McCowan Place, 121 Trudelle St: Big 1978 Suites, Every Utility in the Fee

McCowan Place is where the math of Toronto condos gets turned upside down. The suites are bigger than most new two-bedroom-plus-dens, the price per square foot is among the lowest you will find in the city, and the monthly fee is high because it pays almost every bill you have. Whether that is a bargain depends entirely on how the building has been run since 1978. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An all-inclusive fee, and why it looks so high

Current listings show fees of roughly $1,128 to $1,205 a month. Buyers coming from newer buildings see that number and close the tab. That is a mistake until you look at what it covers: heat, hydro, air conditioning, cable TV, water, parking, building insurance and the common elements.

On suites of about 1,200 to 1,300 square feet, those fees work out to roughly $0.90 to $0.95 a square foot. Subtract a realistic monthly hydro bill, a cable or TV package, and the cost of a parking space, and the comparison with a newer building at $0.65 a foot plus utilities becomes much closer than it first appears.

The trade-off is that you do not control those costs. When gas or electricity prices rise, or the bulk cable contract renews, the whole building absorbs it through the fee. Ask how the fee has changed over the last five years and how much of the budget goes to utilities.

One more point on hydro in the fee: it removes any incentive for individual suites to save power, so building-wide consumption tends to be higher. Some older corporations have studied or installed suite sub-metering to deal with that. Ask whether the board has looked at it, because it would change what your fee covers.

Suites that start where new condos stop

Condos.ca records suite sizes of about 1,203 to 1,309 square feet, and the plans run from two-bedroom to two-plus-den and three-bedroom layouts. In a new Scarborough tower, that much space is usually a penthouse. Here it is the standard suite.

Late-1970s plans like these tend to have a separate dining area, an enclosed kitchen, generous closets and often a second bathroom. Many have been opened up and updated over the decades, and many have not. The listings currently on the market span a wide price range, and much of that spread is finish quality and renovation, not size.

If you are planning to renovate, ask the manager early about the rules for flooring, plumbing and electrical work, and about noise and elevator booking. A large, original suite here can be a good canvas, but only if you budget for the work and the approvals.

Pool, tennis and the 1978 amenity list

The amenities reflect when the building was planned: an outdoor pool, a tennis court, a sauna and a gym, plus bike storage, a security system and an underground garage. For a family in summer, the pool and tennis court are real value that few new buildings in Scarborough offer.

They also cost money every year and need eventual replacement. The outdoor pool’s basin, deck and equipment, and the tennis court surface, should all appear in the reserve fund study. If they are scheduled for work soon, check that the money is there.

At 17 storeys and about 53 metres, with 215 suites, the building has a scale where amenities are shared by enough owners to stay affordable, but where a single large project can still move the fee.

Deerhaven Properties, the original developer, has no meaningful public profile today, which is normal for a 1970s builder. After more than four decades, what matters is the corporation’s own record: its board minutes, its engineering reports and how it has handled past repairs.

Life around Eglinton and McCowan

Trudelle Street is a quiet side street just off Eglinton Avenue East and McCowan Road, surrounded by other older towers, townhouse blocks and low-rise plazas. Errands mostly mean the plazas along Eglinton and McCowan, and a car remains useful for bigger shopping trips.

Change is coming slowly along this corridor. The City’s planned Eglinton East LRT would run from Kennedy station east along the Eglinton corridor toward the University of Toronto Scarborough and Malvern, connecting to the planned Line 2 terminus at Sheppard and McCowan further north. It is still in the planning stage, so do not pay a premium for it today.

The automatic panel on this page lists current transit, schools and Walk Score. For daily life, what matters is that parking is in the fee and the major roads are close.

Because the building sits on a side street rather than fronting Eglinton or McCowan directly, it should feel quieter than a tower on the arterial itself. Visit at rush hour and on a weekend evening anyway, and listen from the suite you are considering, because noise varies a lot by exposure and floor.

The lowest price per foot in the area, and why

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $324 per square foot. That is remarkably low even for older Scarborough towers, and it reflects three things together: the building’s age, the high all-inclusive fee, and the condition of many original suites.

Four suites were for sale when I checked, asking from $339,000 to $499,000, with one more listed for lease. That spread is wide for suites of similar size, which tells you condition is driving price. Look at what has actually sold, through my building sold report, before you decide which end of that range a suite belongs in.

A high fee also reduces how much a lender will let you borrow, because it counts against your debt ratios. Get pre-approved with the actual fee figure, not an estimate, so you know your real budget.

Building specifications

Amenities at McCowan Place

An outdoor pool and tennis court are the standouts, the kind of summer amenities that new Scarborough buildings rarely include. The gym and sauna round it out for year-round use.

Jatin’s honest take on McCowan Place

McCowan Place — frequently asked questions

Looking at Scarborough Bluffs, West Hill, Guildwood, Woburn, Malvern and Rouge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.