Central Condos, 38 Widmer St: Concord’s Tech Tower on a Side Street

Central Condos at 38 Widmer Street is the building Concord Adex pitched as a tech tower: building-wide Wi-Fi, conference rooms, EV-ready parking and refrigerated parcel storage. It is newly registered, it sits on a narrow side street in the middle of the Entertainment District, and it has roughly one parking space for every three suites. Those three facts tell you most of what you need to know. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A site with a long planning history

Widmer Street used to be lined with Victorian row houses. A previous owner, Storey Living, demolished a block of them in 2017 to make way for a 41-storey proposal designed by Graziani + Corazza, then sold the site to Concord Adex. Concord brought in DIALOG and built the tower that stands there now, with shoring starting in 2019 and a seven-level underground pit finished by the summer of 2020.

I mention the history because it explains the shape. The building sits on a tight mid-block lot, so the footprint narrows above the second floor into a slim point tower. Slim towers usually mean fewer suites per floor and more corner exposure, which is good for light. They also mean more exterior wall per suite, which is worth keeping in mind as the building ages.

The finished tower uses a glass window-wall envelope installed by BVGlazing Systems. Window wall is the standard for downtown towers of this era, and it performs well when maintained, but its seals and caulking need regular attention. Ask whether the reserve fund study budgets for envelope maintenance from the start; buildings that put it off pay for it later.

Sources disagree on the height. UrbanToronto reported 46 storeys, condos.ca lists 45 floors, and the original marketing said 52. The registered declaration is the one to trust, and it matters if you are paying a premium for a particular floor.

What the ‘tech building’ pitch means in practice

Concord sold Central on connectivity: Wi-Fi throughout the common areas, conference rooms for residents, EV charging capability across the garage and refrigerated storage for grocery and parcel deliveries. Beanfield Fibre is also listed as available. For someone who works from home and orders groceries online, those are useful, everyday features rather than gimmicks.

The thing to understand is that technology ages faster than concrete. Wi-Fi systems, access control, parcel lockers and EV chargers all need upgrades and service contracts. Ask the corporation which of these systems it owns, which are leased, and what the contracts cost each year. Those numbers sit inside your fee whether you use the features or not.

Confirm what was actually delivered against what was marketed. Pre-construction marketing and the finished building often differ, and the status certificate and the corporation’s disclosure are the only reliable record of what is a common element here.

Parking: 128 spaces for 426 suites

UrbanToronto reported that the garage was built for 128 cars and 341 bicycles. In plain terms, most suites were sold without a parking space, and bicycles were planned for in far greater numbers than cars. That is normal for a tower this central, and it reflects how most people here actually get around.

If you need a car, buy a suite that comes with a space, because buying or renting one separately later depends on what other owners are willing to give up. If you do not need a car, you are in the majority, and the lack of parking will not hold back your resale the way it would in the suburbs.

Living on Widmer

Widmer is a short side street, which helps. You are a block from the theatre and restaurant crush on King Street, but the building does not front onto it. Cinema Tower and the Theatre District Residence are close neighbours, so this is a block of tall towers, and you should check what each suite faces before you fall for a floor plan.

The Entertainment District is loud on game nights, festival weeks and weekends. That is the trade for being able to walk to almost everything downtown. Visit at 11 p.m. on a Saturday as well as on a weekday morning, and listen from inside the suite with the windows closed.

What Central costs, and how the fee compares

The building average sits around $1,014 per square foot. That is a new-build price, and it reflects the fact that much of what trades here is a first or second resale of suites bought during pre-construction.

When I reviewed it there were six suites for sale, asking from roughly $650,000 to about $1,018,000. Listings in the 600 to 699 square foot band, which included one-plus-dens and compact two-bedrooms, asked about $650,000 to $699,000, and the three-bedroom listings asked roughly $699,000 to $1,018,000. Fees ran from about $482 to about $817 a month, roughly $0.82 per square foot.

One way to read those numbers: the gap between the 600-square-foot suites and the three-bedrooms is narrower than you would expect from the size difference. In a new tower, the larger plans often trade at a lower price per square foot because the pool of buyers who can afford them is smaller. If you need the space, that is where the better value per foot usually sits.

That fee is reasonable for a new tower, but I could not confirm what it includes. Early fees in a new building are often set low and rise once the corporation has real operating history, so look at the budget and the reserve fund study, not just today’s number. For sold figures, use the aggregate data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Central Condos

The amenity package is built around working and receiving deliveries at home, with a concierge, a gym, conference rooms and refrigerated parcel storage. That is more useful day to day than a rarely used pool, but the technology needs maintenance and upgrades, and that cost sits in your fee.

Jatin’s honest take on Central Condos

Central Condos — 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.