3130 Yonge St & 55-60 Lorindale Ave: Boutique Condos in Lawrence Park

This is one of the quietest ways to own on Yonge Street north of Lawrence. The condominium at 3130 Yonge and 55 to 60 Lorindale Avenue is a 78-suite, 2002 building split across a Yonge frontage and a dead-end side street, with suites big enough for downsizers and a price per square foot that surprised me. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One corporation, three addresses

Most buyers find this building under one address and are surprised to learn it is three. TSCC-1444 covers 3130 Yonge Street on the main street and 55 and 60 Lorindale Avenue on the side street behind it, for 78 suites in total.

The sources do not agree on its height. Condos.ca lists seven floors, while its own overview text describes a five-storey building, and a listing for 55 Lorindale describes that building as about 25 suites on five floors. The most likely explanation is that the buildings differ in height, but I could not confirm the storey count of each. Walk the site and ask the manager before you rely on any one figure.

What the three-address layout gives you is choice of setting. A Yonge Street address puts you on the shopping street; a Lorindale address puts you on a short, quiet dead-end, which is closer to how the houses around it live. Ask which building a suite is in before you book a showing, because the same corporation can feel like two different places.

House-sized suites in a small building

Suites run from about 657 to 2,152 square feet, which is an unusually wide range for a building this small. At the top end, these are full-size homes, and that is what draws buyers leaving detached houses in Lawrence Park, Bedford Park and York Mills who want to stay in the neighbourhood.

A 78-suite building also means a short hallway, a small number of neighbours and an elevator you rarely wait for. The trade-off is that every big repair is split among fewer owners, so a healthy reserve fund matters more here than in a large tower.

Listings describe an elevator, underground parking and a well-kept, quiet building. Finishes are now more than 20 years old in suites that have not been updated, so budget for a kitchen or bathroom renovation if the suite you like is original. The upside is that a dated large suite is often where the best value in a building like this sits, because many buyers walk past it.

The fee question: sources conflict

This is the point I would resolve before anything else. Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, building insurance and water only. A listing for a suite at 55 Lorindale says heat, central air conditioning, parking, water and insurance are included and hydro is not.

Those are very different budgets. If heat and cooling are on your own meter, your true monthly cost is the fee plus utilities; if they are bundled, the fee carries them. Listings also describe heat-pump equipment in at least one suite, which hints that heating may be by suite, but that is not proof either way.

Ask the listing agent for the status certificate and the most recent budget. They will show exactly what the corporation pays for and what you pay directly, which is the only way to compare this building fairly with its neighbours.

Yonge north of Lawrence

The building sits in Lawrence Park North, where Yonge Street carries the shops, restaurants and services and the side streets around it are mostly detached houses. It is a residential stretch of Yonge rather than a high-rise node, which is a large part of its appeal.

Listings mention the subway, shops, a library, parks, places of worship and Highway 401 access within reach. The data panel beside this review shows the nearest station, schools, parks and food, so I will not repeat distances here.

Yonge is still a busy road, with buses, traffic and deliveries through the day. If you are sensitive to noise, compare a Yonge-facing suite with one on Lorindale at different times of day; in a complex like this, the difference between two suites in the same corporation can be bigger than the difference between two buildings.

The other thing that is changing slowly is density. Yonge Street through midtown has attracted mid-rise and tower proposals for years, and new buildings bring construction, more neighbours and more competing supply. Check the City of Toronto’s development application map for anything proposed near the site before you buy.

Pricing: well below its Yonge Street neighbours

This building averages about $601 per square foot. That is low for Yonge Street in Lawrence Park. For comparison, Lawrence Park on Rosewell averages about $786, The Lawrence Park Condominiums at 2727 Yonge about $800, and 3018 Yonge, finished in 2016, about $1,063.

Some of that gap is age and finish, and some may be the fee question above: if utilities are not in the fee, buyers price that in. A small building also produces few sales, so a single sale of a large, dated suite can move the average more than it would in a 300-suite tower. Treat the figure as a guide, not a rule.

There were no suites listed for sale when I checked, so there is no current asking range to quote. With so few sales, I would look at the building’s recent sales in aggregate in the panel beside this review, and at the condition of each one. My building sold report is a good place to start.

Building specifications

Amenities at Lawrence Park Condos (3130 Yonge St and 55-60 Lorindale Ave)

There is no pool or concierge on the list. You get rooms for gatherings, an exercise room, visitor parking and a secured garage, which suits owners who want a quiet residence and use Yonge Street itself as their amenity.

Jatin’s honest take on Lawrence Park Condos (3130 Yonge St and 55-60 Lorindale Ave)

Lawrence Park Condos (3130 Yonge St and 55-60 Lorindale Ave) — 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.