199 Church Condos, 199 Church St: Small Suites, Heritage Base, New Tower

199 Church is the building I show people who want a brand-new downtown condo at an entry price, and who are honest with themselves about how small a 355 sq ft studio really is. CentreCourt finished it in 2024: 39 storeys and 484 suites over a row of restored heritage townhouse fronts on Church Street. Everything here was designed around compact living, which is either the whole appeal or a deal-breaker. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A glass tower that cantilevers over a row of old townhouses

What you see from Church Street is not the tower first. It is a short run of heritage brick townhouse frontages that the developer had to restore as a condition of building here, with the lobby and the garage entry tucked in beside them. GBCA Architects were the heritage consultants.

Above that base the tower steps out. The design that went to the City in 2020 put a cantilever seven levels above the heritage pieces, so the glass mass overhangs the old brick rather than sitting on top of it. The underside of that overhang is finished in a light, bamboo-toned soffit you notice from the sidewalk.

The cladding is a window wall with back-painted glass spandrels, charcoal mullions and dark metal panels grouped in three-storey bands, which keeps a 39-storey tower from reading as one flat sheet of glass. Toward Dalhousie Street at the back, the plans called for a layered-glass mural to give that quieter frontage some life.

The project grew during approvals. The 2019 application was 37 storeys and 478 suites; by the August 2020 submission it was 39 storeys, about 129.5 metres and 484 suites. Construction started in 2021 and the corporation registered at the end of January 2024.

The layouts: built small on purpose

CentreCourt was explicit at launch that this building was about efficient, affordable suites, and the numbers show it. Suites run from roughly 355 to 860 sq ft. The original 2019 application broke down as 79 studios, 266 one-bedrooms, 82 two-bedrooms and 51 three-bedrooms, and while the final count rose slightly, the mix is still dominated by studios and one-bedrooms.

That has two consequences. First, a three-bedroom here tops out around 860 sq ft, which is a three-bedroom only in the sense that it has three rooms with doors. Measure the secondary bedrooms against your furniture before you fall for the view. Second, because so many suites are similar small one-bedrooms, you will usually be competing with several near-identical units when you sell or lease.

The upside is height and light. Upper floors look south toward the lake and across the downtown skyline, and on a floor plate this efficient the view does a lot of the work that square footage would otherwise do. If you are buying a studio or one-bedroom, prioritise floor, exposure and a usable kitchen wall over a den that is really a hallway.

Parking is scarce, and that is by design

The 2019 planning application proposed just 67 underground parking stalls for 478 suites. Final counts may differ, but the building was clearly planned for people who walk, cycle or take transit, which suits the location.

For you as a buyer, that means most suites will not come with a spot. If you need one, confirm in writing that it is deeded or exclusive-use to that unit, and check whether lockers are included or sold separately. Do not assume either from a listing photo.

Church and Dundas, day to day

This is a properly central address. Toronto Metropolitan University’s campus is a short walk west, the Eaton Centre and Yonge Street are just beyond it, and St. Michael’s Hospital sits a few blocks south. That cluster is why so much of the demand here comes from students, hospital staff and people working downtown.

It is also a busy, mixed stretch of the east downtown, with older low-rise buildings, new towers and a lot of street activity. Walk the block at night and on a weekend before you commit, and decide whether you like that energy. Many people do; some do not.

The area is still changing. More towers are going up along the Church, Jarvis and Dundas corridors, and Ontario Line construction is underway along Queen Street. Expect cranes and road work nearby for a while yet.

What 199 Church costs, and how the fees compare

The building average works out to about $931 per square foot, which is typical of a new downtown tower full of small suites; compact units always carry the highest per-foot numbers. Across seven current listings asking prices run from $315,000 to $759,000.

Monthly fees on those active listings range from about $326 to $817. Condos.ca puts the average at around $1.35 per square foot. That looks high for a building this new, so check each listing’s fee against the actual floor area before you rely on it. The fee-inclusion list was not published in the data I have, so get it from the status certificate. In most new towers hydro is metered separately, but confirm what is included here instead of assuming.

With nine units for sale and seven for rent at the time of writing, buyers have choice, and that keeps pricing honest. If you want to see what has actually traded here, ask me for the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 199 Church Condos

For small suites, the shared spaces matter more than usual. The co-working rooms, dining room and outdoor terraces (marketed at launch as about 10,000 sq ft of outdoor lounge and patio space) are where you work and host when your own suite is 400 sq ft, and the guest suites let visitors stay without a sofa bed in your living room.

Jatin’s honest take on 199 Church Condos

199 Church Condos — 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.