Bisha Residences, 88 Blue Jays Way: Living Above a Boutique Hotel

Bisha Hotel & Residences at 88 Blue Jays Way is for buyers who want their building to be part of the city’s nightlife rather than an escape from it. Charles Khabouth’s INK Entertainment and Lifetime Developments put a boutique hotel, a rooftop restaurant and a heritage brick podium together with 355 condo suites, with the hotel soft-opening just before TIFF in September 2017. It is one of the most branded addresses in King West, and the brand cuts both ways. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A hotel, a nightclub brand and a condo in one tower

The developers billed Bisha as the first private-label hotel and residences brand to originate in Toronto since Four Seasons. It was created by Charles Khabouth, the nightlife operator behind INK Entertainment, with Lifetime Developments. The hotel occupies the lower floors, and the condominium residences run from floor 9 up to 42.

The tower was designed by Wallman Architects and rises from a six-storey podium that keeps an older red-brick heritage façade at street level. Studio Munge, led by Alessandro Munge, designed the interiors, with crushed velvet walls and marble in the main floor spaces. Lenny Kravitz’s firm, Kravitz Design, designed hotel suites on the seventh floor.

The building is full of art and restaurants. Jun Kaneko sculptures stand outside, Kōst occupies the 44th-floor rooftop with a patio and city and lake views, there is a lobby bar, and Akira Back runs a restaurant on the second floor. Few residential buildings anywhere in Toronto have this much going on downstairs.

Studios to sub-penthouses

Suites range from about 379 square feet for studios to about 2,552 square feet at the top of the building. The current listings span studios under 500 square feet, a one-bedroom-plus-den, two-bedrooms in the 800s and larger two-bedroom and two-plus-den suites. That range means you can enter at investor prices or buy a genuinely large home in the same tower.

Because the residences start on the ninth floor, even the lowest suites sit above the hotel and the noise of the street. Upper floors look over the Entertainment District toward the lake and the CN Tower, though new towers nearby will keep changing some views.

The finish level reflects the brand and Studio Munge’s involvement. Expect a hotel-style lobby experience rather than a typical condo lobby, and check whether a specific suite has original finishes or upgrades.

Fees, amenities and what the hotel means for owners

Condos.ca lists a broad fee: common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. Parking inclusion is unusual downtown, so confirm on the status certificate whether the suite you want actually has a space and whether it is covered by the fee.

The residents’ amenities include a concierge, guest suites, a meeting room, a sauna, a rooftop deck and outdoor patio, and FibreStream internet. The infinity pool and sun deck sit at the top of the building above Kōst, behind a glass wind wall, and press coverage presents them as part of the hotel and restaurant experience. Ask exactly which spaces residents can use, and on what terms, before you count them in the price.

A shared building means shared costs. Ask for the agreement that divides expenses between the residential corporation and the hotel and restaurant owner, and see how those costs have moved in recent budgets. That agreement matters as much as the fee itself.

Life on Blue Jays Way

This is the Entertainment District at its busiest. King Street’s theatres and restaurants are steps south, TIFF Bell Lightbox and the festival crowds are close, and Rogers Centre, at the south end of Blue Jays Way, brings crowds and traffic on game and concert nights. The data panel on this page covers transit and walkability in detail.

If you love being in the middle of things, it is hard to beat. If you value quiet streets and early nights, the noise, crowds and late-night activity around the building will wear on you, especially during festival season.

The heritage podium helps at street level. Instead of a blank glass base, the building presents an older brick front to Blue Jays Way, with a café and the hotel entrance behind it, which makes the sidewalk more pleasant than in front of many newer towers. UrbanToronto and Studio Munge both describe the tower as rising behind that retained frontage, about 147 metres tall.

Pricing and fees at Bisha

The building averages about $960 per square foot, at the upper end of the Entertainment District resale market. You are paying for the brand, the design team and the hotel-style experience, and some of that premium shows up in fees as well.

Fees on the current listings work out to about $1.11 per square foot, high for a 2017 tower. The broad inclusion list, with heat, air conditioning, water and parking, explains part of that. Compare total monthly carrying cost against nearby towers rather than the fee line alone.

Seven suites were listed for sale when I wrote this. Studios under 500 square feet were asking between $399,000 and $420,000, two-bedrooms in the 800-to-899-square-foot range between $994,000 and $1,049,900, and larger two-bedroom and two-plus-den suites between $1,495,000 and $1,750,000. Monthly fees across those listings ranged from about $336 to $1,555. For actual sale results, see the aggregate data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Bisha Hotel & Residences

The residents’ package is modest on paper, but the building’s restaurants, lobby bar and rooftop are what people really buy into. Just separate what you can use as an owner from what belongs to the hotel and is open to paying guests.

Jatin’s honest take on Bisha Hotel & Residences

Bisha Hotel & Residences — 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.