Apex at CityPlace, 381 & 397 Front St W: Early CityPlace, Hydro in the Fee

Apex is one of the original CityPlace buildings, and that age is exactly why I keep it on the list for buyers who care about monthly costs. Concord Adex finished these two towers on Front Street in 2003, before the neighbourhood had its park, its schools or its reputation, and they came with a fee that still covers hydro, heat and air conditioning at under $0.90 a square foot. The question with any 20-plus-year-old tower is what it will cost to keep it that way. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Where CityPlace started

CityPlace sits on the old CN Spadina rail yards. Concord Adex bought the land from Canada Lands Company in 1997, after doing similar work on the former Expo 86 lands in Vancouver, and the first towers went up on Block 1 along Front Street West. The two Matrix towers at 361 and 373 Front came first, completed in 2002; Apex followed next door in 2003.

Apex is two towers under one corporation. The 28-storey tower is at 381 Front Street West and the 36-storey tower is at 397 Front Street West, and together they hold 637 suites. If you are pulling comparables, the shorter and taller towers sit in the same corporation and the same fee structure, but the views from the top of each are very different.

When Apex was built, there was very little around it. Canoe Landing Park, the community centre, the schools and the later Concord towers all came afterwards. Buyers today are getting a mature neighbourhood that early owners had to take on faith.

Layouts: from studios to large two-plus-dens

condos.ca lists suites from about 396 to 1,632 square feet, so Apex covers everything from investor studios to suites large enough for a small family. Both suites on the market at the time of writing were two-bedroom-plus-dens of 900 to 999 square feet, which is a useful plan size for this part of downtown.

Those two-plus-dens are the strength of the building. A Globe and Mail feature on one high-floor suite described bedrooms on opposite sides of the living area for privacy, a den near the entrance, two full bathrooms and walls of south-facing glass with a view to the lake. Split-bedroom plans like that are harder to find in newer towers, which have shrunk second bedrooms to the minimum.

Check the parking on any suite. The same feature noted tandem parking, where two cars park nose to tail in one stall. That works for a couple who share a schedule and is a daily nuisance if they don’t.

Hydro, heat and cooling in the fee

condos.ca lists the fee at Apex as covering common elements, heat, air conditioning, hydro, building insurance and water. Hydro in the fee is a feature of this early generation of downtown towers and almost unheard of in new ones. Current listings show fees of about $0.89 per square foot a month, which is low for downtown once you remember what it includes.

Two cautions. First, bundled utilities mean every rate increase lands on the corporation and comes back to you through the fee; read the budget for how utilities have trended. Second, some older buildings have moved to individual suite metering to control those costs, and that changes the economics for owners. Ask the property manager whether any change to hydro billing has been discussed.

Living on Front Street at CityPlace

The Front Street side of CityPlace is the most connected part of the neighbourhood. You are a short walk from the Rogers Centre, the CN Tower, the King West restaurants to the north and the office core to the east. Canoe Landing Park, the eight-acre park designed with artist Douglas Coupland, is a few minutes south.

Front Street is CityPlace’s northern edge and a busy arterial, and game and concert nights bring crowds along Front and Blue Jays Way. Higher floors and south-facing suites get the lake and the quieter side; lower north-facing suites get the street. The automatic panel on this page covers transit, schools and walkability.

CityPlace is still changing around you. The Fort York Boulevard median has been reserved for a future streetcar line, and the last Concord phases near Spadina and Bremner have added residents, retail and the school and community centre complex beside the park. For an early tower, that steady build-out has mostly been a plus.

Price per square foot and what is on the market

condos.ca puts Apex at about $859 per square foot on average, in the same band as the other early CityPlace and Harbourfront towers, which average roughly $840 to $875. You are not paying a premium for being on Front Street, and you are getting a lower fee per square foot than most of them.

At the time of writing there was one suite for sale and several for rent, so I won’t quote a single asking price. The fees on the two current listings, both two-bedroom-plus-dens of 900 to 999 square feet, were about $800 and $893 a month. That is very competitive for a suite that size with hydro, heat and cooling included.

Thin resale supply works for sellers and against buyers. If you want a two-plus-den here, watch the building and be ready when one comes up; the 12-month sale figures on this page are the best guide to what they actually sell for.

Building specifications

Amenities at Apex at CityPlace

Apex has the full early-2000s package: an indoor pool, gym and sauna, party and meeting rooms, guest suites and concierge. A pool in a 20-plus-year-old building is both an amenity and a liability, so look at when it was last renovated and what the reserve fund has set aside for it.

Jatin’s honest take on Apex at CityPlace

Apex at CityPlace — frequently asked questions

Looking at King West, Liberty Village and CityPlace more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.