Broadway Plaza, 7 Broadway Ave: A 1991 Pool Building at Yonge

Broadway Plaza is the older, smaller building on a street that is filling up with 40- and 50-storey towers. It has 100 suites, an indoor pool and a rooftop garden, and it sits at the Yonge Street corner of Broadway Avenue, a block north of Eglinton. It costs far less per foot than its new neighbours, and there is one fee question I want answered before anyone buys here. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A mid-size building on a street of new towers

Broadway Avenue has changed more in the last ten years than almost any street in midtown. The Republic, CityLights on Broadway and Line 5 Condos have brought well over a thousand new suites to the same few blocks. Broadway Plaza, at 11 storeys and 100 suites, is from an earlier era, and it feels it in a good way: one lobby and a manageable number of neighbours.

The building is at the Yonge Street end of the block, so you step out onto Yonge and are a short walk from Yonge and Eglinton. That convenience is the main reason people choose it.

Condos.ca records the developer as Edison Center. I could not find more about the developer or the architect in public sources; the declaration in the status certificate package names the original declarant if that history matters to you.

Suites from studio-size to large

Suite sizes run from about 498 sq ft to about 1,536 sq ft, so the building covers everything from compact one-bedrooms to large family plans and penthouses. That range is less common in newer buildings, which tend to cluster around small one-bedrooms.

What was on the market when I checked was one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den suites in the 600 to 899 sq ft range. A 600 sq ft one-bedroom from 1991 usually lives larger than a new one of the same size, because older plans tended to give more room to the living area and less to hallways.

Ask for the floor plan and check the exposure. On a street where new towers keep rising, a suite’s view and light depend heavily on what is next door, so find out what is built and what is approved on the facing lots.

For renters, the one-bedroom stock here is the obvious draw, since a midtown address a block from Yonge and Eglinton is what tenants look for. If you are buying to rent, check the declaration and rules for any leasing restrictions, and factor the higher fee into your numbers before you assume the low price per foot makes it a better investment.

The fee question to settle first

This is the issue I would resolve before any offer. Condos.ca lists the fee as including common elements, building insurance and water only. A recent listing description says the fee includes hydro, heat, water, parking and cable. Those two accounts are very different, and the difference matters to your monthly budget.

The fees themselves point toward the broader version. On the three suites for sale when I checked, fees averaged about $1.54 per square foot, which is high for a building where only water is included and more in line with one where utilities are bundled.

Ask the listing agent for the status certificate and read the budget, which shows what the corporation actually pays. Then confirm whether parking comes with the suite or is a separate unit with its own fee.

I would also ask for a year of the seller’s hydro bills if hydro turns out not to be included. With electric heating or cooling in an older suite, those bills can be a meaningful addition to the fee, and you want the full picture before you compare this building with a newer one.

Living at Yonge and Broadway

Day to day, this is a walk-everywhere address. Yonge Eglinton Centre, with its grocery store, is a short walk south, and the restaurants, gyms and shops of Yonge Street run both ways from your front door. The Beltline Trail is within reach for walking and running.

The trade-off is noise and construction. Midtown has been one long building site for years, and Broadway Avenue in particular has seen heavy tower construction. Visit at different times of day, and ask about any approved projects that would face your suite. The transit, schools and parks nearby are listed in the data panel on this page.

How Broadway Plaza prices against new midtown towers

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $632 per square foot. New towers on Broadway and around Yonge and Eglinton generally trade at a substantial premium per foot over a 1991 building, so the gap is large.

Three suites were for sale when I checked, all one-bedroom or one-bedroom-plus-den plans between 600 and 899 sq ft asking from about $408,000 to $549,000. Monthly fees on those suites ran from about $800 to $1,315.

Those fees are the reason the price per foot is low. A buyer comparing monthly costs will set a fee of $1,000 or more against a new building’s lower fee, so price per foot reflects carrying cost. If the fee really does cover hydro, heat and parking, the comparison is much closer than it looks.

With 100 suites, the building usually has only a few suites on the market at once, so the asking range can shift quickly when one larger suite or penthouse is listed. Look at the size band, not just the headline price.

If you want to see how the building has actually traded over the past year, my building sold report shows the aggregate figures.

Building specifications

Amenities at Broadway Plaza

An indoor pool and sauna in a 100-suite building is unusual for midtown, and the rooftop garden with barbecues gives you outdoor space even if your suite’s balcony is small. As with any older pool, ask what the reserve fund sets aside for it.

Jatin’s honest take on Broadway Plaza

Broadway Plaza — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yonge & Eglinton, Davisville and North Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.