10 Prince Arthur Ave: 25 Suites Behind a Restored Heritage House

10 Prince Arthur is a seven-storey building with about 25 suites, a pool and a 24-hour concierge, on a Victorian street a few steps west of Avenue Road. The old house you see from the sidewalk was lifted, moved and set on top of the new garage, and the building behind it steps down toward its neighbours. This is a very small, very expensive building, and buying here is closer to buying a house than a condo. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The house that moved

The two-storey heritage house at 10 Prince Arthur sat empty and boarded up for about two decades before this project. Earlier reporting described a plan to keep it intact, restore the exterior and shift it toward the street, and that is what happened.

During construction the house was underpinned and moved south toward the sidewalk while a two-storey underground garage was dug beneath the site. It now sits at the south-east corner of the lot, on top of that garage, with ERA Architects overseeing the heritage work.

For an owner, this means the corporation includes a restored heritage structure sitting on a modern garage. Ask how the house is used, who is responsible for its exterior, and how the reserve fund plans for heritage masonry, windows and roofing over the long term.

A stepped building in a Victorian street

Behind the house, the new building is arranged as a series of stacked volumes. The western block has large windows, projects toward the street and steps back at the fourth floor, and the north end steps down toward the low-rise houses next door. The result is a building that reads as several smaller pieces rather than one wall.

The materials are bronze-toned metal window frames, long handmade brick and Indiana limestone, chosen to sit comfortably beside the brick houses of Prince Arthur Avenue. The stepping also creates terraces, which on a building like this are a large part of what you are paying for.

Earlier versions of the project were reported with a different developer and architect, Castlepoint and Hariri Pontarini Architects. The building as completed is credited to North Drive and Richard Wengle Architect. If design history matters to you, ask the seller or the corporation for the final approved drawings rather than relying on early renderings.

Suites priced like houses

With about 25 suites over seven floors, there are only three or four homes per floor on average, so most plans here are large. The two listings active when I checked were both two-bedroom-plus-den suites, and that is the kind of plan this building is built around: a principal suite, a second bedroom, a study and room to entertain.

I could not find published suite sizes or ceiling heights. At this price level both vary a lot from plan to plan, so get the floor plan, the registered area and the ceiling height for the specific suite, and measure the terrace.

Resale here will be thin. With so few suites, a year can pass without a single sale, and each one will be different in floor, exposure and terrace. That makes the building a poor fit for anyone who may need to sell quickly, and it means the price you pay should be tested against large suites in other boutique buildings, not just against this one.

Living on Prince Arthur Avenue

Prince Arthur Avenue is a short, tree-lined street of large Victorian houses between Avenue Road and St. George Street, part of the old Annex. You are a short walk from Yorkville to the east, the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto to the south, and Bloor Street’s shops. The panel on this page covers transit and food.

It is quiet for its location, because it is a side street, but Avenue Road is one of the busiest roads in midtown, and the neighbourhood has a steady flow of students and visitors. Suites facing west or north, away from Avenue Road, will be quieter.

The street is part of the East Annex, where heritage protections make it unlikely that the Victorian houses around you will be replaced by anything much taller, so the outlook from the side and rear of the building should stay much as it is today. The bigger change is on Avenue Road and Bloor, where taller buildings keep arriving, and upper-floor views to the south and east are the ones most exposed to that.

Pricing: the top of the market

There is no building average price per square foot yet, and with only about 25 suites there may never be a reliable one. The two suites for sale when I checked were both two-bedroom-plus-dens asking between about $5.2 million and $5.25 million, with monthly fees of roughly $3,250 to $3,330.

For context, The Prince Arthur at 38 Avenue Road, a 1999 tower on the same corner, averages about $1,452 per square foot, and 55 Prince Arthur, a 1986 low-rise down the street, averages about $771. A brand-new boutique building with a pool and heritage frontage will sit well above both.

Fees in the $3,000-plus range reflect a 24-hour concierge, a pool and staffed spaces shared by very few owners. condos.ca does not list what the fees include, so get the budget, confirm which utilities are separate and understand that every major repair is split 25 ways.

Building specifications

Amenities at 10 Prince Arthur

For a 25-suite building, a pool, gym, dining room and catering kitchen is an unusually full package, and the concierge is staffed around the clock. It gives you the service of a large luxury tower with very few neighbours, and the fees show it.

Jatin’s honest take on 10 Prince Arthur

10 Prince Arthur — frequently asked questions

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