159SW Condos, 159 Wellesley St E: Running Track, Very Little Parking

159SW is named for its address and its corner: 159 Wellesley Street East, on the south-west corner of Sherbourne and Wellesley. It is a 2022 Alterra tower with one of the more thoughtful amenity programs I have seen at this price point, including an outdoor running track on the podium roof. It also has just 63 parking spaces for 360 suites, which tells you exactly who it was built for. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

From a gas station corner to a 36-storey tower

Before 159SW, this wedge-shaped corner of about 0.3 acres held a gas station and a doughnut shop. Alterra bought the site and launched the tower in 2016, and it had topped out at just under 119 metres by mid-2021, with the corporation registered in January 2022.

Richmond Architects designed it. The four-storey podium is clad in brown precast concrete arranged as a staggered lattice of slender verticals around the balconies, which gives the base more texture than the usual glass and spandrel. The tower above uses a window wall with black mullions and clear balcony glass, and there is retail at grade along Wellesley and Sherbourne.

Because this is a 2022 building, it is still young. That is a real advantage for maintenance costs in the near term, but it also means the corporation has a short track record, and the first reserve fund studies are the ones to read carefully.

Alterra is a Toronto developer that has built a number of mid-priced condos downtown and in the east end, and 159SW was pitched at launch with prices from the low $300,000s, aimed squarely at first-time buyers and investors. That positioning still shows in the suite mix and in who buys and rents here today.

Parking is the defining trade-off

UrbanToronto reported a four-level underground garage with 63 spaces for 360 suites. That is fewer than one space for every five suites. Most buyers here will not have parking, and the building was planned around that, with on-site car-share, bike parking and a bike repair station.

For many people this is fine, and even a benefit, because you are not paying for a space you do not use. But if you own a car, or if your future buyer will, a suite with an owned space is a scarce asset here. Confirm in the status certificate that any space is owned and on title, and expect suites with parking to command a premium on resale.

The same logic applies to visitors and deliveries. With so few spaces underground, guest parking and loading space are worth asking about, especially if you plan to move in with a truck. Check the move-in rules and elevator booking process before your closing date.

Small suites, generous shared space

Suites run from about 470 to roughly 1,008 square feet; launch materials quoted 470 to 872, so the largest layouts appear to have been added or combined later. Almost everything currently for sale is a one-bedroom or one-bedroom-plus-den under 700 square feet, with a single larger three-bedroom on the market.

The amenity program makes up for the compact suites. Spread over three floors, it includes a fitness studio with a yoga room and sauna, a wraparound outdoor running track and an outdoor fitness area on the podium roof, outdoor barbecue and dining space, two party rooms, a games room, and a student zone with study rooms, a library and a Wi-Fi lounge. U31 designed the amenity interiors and Alexander Budrevics and Associates did the landscaping.

The student zone is a clear signal of the target market: investors leasing to students at Toronto Metropolitan University and young professionals. If you are an owner-occupier, expect neighbours who change more often than in an owner-heavy building.

Sherbourne and Wellesley, day to day

This corner sits between St. James Town to the north and east, Cabbagetown further east, and the Church-Wellesley Village to the west. Yonge Street and the downtown core are a straightforward trip west, and the older streets of Cabbagetown, with their Victorian houses and small shops, are on your doorstep to the east.

It is a busy, mixed corner, with high-density rental towers, older houses and new condos side by side. That mix is part of why prices per square foot here sit below the Yonge corridor. The data panel on this page covers transit, Walk Score, schools and nearby food.

A lower price per foot, and a fee that needs a second look

The building averages about $765 per square foot, a clear discount to newer towers along Yonge and around Church-Wellesley. You are paying for a location a few blocks east of the core and for compact layouts with little parking.

Fees are the number to understand. Across current listings, they average about $1.11 per square foot, and condos.ca lists only common elements and building insurance as included. That suggests heat, hydro and water are billed separately, so your real monthly cost is the fee plus utilities. On a 550-square-foot one-bedroom, $1.11 per foot is about $610 a month before you turn on a light.

At the time of writing, one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den suites under 700 square feet were asking from about $349,900 to $539,000, with monthly fees on those listings from roughly $493 to $738. My building sold report shows what has actually closed.

Building specifications

Amenities at 159SW Condominiums

The running track and the study rooms are what set this building apart: one gives you somewhere to exercise outdoors without leaving home, the other turns a small suite into a workable place to study or work. For buyers in 500-square-foot units, that shared space genuinely extends the home.

Jatin’s honest take on 159SW Condominiums

159SW Condominiums — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.