Leaside Manor, 3 Southvale Dr: 38 Large Suites Beside the Leaside Arena

Leaside Manor is a downsizer’s building, and it does not pretend otherwise. There are 38 suites over seven storeys on Southvale Drive, next to the Leaside arena, and every one of them is a two- or three-bedroom plan of more than 1,000 square feet. It is also one of the most expensive buildings per square foot in this part of the city, and I will tell you where I think that premium is and is not earned. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

No one-bedrooms, by design

The Harvey Kalles page on Baghai’s projects says the building was planned around family-sized suites with no one-bedroom plans, and lists two-bedroom-plus-den and three-bedroom-plus-den layouts. Condos.ca’s size range of about 1,081 to 1,431 square feet fits that exactly.

That makes Leaside Manor unusual. Almost every new building in the city has a large share of small suites sold to investors. Here, the smallest suite is roughly the size of a large two-bedroom elsewhere, and the buyer pool on resale is almost entirely end-users: Leaside house owners who want to stay in the neighbourhood without the stairs, the snow and the maintenance.

With 38 suites across seven floors, there are only five or six suites per floor. That usually means more suites with two exposures, short corridors and neighbours you will know by name; check the plan for any suite you are considering.

For a downsizer, the useful comparison is not another condo but the house you are leaving. A Leaside detached house carries a roof, a furnace, windows, a driveway and a garden that all need money and attention. Here, those costs become part of a shared fee and reserve fund split 38 ways. The question to ask is whether the suite is large enough that you will not miss the house, and at over 1,000 square feet, many of these plans are.

The builder

Shane Baghai has been building in Toronto for more than four decades. He trained as a mechanical engineer, started with custom homes in North York, and moved into multi-unit projects in 1989 with luxury townhomes. His best-known mid-rise is Watergarden, a 40-suite building designed with the architect Arthur Erickson. He also builds large country homes in Caledon.

That background is relevant. Baghai is a small, owner-led builder rather than a volume developer, and Leaside Manor is close to the scale he has worked at for years. I could not confirm the architect from public sources, so if design pedigree matters to you, ask the listing agent or the management office.

The electronic concierge, not a front desk

Instead of a staffed desk, the building was designed with what the marketing calls an electronic concierge. Residents can open doors remotely, and monitoring staff can see and speak with visitors at the entrance. That keeps payroll out of the fee, which matters in a 38-suite building where a 24-hour concierge would be a very large cost per owner.

The trade-off is parcels and visitors. Ask how deliveries are handled, whether there is a parcel room, and how well the remote system has worked since 2021. Condos.ca lists a gym, a party room, a business centre, bike storage, visitor parking and barbecue permission, which is a full package for a building this size.

Southvale Drive and the arena next door

The building sits beside the Leaside arena, with its hockey rinks, fitness space and playground. For grandparents with hockey-playing grandchildren, that is a genuine selling point; for some others, early-morning and weekend arena traffic is something to check in person.

Leaside is a neighbourhood of 1920s to 1940s houses, with shops and restaurants along Bayview and Laird. There is relatively little condo stock in Leaside, which is why a building like this draws so many local downsizers. Transit, schools and parks for this address are in the data panel on this page.

Condos.ca places the building in Leaside-Bennington, the southern part of Leaside. Before you commit, walk from the front door to the shops you use most, and do it in winter as well as summer. The suites are designed for people who will be here for many years, so the daily walk matters more than any single feature of the building.

Pricing and fees

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,112 per square foot. That is well above The Upper House at 25 Malcolm Road, a seven-storey building near Laird and Millwood completed in 2018, at about $868, and far above older Leaside buildings such as Leaside Gate at 955 Millwood Road at about $650. You are paying a clear premium for newness, large plans and the small-building profile.

There were no suites for sale and one for rent when I checked, so I have no fee range to quote and will not quote one suite’s fee. Heat, hydro and parking are not on the inclusion list. With suites this large, total monthly costs matter, so ask for the fee and the last year’s utility costs together.

The one rental listing is a reminder that a few owners do lease their suites. In a building this size, even a handful of rentals is a visible share, so check the leasing rules in the declaration and the current number of tenanted suites in the status certificate.

With 38 suites and owners who tend to stay, listings are rare. For sold history in this building, ask for my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Leaside Manor

The package covers what downsizers actually use, a gym, a party room for family events and visitor parking, without the cost of a staffed desk. The remote entry system is the part to test before you buy.

Jatin’s honest take on Leaside Manor

Leaside Manor — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.