Casa II, 42 Charles St E: The Tall Casa With the Fritted Glass

Casa II at 42 Charles Street East is the tallest of the three Casa towers and the one with the most compact suites. It puts you half a block from Yonge and Bloor at a lower price per foot than the newest towers on the corner. You pay for it in fees, which run among the highest per square foot in this pocket. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Which Casa this is, and the fritted glass

Cresford built three towers on this short stretch of Charles Street: the original Casa at 33 Charles in 2010, Casa II here at 42 Charles in 2016 and Casa III at 50 Charles in 2018. They share an architect and a family resemblance, but they are separate corporations with different fees, amenities and resale histories.

Casa II sits across the street from the original, on the site of a former nine-storey brick office building. At 56 storeys it is the tallest of the three. A courtyard with a water feature links it to Casa III next door.

The tower follows the same tall, rectilinear form as the other Casa buildings, but the balconies set it apart. architectsAlliance used fritted glass printed with an overlapping branch pattern at roughly 50 to 60 per cent opacity. From the street it reads like a screen of leaves climbing the tower.

That frit is a real privacy benefit in a street full of towers, since neighbours see less of your balcony. It also cuts some daylight and view from a seated position, so stand and sit on the balcony when you tour before you decide how much it bothers you.

If you are comparing the three towers, look at each one’s fees, reserve fund and amenity list side by side. A buyer who likes the street but not this building’s fee may be better served by one of its siblings, and the reverse is just as often true.

Compact suites and a few large ones

Suites run from about 346 square feet up to roughly 1,749 square feet. Most of the stock is studios, one-bedrooms and compact two-bedrooms; current two-bedroom listings sit in the 600-to-700-square-foot band, which tells you how tight the plans are.

At the top, the Signature Penthouses had ceilings over ten feet, wrap-around balconies and finishes selected by Brian Gluckstein, with Scavolini kitchens and Gaggenau appliances. Those are a very different product from the investor suites below, and they trade in a much thinner market.

MissoniHome designed the lobby and amenity spaces, and the lobby has a ceiling of about 20 feet. It is a stylish arrival, but lobbies get refreshed over time, so judge the common areas as they are now and check the budget for any planned renovation.

Daily life on Charles Street

You are a few minutes on foot from Yonge and Bloor, the Bloor Street shops, Yorkville and the Church-Wellesley Village. That location is why compact suites here rent well, and the number of lease listings at any given time suggests a large share of the building is investor-owned.

In practice, that means more move-ins and move-outs and more elevator bookings than in an owner-heavy building. Charles Street has filled in with towers on both sides, so expect busy sidewalks and limited street parking. The panel on this page covers transit and the owner and renter mix.

What to look for when you tour

Check what your windows face before anything else. On Charles Street, the towers stand close together, and a low suite facing Casa or Casa III is a very different product from a high suite looking south over the shorter buildings. Ask which floor the view clears the neighbours.

Then sit on the balcony. The patterned frit gives privacy, but from a chair it can sit right at eye level. Some buyers love the screened feel; others find it blocks the view they paid for.

Finally, look at the studio layouts closely. In the smallest suites, the kitchen often runs along the entry wall and the bed area shares the window with the living space. That works for a rental, but if you plan to live here, a one-bedroom with a separate bedroom door is worth the extra cost.

Price per square foot and the fee question

Casa II averages about $960 per square foot. That is above the original Casa at 33 Charles and below One Bloor at the corner, which matches its age and position.

Fees across current listings average about $1.20 per square foot. That is high. Some of it comes back to you, because heat, air conditioning, water and, where a suite has one, parking are covered. Some of it is the cost of an outdoor pool, two guest suites and a terrace with cabanas in a 470-suite building.

In dollars, on a 550-square-foot one-bedroom, the gap between $1.20 and a more typical $0.90 per square foot is about $165 a month, or close to $2,000 a year. Small suites carry the fee less well when you sell, so factor it in now.

Rental demand here is strong, which supports investor prices, but a high fee lowers net yield. Run the numbers on rent minus fees and taxes, not on rent alone, before you compare it with buildings that have a lower fee.

At the time of writing there were five active listings asking from $399,900 to $649,000, from a studio to a compact two-bedroom, with monthly fees between $314 and $662. My building sold report shows what has actually traded.

Building specifications

Amenities at Casa II

The outdoor pool and cabana terrace are what you are paying for, along with two guest suites, which are useful in a building of small suites. If you will not use the pool, a good part of the fee is going to something you do not value.

Jatin’s honest take on Casa II

Casa II — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.