3018 Yonge St: A Hariri Pontarini Mid-Rise With a Rooftop Pool

3018 Yonge is for buyers who want Lawrence Park without buying a Lawrence Park house. It is a Lanterra mid-rise designed by Hariri Pontarini, with a rooftop pool, on a stretch of Yonge where almost everything else is low-rise. You pay for that address, and the question is whether the suite you are looking at justifies it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Hariri Pontarini on a low-rise stretch of Yonge

This is the part of Yonge between Eglinton and Lawrence where the street is still mostly two- and three-storey shops with houses behind them. When UrbanToronto covered the excavation in 2013, it framed the building as a sign of the midtown boom reaching north into Lawrence Park, a neighbourhood known for single-family homes and ravines.

Hariri Pontarini Architects designed it, and Studio Munge (then Munge Leung) did the interiors. That is a serious design team for a building of this size. The tower rises from a podium planned for retail at grade, which keeps the Yonge Street frontage active rather than turning a blank wall to the sidewalk.

UrbanToronto’s database lists it at about 48 metres. At that height it reads as a mid-rise, and with few tall buildings nearby, upper suites tend to look over the surrounding streets rather than straight into another tower.

The rooftop pool and what the amenities really are

The feature buyers ask about is the pool on the roof. Lanterra’s marketing described a rooftop pool, hot tub, steam room and terrace lounge, plus a fitness room and party room. Condos.ca lists an outdoor pool, a rooftop deck, a gym, a party room, a concierge and visitor parking.

An outdoor rooftop pool in a building of under 200 suites is unusual, and it is a summer amenity in a Toronto climate. It is also an expensive one to maintain. I would look in the reserve fund study for how the pool, its membrane and the roof deck are being planned for, because rooftop pools carry waterproofing risk that ground-level amenities do not.

The amenity list shown on listings does not always match what is open day to day. On a showing, ask what is operating and on what schedule.

Suite sizes and the two numbers for suite count

Condos.ca puts suites at about 552 to 1,277 square feet. That is a range built for downsizers and couples rather than investors: the smallest suites are full one-bedrooms, and the upper end reaches two-bedroom-plus-den plans that can replace a house for some buyers.

Sources differ on size. Condos.ca lists 13 storeys and 188 suites; UrbanToronto lists 12 storeys and 170 suites. Floor counts sometimes include a mechanical or rooftop amenity level, and suite counts change between launch and registration. The declaration for TSCC-2537 is the document to rely on.

In my experience, buyers here care most about exposure. A suite facing east or west over the houses behind Yonge is a very different product from one looking directly onto the street, so compare like with like.

Ceiling heights and finishes vary by floor and plan, and I have not found a published figure for this building. If ceiling height matters to you, measure it on a showing or ask for the floor plan specifications rather than relying on the listing description.

Living on this part of Yonge

Outside the front door is the strip of Yonge between Lawrence and Eglinton: independent shops, restaurants, cafés and services in low buildings, with residential streets running off both sides. It is one of the more pleasant stretches of Yonge to walk, and it has a neighbourhood feel that the busier blocks at Eglinton have lost.

Behind the shops are the houses, ravines and parks that give Lawrence Park its reputation. For a buyer moving out of a house nearby, that matters as much as the building itself, because the routine of walking, shopping and seeing neighbours does not have to change.

Yonge Street north of Eglinton is under pressure for more mid-rise development, so expect proposals on nearby sites over time. Check the City of Toronto’s development applications map for anything filed near the building before you buy, especially if your suite’s view depends on a low neighbour.

Pricing: about $1,063 a foot, for the address

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,063 per square foot. That is a premium figure for a building from the mid-2010s, and it reflects the address more than the age. Lawrence Park is one of the most expensive house markets in the city, and a condo here is often the entry ticket for people who want to stay in it.

Across the current listings asking prices ranged from $699,900 to $1,199,900 and monthly fees from about $695 to $1,131. Active fees average about $0.95 per square foot, with heat and water included, according to condos.ca.

The building’s small size works both ways on resale. With fewer than 200 suites, only a handful trade in a typical year, so a well-priced suite can sell quickly, but a buyer may also wait months for the right plan and exposure to come up. Patience is part of buying here.

That fee level is fair for a small building with concierge and a rooftop pool, but it is not low. Before you compare this with a larger tower near Eglinton, ask me for a building sold report so you are working from what suites have actually traded for, not asking prices.

Building specifications

Amenities at 3018 Yonge

The rooftop pool and deck are what set this building apart on this part of Yonge, and they make summer here feel very different from a typical mid-rise. The rest of the package, a gym, a party room and concierge, is what you would expect at this price.

Jatin’s honest take on 3018 Yonge

3018 Yonge — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.