HighPark Condominiums, 1830 Bloor St W: Daniels Across From the Park

HighPark Condominiums is the building I show buyers who want to look out at High Park every morning without paying house prices for it. It is a 2015 Daniels building by Diamond Schmitt, 14 storeys on Bloor just west of Keele, with a climbing wall, rooftop garden plots and a park-facing terrace. It is also one of the pricier buildings per foot on this stretch of Bloor, and a share of its suites are rented. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Built to face the park

The whole design is a response to the view. Diamond Schmitt gave the building a 14-storey main body with two nine-storey arms running south toward Bloor, so a large share of suites face the park, and an entry courtyard sits between the arms. Retail lines the ground floor on Bloor.

The finishes are better than the usual glass box. The west arm is clad in real brick rather than precast panels, the north side is in buff brick, and the ground-floor glass and balcony panels carry a ceramic frit pattern to cut bird strikes. Across from a park full of birds, that last detail is more than decoration.

From the upper floors, and from the higher terraces, the view runs past the park to Lake Ontario and the downtown skyline. On the lower floors on the south side, you look into the tree canopy instead, which some buyers prefer. That is green most of the year and bare in winter, so view a lower suite in both seasons if you can.

Before Daniels, the site was a row of houses on Bloor and Oakmount Road that sat boarded up for years after a rental landlord assembled the land. The first plan in 2011 called for 364 suites at seven to 13 storeys; the final building came in taller and larger.

A climbing wall and garden plots

Daniels likes amenities that get people out of their suites, and this building is a good example. There is a rock climbing wall linking the second- and third-floor amenity spaces, which is rare in a Toronto condo, plus a yoga and pilates studio, an exercise room and a billiards room.

Outside, there are rooftop community gardening plots, several green roofs and terraces overlooking the treetops of High Park, including a party room terrace looking out to the lake and the skyline. There is bike storage with a bike prep area, and a dog wash. If you have a dog and a bike, this building was designed with you in mind.

What it does not have is a pool, and that helps keep the fee in check.

Owners, renters and the Daniels rental arm

This is a registered condominium with normal resales, but Daniels Gateway, the company’s rental division, also markets rental suites in the building, with its own service promise on repairs. Combined with ordinary investor-owned rentals, that means you will share elevators and amenities with a fair number of tenants.

That is not a problem in itself; a professionally managed rental block can be quieter than a scattering of individual landlords. But it matters for governance and resale. Ask how many suites Daniels or any related company still owns, and whether that affects voting at the board level.

Suites and the daily reality on Bloor

Suites run from about 320 to 1,645 sq ft by condos.ca’s range, from small one-bedrooms to penthouse-level plans. Most of what trades is one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den, and the price you pay depends heavily on whether the suite faces south over the park or north over the neighbourhood.

If you want one of the bigger plans, expect less choice. Every active sale listing when I checked was a one-bedroom or one-bedroom-plus-den, so a park-facing two-bedroom is something you wait for, and it competes with the townhouses and semis in the surrounding streets. Be patient and have financing in place.

Daily life is simple. You cross Bloor into High Park for running, dog walks and Grenadier Pond, walk east to the Bloor and Keele corner, or walk west to Bloor West Village for shops and restaurants. Keele and High Park subway stations are on either side, and the UP Express at Bloor is nearby for the airport.

Pricing: a park premium

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,074 per square foot, which is high for a 2015 building in the west end. You pay for the location directly across from the park and for the Daniels name, and south-facing suites with clear park views sell at the top of the range.

When I checked, five suites were for sale. The one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den listings were asking from roughly $469,000 to $760,000, a wide spread that reflects size, floor and view more than anything else. A few suites were also for rent.

One caution on the averages: with a building this size, the mix of what sold in a given month moves the number. A few park-facing penthouse trades can lift it, and a run of small north-facing one-bedrooms can pull it down. Ask for comparables in the same stack and orientation as the suite you want.

Fees on those listings averaged about $0.96 per square foot. That looks steep until you count what is included: heat, air conditioning, a parking space and water as well as the usual common elements and insurance. Compare total monthly cost, not the fee line alone. For recorded trades, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at HighPark Condominiums

The amenities are geared toward people who are active outdoors: climbing, yoga, cycling, gardening and dogs, with the park across the street. There is no pool, which keeps the fee lower.

Jatin’s honest take on HighPark Condominiums

HighPark Condominiums — frequently asked questions

Looking at High Park North more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.