Liberty Central Phase 2, 49 East Liberty St: Pool and Low Fees

Liberty Central Phase 2 at 49 East Liberty Street is the newer, taller half of CanAlfa’s Liberty Central by the Lake. It mirrors its 25-storey sibling, shares its podium, and comes with something most Liberty Village buildings of its age do not: a pool, with a fee that still comes in under 80 cents a square foot. That combination is why I take it seriously, even though the design will not win any prizes. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Phase 2 of a matched pair

CanAlfa built Liberty Central by the Lake in two phases. Phase 1 at 51 East Liberty is the 25-storey tower to the west. Phase 2, this building, rises 27 storeys to the east, and IBI Group designed it to mirror the first tower. The two are joined at the podium, which also holds retail along East Liberty Street.

The two phases are separate condominium corporations. Phase 1 is TSCC-2495, a 25-storey building of about 385 suites from around 2015, and Phase 2 is TSCC-2859. Together they put close to 700 households on one podium. That is a lot of people sharing a front step, a garage ramp and possibly some amenities, and it is worth knowing before you look at either building.

Construction started in early 2018 on vacant land that, like most of Liberty Village, was once heavy industrial. A rental tower at 39 East Liberty was excavated alongside it, which is why this end of the street went from empty lots to three towers in a few years.

The design is straightforward: repeated typical floors with consistent layouts stacked up the tower. That is not exciting architecture, but it is easy to compare. If a suite on the 10th floor sold recently, the same plan on the 18th floor is a clean comparable, which helps when you are pricing an offer.

Suites from studios to family-sized

Suites range from about 415 to 1,700 square feet. The active listings when I reviewed it ran from compact one-bedrooms under 500 square feet to two-bedrooms in the 600 to 699 square foot band, which is the core of the building. The larger plans at the top of the range are rarer and worth watching for if you need the space.

On repeated floor plates, the orientation of the suite matters more than the floor. South-facing suites look toward the lake and the Gardiner, north-facing suites look toward the rest of Liberty Village, and the east side now faces the newer towers along the street. Check what the suite actually sees, and how close the next building is, before you fall for a floor plan.

Shared podium, shared amenities, shared questions

The amenity list is better than average for Liberty Village. Condos.ca lists a concierge, gym, party room, guest suites, bicycle storage and a pool, and the construction listing for Phase 2 added a hot tub, a media room, a barbecue area and a patio garden.

What I could not confirm is how those amenities are split with Phase 1. When two buildings share a podium, they usually share some facilities under an agreement between the two corporations, and the costs follow that agreement. Read the shared facilities agreement in the status certificate, and find out which pool, gym and party room you can use and what share of their cost you pay.

The same applies to parking. Condos.ca lists a parking garage, but I could not verify how many spaces there are or whether the garage is shared with Phase 1. Confirm whether a specific suite includes a space or a locker.

Liberty Village, day to day

Liberty Village is one of the most self-contained neighbourhoods in the west end of downtown: converted factory offices, tech employers, grocery stores, gyms and restaurants within a few blocks. It skews young, and on weekday mornings the sidewalks are full of people walking to work.

The frustrations are well known. The neighbourhood has limited road access in and out, which makes driving at rush hour slow, and this end of East Liberty has added a lot of towers in a short time. If you drive to work, test the commute at 8 a.m. before you buy. If you do not, the neighbourhood works well.

What Liberty Central Phase 2 costs, and why the fee is the story

The building average sits around $886 per square foot. That is in the normal range for a newer Liberty Village tower and below what new towers in King West or the Entertainment District command.

When I reviewed it there were three suites for sale, asking from about $460,000 to $648,000, covering one-bedrooms and a two-bedroom in the 600 to 699 square foot band.

It is worth comparing Phase 2 directly with Phase 1 next door. Phase 1 is about six years older, so its suites usually trade for less per square foot, but it is also further into the period when original equipment starts to come due. Ask for both buildings’ fee levels and reserve fund positions; the gap between them tells you more than either one alone.

The fee is where this building stands out. On those listings it ran from about $242 to about $506 a month, roughly $0.78 per square foot, which is low for a building with a pool and a concierge. Low fees are good news only if the reserve fund is healthy, so read the reserve fund study and ask whether fees have been held down artificially. For sold figures, use the aggregate data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Liberty Central Phase 2

A pool, hot tub, gym, media room and guest suites make this one of the fuller amenity packages in Liberty Village. The open question is how much of it is shared with Phase 1, which affects both crowding and cost.

Jatin’s honest take on Liberty Central Phase 2

Liberty Central Phase 2 — frequently asked questions

Looking at King West, Liberty Village and CityPlace more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.