took it to the City for rezoning in 2015, opened registrations in July 2019, and reported selling roughly 80% of the suites within about six weeks. Ground broke in early 2020, and the tower was handed to its first residents in 2023, which UrbanToronto noted was on schedule despite the pandemic.

Graziani + Corazza designed it, and the look is easy to recognise from the Gardiner: glass balconies that zig-zag up the tower in a crinkle-cut pattern. Below that sits a six-storey U-shaped podium in light precast panels, dark spandrel and window wall, with a landscaped terrace on top. U31 did the interiors and NAK Design Strategies the landscaping.

One note on the address. You will see this building listed under both 36 Zorra and 30 Zorra Street. 30 Zorra was the low-rise commercial building where the presentation centre sat during sales. It is the same tower, so do not let a second listing page convince you there are two buildings to compare.

A suite mix built for more than one person

This is not a studio farm. When sales launched, more than half of the 460 suites were multi-bedroom, including 198 two-bedrooms and 44 three-bedrooms. That is a real difference from most investor-led towers, where one-bedrooms dominate and anything with a second real bedroom is scarce.

The trade-off is size. Suites run from about 440 to 982 square feet, so many of the two-bedrooms are compact. Several current two-bedroom listings sit in the 500 to 699 square foot bands, which means a second bedroom that works as a nursery, an office or a roommate’s room, not a generous primary suite. Walk the actual floor plan before you buy; a two-bedroom at 560 square feet and one at 800 are very different homes.

The tower sits on five levels of underground garage, so parking exists here, but not every suite has a space. Confirm whether the unit you are looking at includes parking or a locker, and whether it is owned or exclusive-use, before you compare prices.

The rooftop pool and the amenity floors

Altree marketed more than 880 square metres of indoor and outdoor amenity space. The headline is a tiled rooftop pool with cabanas, which is rare in this pocket. Around it are barbecue and dining areas, fire pits and room to entertain on the terrace.

Indoors there is a demonstration kitchen and dining room, a recreation room with arcade games, foosball and ping pong, a co-working and social area, a gym, guest suites, a sauna, a children’s play room, a pet wash and parcel storage. A concierge runs the lobby. For a family in a two-bedroom, the play room and the pool are the amenities that actually change your week.

Altree also promoted a resident shuttle to Kipling station and Pearson Airport. Services like that are paid for out of the common budget and can be cut later, so ask the property manager whether it still runs and what it costs the corporation.

What daily life looks like near Kipling and The Queensway

The building faces Senator Marian Maloney Park, a new park designed by Janet Rosenberg & Studio, with more new parkland kitty-corner to the site. Having a park across the street rather than a parking lot is one of the better things you can say about a Queensway address.

The flagship Cineplex is a short walk, and the big-box retail along The Queensway covers most errands. The Gardiner is right there, which is great for drivers and means some lower south-facing suites will hear it. Ask which way a unit faces and visit at rush hour.

This pocket is changing fast. Thirty Six Zorra was one of the first towers to launch on these blocks, and more development is planned on the neighbouring sites. Expect cranes and new supply for years, which affects both views and resale competition.

What it costs, and what all that supply means

The building average sits around $682 per square foot. That is well below newer downtown product and in line with recent Queensway resales, which is notable for a tower only a few years old. Some data sites still show a figure above $1,200 per square foot for this building; that appears to be old pre-construction pricing, not what resales trade at today.

Active asking prices currently run from about $330,000 to $499,000 across seven sale listings. Monthly fees on those listings range from about $276 to $409, which works out to roughly $0.74 per square foot. That is a reasonable fee for a building with a rooftop pool, but I could not confirm exactly which utilities are included, so read the status certificate for that.

The bigger story is volume. At last count there were 23 suites for sale and 17 for lease in one building. When that many first-generation investors sell at once, buyers have room to negotiate, and leases compete with each other. It also means every seller is pricing against the unit two floors down, so recent comparable sales matter more than asking prices here.

Building specifications

Amenities at Thirty Six Zorra

The rooftop pool is the reason to choose this building over its neighbours, and the children’s room and games room make it work for families in a way most Queensway towers do not. Just remember that a pool is one of the most expensive things a corporation maintains, and that shows up in the reserve fund over time.

Jatin’s honest take on Thirty Six Zorra

Thirty Six Zorra — frequently asked questions

Looking at Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.