Cube Lofts, 799 College St: 21 Award-Winning Lofts in Little Italy

Cube Lofts is one of the few small new buildings on College Street that I would call genuinely well designed, and the City’s urban design jury agreed. It has 21 suites stacked in shifted dark boxes above the street, with double-height lofts, two penthouses with private elevator entry, and almost no common space at all. If you want amenities, look elsewhere. If you want a distinctive home in Little Italy, start here. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Shifted boxes, and an award to show for it

The building is the work of Quadrangle Architects for Neilas, with RAW Design handling construction documents and review. The idea is simple and visible from the sidewalk: a stack of dark steel and glass boxes that shift against one another, with retail at grade and residences above.

In 2013 it won a Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence in the mid-rise private buildings in context category. The jury singled out the clear expression of single and double-height units on the façade, which gives the street variety and gives each owner a home you can point to from outside.

That matters for resale more than people think. A building with a recognisable identity on a strong retail street tends to hold its buyer pool, because people specifically ask for it.

It also explains the building’s scale. At six storeys on a main street, it was built to the mid-rise envelope the City wants on College, rather than squeezed for maximum suite count. Twenty-one suites on this footprint is a low number, and that is why so many of them are large.

Double-height lofts and two penthouses

This is not a building of identical one-bedrooms. UrbanToronto reported a mix that included several large two-storey suites with floor-to-ceiling glass across both levels, and two penthouses with roof terraces. Ceiling heights are reported at roughly 10 to 20 feet depending on the plan, with the tallest in the double-height suites.

Sizes are wide for 21 units. Condos.ca lists about 546 to 2,129 sq ft, while UrbanToronto quoted roughly 778 sq ft to over 2,000 at launch, so the smallest plans may be configurations that were not marketed at the start. Either way, most suites here are larger than a typical downtown condo.

Each penthouse is reached by direct elevator entry: a fob sends the double-sided elevator to the correct door. Kitchens were designed with integrated appliances hidden behind cabinetry, with Caesarstone counters and engineered hardwood reported in the finishes. When you view a suite, check whether these have been kept or changed by a previous owner.

Parking on a stacker, and no lobby to speak of

Instead of digging a deep garage on a narrow College Street lot, the design uses stackable parking platforms that roughly double ground-level capacity from 10 spaces to 20. The award jury noted this too, because it shrank the footprint needed below ground.

Practically, a stacker means retrieving your car can take a moment, and some systems limit vehicle height or weight. Ask which platform position comes with the suite, what vehicles it accepts, and how the corporation budgets for maintaining the mechanism. Condos.ca lists parking as included in the fee, which is a real plus.

There is no large lobby and no amenity floor. The developer’s argument was that College Street itself, with its cafés, patios and restaurants, is the amenity. Condos.ca lists a rooftop deck and outdoor patio, BBQs permitted and a security system, and that is the extent of it.

College and Ossington, day to day

The building sits where Little Italy runs into Little Portugal, a stretch of College that is busy at night and pleasant in the morning. Ossington’s restaurants are a short walk west, and Trinity Bellwoods Park is a walk south.

The building was an early example of the City’s Avenues policy, which encourages mid-rise buildings on main streets. Expect more of that on College and nearby strips over time. That can mean construction nearby, but it also tends to support retail and values on the street. The automatic panel covers transit and walkability.

Living above a busy retail strip has a rhythm you should test before you buy. Visit on a Friday night and a Sunday morning, listen from the suite you are considering, and check which way the bedrooms face. A suite facing the small garden and mature tree beside the parking area will live very differently from one facing College.

What Cube Lofts costs per square foot

Condos.ca puts the building average around $947 per square foot. That is a premium figure for the west end, and it reflects the design, the larger and taller suites, and the fact that parking is included in the fee.

With 21 suites, the building rarely has more than one or two listings at once, and there were none active when I reviewed it. That makes the building average noisy. A penthouse or a double-height suite can trade at a very different rate per foot from a single-level plan, so compare suite types, not just the average. I would also look at how long suites have taken to sell here, because a small, unusual building can take longer to find the right buyer even when the price is fair.

Fees include common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not listed, so ask how the suites are heated and cooled and what owners typically pay. For recent trades in the building and nearby, you can book a call with me.

Building specifications

Amenities at Cube Lofts

You are not paying for a gym, a pool or a concierge here. The roof deck and patio are the shared spaces, and everything else is College Street, which is a fair trade if you would rather spend at the café than on the fee.

Jatin’s honest take on Cube Lofts

Cube Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, Kensington and Little Italy more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.