Enigma on the Park, 138 St Helens Ave: Chevron Lofts on MacGregor Park

Enigma on the Park is the building I mention when someone says every new Toronto condo looks the same. Its chevron-panelled, fanned-out form is hard to miss on a quiet street south of Bloor and Lansdowne, and many of its 86 suites look straight onto MacGregor Park. It is young, it is unusual, and its dozens of layouts mean you have to judge each suite on its own. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A building designed not to look like a box

Aragon brought in Quadrangle Architects (now BDP Quadrangle), with Richard Witt leading the design, and the result is deliberately strange. The plan is an L-shaped courtyard open to the park at one end and St Helens at the other, with a shifted upper block that bridges over the lower buildings. The outside is wrapped in grey and white fibre-cement panels in a chevron pattern, and canted window frames give the impression that the walls themselves are tilted.

The practical effect is that few suites share the same view or the same shape. The Globe and Mail reported about 40 different floor plans at launch, and UrbanToronto later put the figure at more than 50. Either way, that is a remarkable number for 86 suites.

The site replaced aging light industrial buildings. The project is mixed-use: a three-storey office block of about 1,717 square metres sits on the west side, where it screens the homes from the rail corridor, and Aragon said at the time it planned to put its own Toronto office there.

The park is the reason to buy here

The site backs directly onto MacGregor Park to the south, and many suites face it. The building’s shape creates a courtyard effect around the park edge, so the outlook from those suites is trees and open space rather than the next building.

Across St Helens are private homes, and when the project launched the land to the north was industrial. The area had little new development at the time, which is why the launch coverage said suites above the fourth or fifth floor would have long views. That is still largely true, but the Bloor and Lansdowne area is changing, so check the City’s development applications before you pay for a view.

The other side of the site is the rail corridor carrying the GO Barrie line. The office block was placed on the west side specifically to screen the homes from it, which helps, but suites on the north and west sides will still be closer to the trains. If quiet matters to you, ask which way the bedroom faces and visit when trains are running.

If you are choosing between two suites, I would put park-facing ahead of almost any other feature. It is the thing this building has that most of its neighbours do not.

Loft finishes, townhomes and 40-odd plans

Suites range from studios to three bedrooms, about 422 to 1,567 sq ft. Launch materials described 9 to 10 foot ceilings, engineered hardwood and reclaimed brick feature walls, which give a soft-loft building some of the warmth of an older conversion.

The townhome block along St Helens includes two and three-storey residences with their own street-level entrances, finished in brick and metal panel. Those suit buyers who want a front door rather than a corridor, and they are a different product from the stacked suites above. Compare them with each other, not with the tower units.

With so many plans, square footage alone tells you very little. Angled walls and windows are striking, but they can make furniture placement awkward. Bring a floor plan and measure the walls you will actually use.

How many storeys, and what is in the complex

The published numbers do not quite line up. UrbanToronto reported the building reaching its final height of nine storeys in 2018, over a four-storey podium, while condos.ca lists seven. Launch coverage also targeted occupancy for summer 2016, while registration came in early 2020.

The complex has three parts: the stacked residential block, a townhome block along St Helens in the southeast corner that steps down to the neighbouring houses, and the office building on the west. UrbanToronto’s 2018 suite breakdown was 3 bachelors, 38 one-bedrooms, 40 two-bedrooms and 5 three-bedrooms.

None of that is unusual for a project that evolved between launch and completion, but it means you should rely on the registered declaration and the status certificate, not marketing, for what the condominium contains, what the commercial component owns, and how shared costs between them are divided.

What Enigma on the Park costs per square foot

Condos.ca puts the building average around $844 per square foot. That is a mid-market figure for a building of this age in the west end, and it sits below many newer Bloor corridor projects while offering a park outlook few of them can match.

Only one suite was listed when I reviewed the building, so I cannot give you a meaningful current asking range. With 86 suites and around 40 layouts, the building average also blends very different products, from studios to multi-level towns. A park-facing two-bedroom and an interior studio will never trade at the same rate per foot, so I would look at sales by suite type and exposure rather than the headline number.

The fee covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance and water. Parking is not listed as included, so confirm whether a suite comes with a spot and what it costs. For a proper read on recent trades by layout, book a call with me.

Building specifications

Amenities at Enigma on the Park

The amenity package is modest: a gym and a media room, with launch materials describing a walkout to a rooftop terrace. With MacGregor Park on the doorstep, most owners will spend their outdoor time there.

Jatin’s honest take on Enigma on the Park

Enigma on the Park — 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.