Beach Club Lofts, 303 Kingston Rd: 17-Foot Ceilings Near the Beach

Beach Club Lofts is a small, modern building at the western edge of the Beach, and the reason to look at it is volume. Ceilings run from nine feet to seventeen, and a good share of the suites are two storeys. The fee per square foot looks alarming on the small units, and I will explain why that number misleads. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A modern mid-rise designed around ceiling height

This is a new build, not a conversion, and the loft name refers to the suite format rather than any industrial past. BDP Quadrangle, a well-known Toronto architecture firm, designed it for Zen Homes as a modest six-storey building on a Kingston Road corner, standing about 20 metres tall.

The front windows are angled slightly so the facade ripples rather than reading as one flat wall of glass. The developer pitched it as a nod to waves on the lake. Whether or not you buy the metaphor, it gives the building a distinct face on a stretch of Kingston Road that is mostly older brick.

The headline feature is the ceilings. UrbanToronto’s project data lists heights from 9 to 17 feet, with floor-to-ceiling windows. A 17-foot ceiling changes how a 700 square foot suite feels more than any finish upgrade could.

Two-storey lofts, townhomes and duplex penthouses

The suite mix is unusually varied for 50-odd units. UrbanToronto lists two-storey townhomes at the base, studios, one-bedrooms through two-bedroom-plus-dens, and duplex penthouses. Outdoor space ranges from Juliet balconies to large balconies and oversized terraces, some with lake and city views.

The sources disagree on the size range. UrbanToronto gives 457 to 1,375 square feet, while condos.ca shows up to about 1,565. Some suites may have been combined or the larger figure may include a terrace. Check the floor plan and the status certificate for the actual interior area of any suite you are considering.

Two-storey suites are not for everyone. They give you separation between living and sleeping and a lot of light, but stairs inside a suite matter if you are planning to stay into later life, and the upper level can run warm in summer. Spend time on both floors before you decide.

The townhome-style suites at the base deserve a separate look. Ground-level units with their own entrance appeal to buyers coming from a house, and to anyone with a dog, but they also sit closest to the street and to passers-by. Check privacy, the outlook from the main living level and how deliveries and garbage work for those suites.

Where the Beach meets Kingston Road

303 Kingston Road sits at the corner of Haslett Avenue near the western end of the Beach. You are a walk from Queen Street East and the lake to the south, rather than in the middle of the Queen Street strip. The developer’s own marketing pitched it as one of the last chances to buy new in the Beach, which says something about how little new supply this neighbourhood gets.

The site sits where two TTC routes meet, and the automatic panel on this page covers transit and Walk Score. Kingston Road is a busy street, so suites facing the road will hear it; suites on the Haslett side and the upper floors are quieter.

Kingston Road east of here is gradually filling with new mid-rise buildings, and CBC has reported thousands of units proposed along the corridor. A boutique building like this one benefits from that only up to a point. More supply nearby means more choice for buyers and more competition when you sell.

What protects this building is its format. Most condo suites, new or old, are single-level with ordinary ceiling heights. A two-storey suite with a 17-foot living room is not something the next building down the road is likely to offer, and that scarcity is what holds resale value in a crowded market.

Why the fee per square foot looks so high

The building average sits around $864 per square foot, which is in line with newer Beach-area condos and well below what houses south of Queen trade at per square foot.

The two active listings as I write this, both smaller suites, were asking roughly $395,000 to $539,000 with monthly fees of about $421 to $556. That works out to around $1.35 per square foot, which looks expensive.

Two things explain it. First, the fee includes heat, air conditioning, water, insurance and parking, which most newer buildings charge separately or leave on your own meter. Second, small suites always carry a higher fee per square foot, because part of every owner’s fee covers the same fixed building costs. A larger two-storey suite here will show a noticeably lower figure.

For sold prices, the TRREB data panel on this page shows twelve-month medians. With only about 50 suites, and such varied layouts, the median can swing with the mix of what sold. Compare like with like: two-storey with two-storey, terrace with terrace.

Building specifications

Amenities at Beach Club Lofts

A party room, media room and meeting room is a light package, and there is no gym listed. In a building this size, that keeps fees aimed at the building rather than at facilities, and the Beach and the boardwalk do the rest. The listed security guard is unusual for a building this small, so confirm the hours in the budget.

Jatin’s honest take on Beach Club Lofts

Beach Club Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.