Harbourside, 55 & 65 Harbour Square: Big 1980 Suites by the Ferry Docks

Harbourside is where I send buyers who want real square footage on the water and are prepared to do the homework an older building requires. Campeau finished this tower in 1980 as a later phase of Harbour Square, right beside the Toronto Island ferry docks, and its largest suites are bigger than many houses. The fee looks high until you see what it covers. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Part of the waterfront’s first big redevelopment

Harbour Square was one of the first major attempts to turn Toronto’s industrial harbour into a place to live. The plan, started in the 1960s and built out through the 1970s, filled in the old Bay Street shipping slip and added the hotel now known as the Westin Harbour Castle, Harbour Square Park and the Harbour Square condominiums. The island ferry terminal was shifted east as part of the same project.

The development was governed by an agreement between Campeau Corporation, the Toronto Harbour Commission and the City. It drew strong criticism at the time for its size and for walling off the water’s edge, and the complex is often seen as a forerunner of the later Harbourfront project to the west.

Harbourside, at 55 and 65 Harbour Square, is the 1980 tower in that complex. Its older neighbour at 33 Harbour Square was finished in 1976, and One York Quay came along about a decade after Harbourside. The ferry docks are next door, which is the location’s defining feature.

Suites sized for a different era

Suite sizes here run from about 287 square feet to roughly 3,626 square feet. The small end includes compact studios, but the building’s reputation comes from the other end: large one-plus-dens, two- and three-bedroom suites, and a handful of very large residences that compete with houses for downsizers.

Listings when I wrote this ranged from a one-bedroom in the 700 to 799 square foot band to three-bedroom suites priced near $2 million and above. A 1980 one-bedroom that size would be a one-plus-den or a small two-bedroom in a new tower, and that space is the main reason people choose this building.

Finishes vary hugely. Some suites have been taken back to the slab and rebuilt; others still have original kitchens and bathrooms. Price any renovation into your offer, and ask the management office about the rules and approvals the corporation requires for major work.

A fee that covers almost every bill

Harbourside’s fee includes common elements, heat, air conditioning, hydro, cable TV, water, building insurance and parking. In most buildings finished after 2000, hydro is on your own meter and parking is extra. Here, the fee is close to your entire monthly housing cost apart from the mortgage and property tax.

Active listings showed fees from roughly $775 a month for a one-bedroom to about $2,100. That is high in dollar terms, but in a 2,000-plus square foot suite, a separate hydro bill for heating and cooling would be substantial, so compare total monthly cost, not the fee alone.

The catch with bundled utilities is that every owner shares the building’s energy bill. When rates rise, fees follow. Ask for the last five years of budgets and fee increases, and whether the board is planning any energy retrofits.

Living at the foot of York Street

You live on the harbour itself. The waterfront promenade is at the door, the island ferries leave next to the building, and in summer the parks and beaches of the Toronto Islands are a short boat ride away. The PATH, Union Station area and the financial district are on the other side of the Gardiner and the rail corridor.

The trade-off is summer. Queens Quay and the ferry docks draw large crowds from May to September, and festival weekends are busy and noisy. Lower north-facing suites look toward the expressway. Transit, schools and Walk Score are in the automatic panel on this page.

Winter is the opposite. Once the crowds leave, this stretch of the waterfront becomes quiet, the wind off the lake is real, and the walk to the core under the Gardiner is the part residents talk about most. Many owners love the contrast between the two seasons, but view the building in January as well as July if you can, so you know what both feel like.

What Harbourside costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $825 per square foot. For a waterfront building with suites this large, that is good value against new towers nearby, which often ask well over $1,000 per square foot for much smaller suites with parking and hydro extra.

When I wrote this there were seven listings for sale and two for rent. Suites were asking from about $620,000 to about $2.48 million, with one-plus-dens between roughly $900,000 and $1.09 million. One low-priced listing was not a suite at all but appeared to be a parking or storage unit, so check the listing type.

Lake-facing suites on higher floors trade at a clear premium over city-facing and lower suites. Before you set a budget, ask me for the building sold report so you can see what comparable suites have actually sold for.

Building specifications

Amenities at Harbourside

An indoor pool, sauna and squash court reflect the era the building was designed in, and with 602 suites sharing the cost they remain affordable to run. Staffed security and concierge matter at an address next to one of the busiest public spots on the waterfront. Ask how old the pool equipment is and when it was last refurbished, because that is one of the larger future costs an amenity package like this carries.

Jatin’s honest take on Harbourside

Harbourside — 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.