Harbourpoint III, 270 Queens Quay W: The Corner Tower at Rees Street

Harbourpoint III is the corner tower of the complex, at Queens Quay and Rees, and it is the one I usually show first when a buyer wants lake views without paying new-tower prices. It is a 1987 building with a plain masonry exterior and older suites, but the location is excellent and the fee covers parking. I’ll tell you exactly what to check before you make an offer. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The last of the three Harbourpoint towers

Harbourpoint was built in three phases at 250, 260 and 270 Queens Quay West: a 20-storey first tower, then two 30-storey towers. Harbourpoint III is the last, registered in July 1987, and it holds the corner at Rees Street. All three sit on a shared four-storey parking podium.

The credits are not consistent across sources. Listing sites name Huang and Danczkay as the builder. The Architectural Conservancy Ontario record for the complex lists Northgrave Architect as the architect, Harbourfront Corporation as the developer and Huang and Danczkay as the general contractor. I would treat Huang and Danczkay as the builder and the architect credit as likely but not confirmed.

The design has never been loved. A Skyrise Cities critique gave the complex a D, describing the upper floors as a uniform wall of beige masonry. I agree it is plain. It is also in one of the best locations on the waterfront, and the price reflects the looks more than the location.

Suites, views and the corner advantage

Like its sister towers, Harbourpoint III was designed in an era of larger rooms. Current listings include one-plus-dens in the 700 to 1,000 sq ft range and larger two-plus-den suites, which is more space than the same budget buys in most new waterfront towers.

Being on the corner at Rees gives some suites a wider outlook than the middle tower can offer, toward the harbour on one side and the CN Tower and the city on the other. Upper south-facing suites have the views people pay for. Lower and north-facing suites are where the bargains, and the compromises, tend to be.

Condition varies widely. Some suites have been fully renovated, while others still have original kitchens, bathrooms and windows from the late 1980s. Budget for renovation if the suite you like has not been updated, and price it against renovated suites, not the building average.

Amenities and what the fee covers

The amenity list is better than the exterior suggests. A recent listing describes a rooftop garden with a running track, benches and barbecues, a hot tub, a sauna, an exercise room, a party room, a racquetball court, a 24-hour concierge and video security. Condos.ca adds bike storage. Ask which facilities belong to this tower and which are shared across the complex.

Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and air conditioning are not on that list, so ask how the suite is heated and cooled and what the winter bills look like. Condos.ca lists a slightly different set of inclusions for Harbourpoint II next door, with cable included and parking not, so check the status certificate and budget rather than relying on a listing site.

Current listings average about $0.79 per square foot in fees. That is moderate for a building of this age, but it does not include the heating cost that many older buildings fold into the fee, so compare all-in monthly costs.

Parking in the fee is a real saving downtown, but only if the suite actually comes with a space. Confirm in the status certificate whether the space is owned, assigned or exclusive-use, where it sits in the shared podium garage, and whether a locker comes with it, because those details affect both your monthly cost and your resale.

Living at Queens Quay and Rees

Rees Street puts you at the western edge of the busiest part of the central waterfront. Across the road are the water’s edge promenade and parks, and a short walk east brings you to Harbourfront Centre. The CN Tower, Rogers Centre and the financial district are a short walk north and east.

The rebuilt Queens Quay, with its tree-lined promenade and bike lanes, has made the street far more pleasant than it was when these towers went up. The transit and walkability figures are in the data panel on this page. Expect summer crowds and event-night traffic, and look at how a suite faces if quiet matters to you.

What Harbourpoint III costs

Condos.ca does not show a building average per square foot for this tower, but its sister building at 260 Queens Quay averages about $652, and I would expect this tower to sit in a similar band. The sold data panel on this page shows where it has actually traded. That is well below newer Queens Quay and CityPlace towers, and it is the discount for age, dated suites and the exterior.

When I wrote this there were three suites for sale and two for lease. Across those three listings asking prices ran from about $509,000 to about $1.39 million, with fees between roughly $650 and $1,320 a month.

That spread tells you how much suite size, view and renovation matter here. If you want to know what a specific suite should sell for, I can pull the closest comparables through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Harbourpoint III

The rooftop garden with a running track is the feature I would show a buyer first, because it is an uncommon feature in a downtown building. The rest is a solid 1980s package without a pool, which keeps some cost out of the reserve fund.

Jatin’s honest take on Harbourpoint III

Harbourpoint III — 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.