Eleven Residences, 11 St Joseph St: A Quiet Mid-Rise Off Bay and Wellesley

Eleven Residences is the building I show buyers who want to live between Yonge and Bay without living on either of them. It is a 17-storey, 206-suite mid-rise on a short side street just south of Wellesley, with a rooftop terrace and a fee that already covers hydro, heat and cooling. What you trade for the quiet is a smaller amenity list and suites that are now about 20 years old. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A side-street building in a tower district

St. Joseph Street is a short block between Bay and Yonge, and over the past decade it has filled with towers. Five Condos at 5 St Joseph rose to 48 storeys in 2016, and 1 Thousand Bay at 57 St Joseph followed the same year. Polo Club II at 44 St Joseph is the old-timer, from 1988.

At 17 storeys and 206 suites, Eleven Residences sits in the middle of that range. It is big enough to support a concierge and a rooftop terrace, small enough that you get to know the faces in the lobby. Listing descriptions consistently call it a boutique building with an elegant lobby, and that is a fair description.

The quiet is real. Traffic on St. Joseph is mostly local, which means suites here avoid the constant noise of Bay or Yonge. The trade-off is that the new towers next door now define the views from many suites, so look carefully at what the suite you are viewing actually faces.

Suites and finishes

Suites run from about 433 sq ft to about 1,279 sq ft. Most of what trades is one-bedrooms and one-plus-dens in the 600 to 700 sq ft range, with two-bedrooms near 900 to 1,000 sq ft at the top of the market.

A buyer’s first-hand account on a public forum, written when suites were first being sold, describes a full interior redesign with quartz counters, wood flooring and European-style kitchens, credited to a design firm the writer could not name with certainty. I could not confirm the designer from an official source, so treat that as background rather than a selling point.

The same forum post and current listings both point to a detail worth checking. One listing says parking can be rented through the building’s rental office, and the forum writer said the whole building was reportedly for sale at the time. That suggests a building that may have started life as, or still includes, rental suites. Ask the listing agent and read the status certificate for how many suites are owned by a single owner or held as rentals.

Because the suites are about 20 years old, condition varies a lot from one to the next. Some owners have renovated kitchens and bathrooms; others still have the original finishes. Look closely at the flooring, the in-suite heating and cooling unit and the windows, and price the suite for what it is, not for the best renovated one on the floor.

Bay and Wellesley, without the noise

The location covers a lot of ground on foot. The University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, Queen’s Park, Yorkville and the hospitals on University Avenue are all within walking distance, and the Financial District is a straight run south. Wellesley station is close; the data panel has the details.

For students and medical staff, this is a practical address. For professionals who work in the core and want to come home to a side street, it is a pleasant one. You are close enough to walk to Yorkville for dinner, and far enough off the main roads to sleep with the window open.

This pocket is still changing. More towers are proposed around Bay, Wellesley and Yonge, so check the City of Toronto development applications map for anything that could affect your light or your view.

The upside of all that building is more shops, cafés and services within a block or two. The downside is construction: cranes, lane closures and noise can last for years on a street this short. Ask the property manager what is planned nearby and whether any neighbouring site has started work.

What Eleven Residences costs per square foot

The building average sits around $765 per square foot. That is well below the newer towers on the same street, with Five Condos at about $898 and 1 Thousand Bay at about $1,015, and above the much older Polo Club II at about $696.

Three suites are for sale right now, asking between about $500,000 and about $875,000 near 1,000 sq ft, with a one-plus-den in between. Three listings in a 206-suite building is a healthy level of choice, and it gives you real comparables to negotiate against rather than a single asking price.

Fees on the active listings average about $1.09 per square foot, or roughly $700 to $900 a month for those suites. That looks high next to the newer towers on St. Joseph, but the fee here includes hydro, heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance and parking where the suite has a space. Add separately metered hydro and parking back onto a newer building before you compare.

For recent sold prices and rents, see the data panel or my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Eleven Residences

The rooftop terrace with barbecues is the amenity I would use most here, along with the fitness centre and theatre. There is no pool to fund, which helps keep a fee this inclusive under control in a 206-suite building. The bike room with a car wash station is a small, practical touch, and the concierge handles the parcels that a building this close to the universities receives every day.

Jatin’s honest take on Eleven Residences

Eleven Residences — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.