Abacus Lofts, 1239 Dundas St W: RAW’s Jack-Knife Facade on Dundas West

Abacus Lofts is the building people on Dundas West point at. Its front facade folds in and out in a way nothing else in the city does, and behind that it is a small, well-planned building of 39 suites that steps down politely to the houses behind it. I like it a lot, and I also want you to understand its parking before you buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The facade that follows a bend in the road

Dundas is one of the few main streets in Toronto that does not follow the city grid, and Abacus makes that its design idea. On the street side, the fifth floor runs parallel to Dundas, while the floors above and below are sliced away at increasing angles, until the walls meet at square corners at the top and bottom. The result is a series of wedges that look different from every direction.

It is not decoration for its own sake. The most forward part of the facade lines up with the existing street wall of the neighbouring shops, and the cut-back lower floors widen the sidewalk and create a triangular patio space in front of the ground-floor retail. The building is clad in charcoal grey brick and concrete, which calms down the colourful street around it.

RAW Design led the design, with Richard Witt as principal in charge, and Quadrangle Architects handled construction documents. 59 Project Management managed construction. UrbanToronto reported that neighbours applauded the plans at an early community meeting, which almost never happens with a new building on a Toronto main street.

The project was originally expected to finish in 2014 and was completed in May 2015, with the corporation registered that December. A delay of that length is normal for a technically unusual building, and it is now more than a decade old with an operating history you can review.

Terraces at the back, views at the front

On the south side, the building terraces down to meet the two-storey houses on Skey Lane and Grove Avenue. Those stepped terraces give the rear suites substantial outdoor space and keep the building from looming over its neighbours. On the Dundas side, the fanning angles of the balconies give front suites a view toward the skyline.

The side walls are almost blank. That was deliberate: it allows future buildings to go up next door without blocking any suite’s windows. It also means your light and views come from the front or the back, never the side, so choose your orientation with that in mind.

The architects described suites from about 470-square-foot one-bedrooms to roughly 1,300-square-foot two-bedrooms, aimed at both first-time buyers and downsizers. Condos.ca records sizes up to about 2,018 square feet, so there are larger plans at the top of the building. With 39 suites on a site of about 8,000 square feet, floor plates are small and suites vary.

Stacked parking on a narrow site

The site is narrow, so the parking is unusual. A stacked hydraulic system below grade fits 24 cars into a space that would otherwise hold about 12, with lifts that shelve one vehicle above the next. That is clever engineering, and it is the reason the building could offer parking at all.

If you are buying a suite with parking, ask how the lift works day to day: how long retrieval takes, what size and height of vehicle fits, and who pays to maintain and eventually replace the system. Mechanical parking is a real line item in a small building’s reserve fund.

The fee itself is generous. Condos.ca lists heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance, common elements and parking as included. Amenities are limited to bike storage, a security system and permission to barbecue, which keeps the fee focused on utilities. Condos.ca also flags a pet restriction, so read the rules if you have an animal.

Living on Dundas West near Ossington

The building replaced a run-down auto repair shop, and the street around it has changed just as much. Little Portugal still has its Portuguese and Brazilian bakeries and churrasqueiras, and alongside them are galleries, boutiques and some of the city’s most talked-about restaurants, with Ossington Avenue a short walk west.

Trinity Bellwoods Park is a few minutes south, and Queen West is beyond it. This is a busy main street, so suites facing Dundas will hear the street and the patio below, while the rear terraced suites look over back gardens instead. The architects also sloped the upper terraces so the building casts less shadow onto the street and its neighbours, a small detail that makes a difference on a mid-rise avenue like this. The data panel on this page has the transit, school and walkability details.

What Abacus Lofts costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $937 per square foot. That is close to Ideal Lofts at College and Markham at about $917, above One Six Nine on John Street at about $840, and below Motif on Ossington at about $1,138.

When the building launched, the architects noted that prices started in the mid-$200,000s, which they called low for a building of this design quality. That launch level is a useful reminder of how much this stretch of Dundas has changed in a decade, and why the building average now sits where it does.

Once you account for heat, cooling and parking being in the fee, the all-in monthly cost here compares well with newer buildings where those are extra. There were no active listings when I wrote this. The automatic data panel on this page shows recent aggregate results, and I can prepare a building sold report for a specific plan.

Building specifications

Amenities at Abacus Lofts

Abacus has almost no shared amenities, and that is intentional. The money goes into the architecture, the terraces and the fee inclusions, and Dundas West supplies the rest.

Jatin’s honest take on Abacus Lofts

Abacus Lofts — 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.