Celebrity Place, 77 Maitland Pl: Twin 1980s Towers, Club-Size Amenities

Celebrity Place is the building I suggest when someone wants a two-bedroom downtown under $750,000 and still wants a pool. It is two 19-storey towers from 1985 on a quiet side street east of Jarvis, with squash, basketball, a library, a woodworking room and even a convenience store inside. The suites are modest and the building is 40 years old, so the reserve fund is where your homework starts. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Where the name comes from, and what the complex is

The name is a piece of local history. condos.ca records that the building takes its name from the Celebrity Club, which once stood on part of the site where the back driveway now runs. The towers that replaced it went up in the mid-1980s, and the name has stuck for four decades of owners since.

Physically, Celebrity Place is two 19-storey towers connected by a shared podium and underground garage, all one corporation of 382 suites. Maitland Place is a short side street rather than a main road, which keeps the front entrance calmer than the Jarvis and Wellesley frontages nearby.

There is a small conflict in the records on the year. condos.ca says 1985, matching the August 1985 registration of MTCC-678; one listing site gives 1984, which may reflect construction rather than registration. Either way, this is a 40-year-old building, and that frames everything else in this review.

Suites: efficient one- and two-bedrooms

condos.ca records suites from about 517 to 909 square feet. At the top of that range sit the two-bedroom plans that make up most of what trades here; every suite for sale when I checked was a two-bedroom of 800 to 999 square feet, with one listing source noting the common two-bedroom, one-bathroom format.

That one-bathroom detail matters. Many 1980s two-bedrooms were designed with a single bathroom, while buyers today often expect two. If you plan to share with a roommate or rent the suite out, check the bathroom count before you fall for the price per square foot.

Some suites are original and some have been fully renovated. Price the difference honestly: a kitchen, flooring and bathroom redo in a suite of this size is a real cost, and a renovated suite should sell at a premium that roughly reflects it.

If you are comparing suites, ask which tower and which direction each one faces. In a two-tower complex, the outlook, sunlight and noise can differ a lot between suites with the same floor plan, and that should show up in the price you are willing to pay.

An amenity list built for a small town

Few buildings anywhere downtown offer what Celebrity Place does. Listings describe an indoor pool and sauna, squash and basketball courts, a gym, a library, a games room, a media room, a dining room, a board room, a party room and a hobby and woodworking room. There is a convenience store in the building, and the common gardens include an herb garden and composting.

A complex of 382 suites can support that list because the cost is spread over a lot of owners. It also means the facilities are actually used. A woodworking room and a basketball court are the kind of things you only find in buildings of this era and this scale.

The trade-off is that every one of those spaces has to be maintained, insured, cleaned and eventually renovated, and you pay a share. When you read the budget and reserve study, look specifically at what is planned for the pool and the courts.

Living on Maitland Place

Maitland Place sits just east of Jarvis, between the Church-Wellesley Village to the west and Cabbagetown to the east. You can walk to the Village’s restaurants and to Yonge Street in one direction, and to the Victorian streets and shops of Cabbagetown in the other. The data panel on this page covers transit and groceries.

Being on a short side street helps. Traffic noise is lower than on Jarvis or Wellesley, and the towers face a mix of older apartment buildings and newer condo projects. Walk the block at night as well as during the day, as you would anywhere downtown, and decide how it feels to you.

A 382-suite complex is a community in itself. That brings good things, like well-used amenities and a large, stable budget, and it also means busier elevators and lobbies at rush hour than a small building. Visit at 8 a.m. on a weekday before you decide.

Price per square foot, fees and parking

condos.ca puts the building average at about $714 per square foot. When I checked, four two-bedrooms were listed for sale with asking prices from $598,000 to $719,900, all between 800 and 999 square feet. That is a low entry point for a two-bedroom this close to the core with a pool in the building.

Fees on those listings ran from about $856 to $883 a month, which works out to roughly $1.01 per square foot. That is higher than a newer tower, but the fee includes heat, air conditioning and water, and it carries a much larger amenity package than most buildings of this size. Hydro is on you.

Parking is not in the fee. One listing describes parking as rented from the building on a monthly basis, so ask whether a space comes with the suite, whether there is a waiting list and what it costs now. Lockers are assigned to suites, so confirm how many come with the one you are buying before you firm up.

Building specifications

Amenities at Celebrity Place

This is one of the deepest amenity packages in downtown east: pool, sauna, two kinds of courts, a library, a woodworking shop and a store on site. If you will actually use the pool and courts, the fee buys a lot; if you will not, you are still paying for them.

Jatin’s honest take on Celebrity Place

Celebrity Place — 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.