L Tower, 8 The Esplanade: Libeskind’s Curve Beside Meridian Hall

L Tower is the building people point at from the Gardiner. Daniel Libeskind’s curved glass tower rises 58 storeys from the corner of Yonge Street and The Esplanade, wrapped around the back of the theatre once called the Sony Centre and now Meridian Hall. It is a genuine piece of architecture, and it comes with a few practical quirks you need to understand before you buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A landmark that changed shape on the way up

L Tower began as part of a public-private plan to renew the old O’Keefe Centre, later the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts and now Meridian Hall. Studio Libeskind placed a residential tower beside the theatre, with a public plaza along its west side, and the tower’s north face curves up and back over the theatre roof. That curve is why you recognise the building from across the city.

The early design was more dramatic. The podium was meant to hold a multicultural community centre and museum, and the base was all sweeping curves. When the funding for that component never came, the lower floors were redesigned to hold more condominium suites, and the curves at street level became the angled columns and faceted entrance you see today.

Construction ran long. The tower was registered in 2015, but UrbanToronto noted that its crane only came down in 2016, closing what it called an unexpectedly drawn-out chapter, and Studio Libeskind lists the project as completed in 2016.

For an owner, the long build is history now. What matters is that Page + Steele / IBI Group were the architects of record who turned the concept into a working building, and that the finished tower is now a decade old, which is the age when a building’s first big maintenance cycle starts to show up in the reserve fund study.

Parking lives in the building next door

This is the quirk buyers most often miss. L Tower has no garage under its own footprint. Residents’ parking was built in the underground lot of the sister building, Backstage on The Esplanade, directly to the south, and you reach it by a pedestrian tunnel under The Esplanade.

In practice it works, but it means your parking space is tied to a shared facility and, in most buildings set up this way, to a shared-facilities agreement between the two corporations. Ask for that agreement with the status certificate, because it decides who pays for garage repairs and how the cost is split.

Parking is not listed among the fee inclusions here, so if a suite comes with a space, check whether there is a separate charge for it. Not every suite has one.

Suites, the curve and the views

Condos.ca lists suites from about 411 sq ft, and most of what trades is one-bedroom, one-plus-den and two-bedroom plans between about 600 and 1,000 sq ft. At the very top sits a two-storey penthouse that listing data puts at roughly 11,400 sq ft, one of the largest condominium suites in the city.

The curve affects layouts. Suites on the north side sit behind the signature curtain wall, and the higher you go, the more the floor plate changes shape. That produces some striking corner plans and some awkward ones, so judge each layout on its own merits rather than by its square footage.

South- and east-facing suites look toward the lake and over St. Lawrence. North-facing suites look up Yonge Street toward the Financial District. Lower floors face the Novotel, Backstage and other close neighbours, so the price difference between floors is real here.

The glass matters day to day as well. A building that is mostly curtain wall can run warm on sunny south and west exposures, and the fee covers air conditioning, so the cost of cooling is shared rather than on your own hydro bill. Ask how the heating and cooling equipment is maintained and when it is due for replacement.

The corner of Yonge and The Esplanade

You are at the western gateway to The Esplanade, a strip of restaurants and patios that runs east toward Church Street. Union Station, the Financial District, St. Lawrence Market, Berczy Park and Scotiabank Arena are all walkable, and the theatre is literally attached to the building.

That makes the block busy. Show nights bring crowds at Meridian Hall, and The Esplanade’s patios are full on summer evenings. If you want quiet, look for a higher suite away from the plaza, and visit on a weekend night before you decide.

The street keeps filling in. Backstage, The Berczy and 75 on the Esplanade have all gone up within a few blocks since L Tower started, which means more neighbours, more retail and more competing listings when you come to sell.

What L Tower costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $876 per square foot. That sits almost level with Vu on George Street and below Spire on Lombard Street at about $995, and London on the Esplanade at about $923. For a 2015 building with a famous architect, that is a reasonable entry point.

Current asking prices for one-bedroom-plus-den plans run from about $549,000 to about $817,000, depending on size and floor. Two-bedroom and two-plus-den plans are asking about $925,000 to $1.3 million. These are asking prices, not sales.

Asking fees on current listings average about $0.99 per square foot, ranging from about $645 to about $1,276 a month. Heat and air conditioning are in that fee, which helps, but parking is not, so compare total monthly cost with a building like Spire that includes it. For a closer look at a specific suite, I can run a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at L Tower

Condos.ca lists a concierge, guest suites, a media room, a meeting room and an outdoor patio. Ask management for the full current list, including fitness facilities, and whether any amenities are shared with Backstage, because shared spaces come with shared costs. Many owners here treat The Esplanade, the market and the waterfront as their real amenities, and the package reflects that.

Jatin’s honest take on L Tower

L Tower — 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.