301 Prudential Drive Condos: Big 1978 Suites, Indoor Pool, Dollar Fees

301 Prudential Drive is where Scarborough buyers find two and three bedrooms at prices that would barely buy a one-bedroom downtown. It is a 16-storey, 191-suite tower from 1978 with an indoor pool and a gym, and it usually has more suites for sale than its twin across the street. The catch is a fee of around a dollar a square foot, and you need to understand it before you fall for the floor plan. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The more active of the two 1978 twins

Arsandco Investments completed two matching 16-storey towers on Prudential Drive in 1978, 301 and 100, each with 191 suites in the same 722 to 1,032 sq ft range. The same builder’s 1975 tower, The Birches at 101, completes the cluster. Of the three, 301 tends to have the most choice on the market: four suites were listed for sale when I checked.

That is useful for a buyer. With several suites available at once, you can compare floor, exposure and condition inside the same building rather than waiting months for a single suite to come up.

Twins are not identical, though. 301 is YCC-380, managed by Comfort Property Management; 100 is YCC-386, managed by Maple Ridge Community Management. Over nearly 50 years, two boards make different choices on repairs and reserves, so read both status certificates if both towers are on your list.

One-plus-dens to three-bedrooms

Current listings ranged from one-bedroom-plus-den suites in the 800 to 899 sq ft band up to three-bedroom plans. That is the profile of a building designed for households, not investors, and it shows in the layouts: separate kitchens, dining areas you can actually put a table in and proper bedroom closets.

Dens vary from plan to plan. Some are a separate room that works as a home office or nursery, and others are an open corner of the living area. Check the floor plan, and whether the den has a window and a door, before you count it as a bedroom or price it like one.

Expect to see a range of conditions. Some suites will have been renovated and others will be largely original, and the gap in value between them can be bigger than the gap between floors. Price the work before you compare asking prices.

Like the other towers on the street, suite numbers in listings run into the 1700s, which does not neatly match the 16-storey count. Ask which actual floor a suite is on if height and view matter to you.

Understanding a fee of about a dollar a foot

Fees on the four current listings ran from roughly $860 to $1,070 a month, and condos.ca puts the active fee at about $1.01 per square foot. At first glance that is high next to a newer Scarborough building.

The inclusions change the picture. The fee covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. In most newer buildings, heating and cooling are on a suite meter and parking may be extra, so the honest comparison is total monthly cost: fee plus utilities plus parking. Hydro is on you here.

Even so, a dollar a foot on a large suite is a real number, and it is the main reason prices here are as low as they are. Look at how the fee has moved over the last three to five budgets and how much of it goes to the reserve fund. A fee that is high because it funds the reserve properly is very different from one that is high because operating costs are out of control.

The Midland and Lawrence corner

Prudential Drive runs off Midland Avenue just north of Lawrence Avenue East. The Midland Lawrence Plaza on the northeast corner covers groceries at FreshCo and banking at TD. First Capital has applied to redevelop part of the plaza with towers of 25 and 35 storeys and about 773 homes, with the FreshCo staying on the site.

Rapid transit is in between generations. Line 3 Scarborough closed permanently in July 2023 and buses now replace it, while the Line 2 subway extension under construction will add stations at Lawrence and McCowan, Scarborough Centre and Sheppard and McCowan, all reached by bus from here. The panel on this page shows the current routes and distances.

For an owner, the plaza proposal is the change to watch. Years of construction on the corner would be a nuisance, but more homes and new retail at the intersection would also make this a busier, better-served pocket than it is today. Ask the management office whether the corporation has commented on the application.

Pricing: low per foot, so watch the fee

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $410 per square foot. The four suites listed for sale when I checked were asking roughly $275,000 to $525,000, a wide spread that reflects the range of suite sizes and conditions in the building.

That per-foot figure is very low for Toronto, and the fee is the reason. A buyer weighing a suite here against a smaller, newer condo should compare total monthly carrying cost, mortgage plus fee plus utilities, not price alone. On that basis, 301 often still wins on space per dollar.

The wide range also means careful comparables matter. A renovated three-bedroom and an original one-plus-den are different products, and the building average will not tell you what a specific suite is worth. My building sold report shows what has actually traded here.

Building specifications

Amenities at 301 Prudential Drive Condos

An indoor pool, sauna and gym give owners a year-round fitness routine without a membership, and the party and meeting rooms cover family events. The pool is also one of the costlier items in the reserve fund, so look for its repair history.

Jatin’s honest take on 301 Prudential Drive Condos

301 Prudential Drive Condos — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.