578 Spadina Ave: Five Large Suites Inside an 1870s Spadina Mansion

578 Spadina is for the buyer who wants a house on Spadina without the house. An 1870s mansion was turned into five condominium suites in 2008, and most of them are bigger than a typical downtown semi. With five owners and almost no sales history, it is also one of the hardest buildings in the city to price. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An 1870s house, divided five ways

The building began as a Victorian mansion on Spadina Avenue in the 1870s, when the avenue was lined with large family houses. In 2008 it was registered as a condominium of five suites. From the sidewalk it still reads as a single grand house, and that is the appeal.

The developer is listed only as 622148 Ontario, a numbered company, so there is no brand-name track record to research. That is common for small heritage conversions, and it shifts the burden onto you to look at the quality of the conversion itself, not the name on the sales brochure.

I could not confirm the building’s heritage status from the sources available to me. Ask your lawyer to check the City’s heritage register and any heritage conservation district rules that may apply to the address. Designation, if it applies, affects what the corporation can do to windows, masonry and the front facade.

Suites the size of houses

Condos.ca records suites from about 1,573 to 3,200 square feet. Across only five suites that is a very wide range, which tells you each one is essentially its own floor plan. Expect a mix of single-level and multi-level layouts shaped by the original rooms, stairwells and rooflines of the house.

The upper suites in a conversion like this typically gain height under the original roof, while lower suites gain the most original detail and the closest relationship to the garden. Neither is better; they are different homes. Walk every level of the suite you are considering and ask for floor plans with measurements, because older houses rarely have square rooms.

Storage and parking deserve their own questions. Parking is not listed among the fee inclusions, and in a converted house any spaces usually sit at the rear of the lot or along a laneway, if they exist at all. Ask what is assigned to the suite, whether it is owned or exclusive-use, and where you would keep bikes and seasonal items.

The shared amenities are a rooftop deck, barbecues and a security system. Pets are listed as permitted, though you should confirm any limits in the rules before you rely on that.

Five owners, one roof

With five suites, the corporation behaves more like a small partnership than a condo board. Every owner is close to the decisions, and every owner carries about a fifth of the cost of any major repair. A new roof, masonry repointing or a replacement of old windows can be a large number when it is split five ways.

Condos.ca does not list a property manager. That may mean the owners manage the building themselves or that the record is incomplete. Ask who keeps the books, who arranges insurance and who calls the roofer, and get the answer in writing through the status certificate.

Resale is the other thing to think about on the way in. A very small, older corporation with an unusual suite can take longer to sell and can draw extra questions from lenders and insurers. None of that is a reason to avoid the building, but it is a reason to buy a suite you would be happy to own for many years, and to have your mortgage broker review the status certificate early.

A building of this age also deserves a proper inspection of the parts no one sees: the foundation, the drainage, the knob-and-tube question in older wiring, and the fire separations created during the conversion.

Living on this stretch of Spadina

This part of Spadina sits between the University of Toronto campus and the residential streets of Harbord Village, south of Bloor. It is a busy, wide avenue, and that is worth hearing for yourself at rush hour from inside the suite, especially in the rooms facing the street.

The trade is location. You are a short walk from the university, the Annex and the shops and restaurants of Bloor Street and Harbord Street, in a house-scale building rather than a tower. Transit, schools and nearby parks are summarised in the data panel on this page.

How to think about price here

Condos.ca shows an average of about $696 per square foot. With five suites, that average may rest on one or two old sales and could be well off today’s market, so I would treat it as a rough marker rather than a value.

There were no active listings when I checked. The honest comparables for a suite here are not downtown condos at all; they are renovated semis and Victorian houses in Harbord Village and the Annex, adjusted down for shared ownership and up for the fact that you are not maintaining a house alone.

The fee covers only common elements and water, so heat, hydro and, it seems, parking are your own costs. Ask for the suite’s utility history: an older house with high ceilings can be expensive to heat. My building sold report can show you what has traded nearby in aggregate.

Building specifications

Amenities at 578 Spadina Condos

The amenity list is short because the building is the amenity: a shared rooftop deck and a security system in what is still, essentially, a large house. You are buying space and character, not a lobby.

Jatin’s honest take on 578 Spadina Condos

578 Spadina Condos — frequently asked questions

Looking at Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, Kensington and Little Italy more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.