Governor’s Hill I, 3800 Yonge St: Big Suites, Full Fee List at York Mills

Governor’s Hill I is where I take downsizers who are leaving a large house in Lawrence Park, Hoggs Hollow or the Bridle Path and are not ready to live small. It is a 10-storey building from 1990 with 143 suites, none under about 1,000 square feet, a pool, a concierge and a fee that covers almost every bill. The fee is large, and so are the suites; the question is whether the trade fits your life. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A mid-rise built for people leaving houses

Condos.ca puts the suite range at about 1,000 to 4,277 square feet. There is no entry-level studio or compact one-bedroom here. Even the smallest plans are the size of a generous two-bedroom in a new tower, and the largest are bigger than many detached homes in the city.

That tells you who the building was designed for. At ten storeys with 143 suites, it is low enough to feel residential on this stretch of Yonge, but big enough to support a staffed lobby and a pool. The buyers I meet here are mostly downsizers who want to keep their furniture, their dinner parties and their address.

It also means the building has a narrow buyer pool when you sell. Large suites take longer to sell than small ones in almost every building, and here nearly every suite is large. Plan your timing accordingly.

Renovation history matters more here than in most buildings. A 1990 suite of 2,000 square feet or more can be anything from original to fully rebuilt, and the difference can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ask what has been done, when, by whom, and whether the corporation approved any plumbing, electrical or wall changes.

Two buildings, one name

Governor’s Hill II sits further south at 3600 Yonge Street. Condos.ca lists it as a 2000 building with ten storeys and 119 suites, registered as MTCC-1331, with suites of about 1,087 to 5,376 square feet. An agent’s page on Elli Davis’s site describes the pair together and attributes both to Tridel, though condos.ca does not name a developer for either.

They are separate corporations with separate boards, budgets and reserve funds, and their fee lists differ. Condos.ca lists hydro, water and cable TV in this building’s fee, while Governor’s Hill II’s list on condos.ca shows air conditioning, common elements, heat, building insurance and parking but not hydro. If you are choosing between them, compare the full monthly cost, not just the fee.

Price per foot differs too. Condos.ca averages about $881 per square foot here and about $825 at Governor’s Hill II, so the older building is not the cheaper one on that measure.

What the amenity list means in practice

Condos.ca lists a concierge, a security guard, a security system, an indoor pool, a sauna and a parking garage. The Elli Davis page, which covers both Governor’s Hill buildings, adds a saltwater pool, squash courts, a fitness area, guest suites, a library, a wine cellar, porter service, valet parking and an on-site property manager. I have not been able to confirm which of those belong to each building, so ask on a tour.

If those details hold for this building, the package is closer to a full-service hotel than a typical condo. That is a large part of what the fee pays for, and it is the reason owners here rarely compare their fees with those in a standard tower. It is also the part of the budget that grows with time, because staff wages and pool upkeep rarely get cheaper.

Life near Yonge and York Mills

The building sits on the stretch of Yonge just south of York Mills Road, above the Hoggs Hollow valley. The Elli Davis page points to York Mills Valley Park, Jolly Miller Park and two nearby golf courses, and that green setting is part of the appeal for owners who are used to a garden.

Shopping and restaurants are along Yonge, both north at York Mills and south toward Lawrence. The panel beside this review shows the transit, school and park details, so I will not repeat distances here. For most owners, it is a quiet, established address with the city’s main street at the door.

The other daily reality is that this is a building many owners treat as a lock-and-leave home. With a concierge, a guard and almost every utility in the fee, an owner can spend a winter away without arranging someone to check on the place, and that is often the deciding factor over a house on a nearby street.

Pricing: the highest per-foot number on this list, and why

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $881 per square foot. That is high for a 1990 building, and it reflects the address, the service level and the fact that renovated large suites in this part of Yonge hold their value well.

Three suites were listed for sale when I checked, with asking prices ranging from $840,000 to $3,500,000, and monthly fees ranging from about $1,500 to $5,178. That fee range is a direct result of suite size, and it covers what would be separate bills elsewhere: hydro, heat, cooling, cable, water and parking.

For a building of this size and type, the 12-month trading data in the panel is the best anchor. Ask me for a building sold report that includes Governor’s Hill II, so you can see both buildings side by side.

Building specifications

Amenities at Governor’s Hill I

A pool, sauna and a staffed lobby in a 143-suite building make daily life feel serviced rather than shared. If the extra features described for the Governor’s Hill pair apply here, the amenity package is unusually deep for a building this size.

Jatin’s honest take on Governor’s Hill I

Governor’s Hill I — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.