Mirabella East, 1926 Lake Shore Blvd W: Lake Views Above a 9-Storey Podium

Mirabella East at 1926 Lake Shore Boulevard West is a building where the floor plan starts on the 12th floor. Everything below it is podium, parking and amenities, so even the lowest suites look over the lake, the park or the skyline. That is the reason to buy here. The Gardiner running along the back of the building is the reason to choose your suite carefully. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Twin towers, and why the suites start on the 12th floor

Mirabella is a pair of 38-storey towers on a shared podium, each about 120 metres tall. The East tower at 1926 was phase one and the West tower at 1928 followed. The site’s earlier owner had proposed taller towers, and the heights were settled at the Ontario Municipal Board before Diamante took the project through site plan approval.

The podium is nine storeys tall and holds an above-grade parking garage. On top of it sits the amenity level, and the suites begin on the 12th floor. Diamante’s Julie Di Lorenzo described that as what made the project exclusive. Practically, it means no suite looks into a neighbour’s window at street level, and nearly every suite has some kind of view.

The north face of the podium faces the Gardiner and carries a large public art installation by Jennifer Macklem called “Motion in Air,” made of aluminum panels. UrbanToronto noted that more than 150,000 drivers pass it every day.

A classical look on a lakefront tower

Scott Shields Architects designed the towers, with Andrew Shields working alongside David Winterton, who had worked at ERA Architects and Robert A.M. Stern in New York. The result is a deliberately traditional tower: limestone-coloured precast, bay windows and a classically inspired podium with tapered columns. It looks nothing like the glass towers across the Humber at Humber Bay Shores, and that is the point.

The upper floors have curving slab edges that carry centre balconies on the lake-facing south side. Diamante has a reputation for this kind of traditional, detail-heavy architecture. Scott Shields also designed its The Diamond on Yonge and 100 Davenport.

Across the Humber, Humber Bay Shores has many glass towers with similar lake views and a much larger supply of suites. What Mirabella offers instead is a quieter, more established side of the river, closer to High Park and Roncesvalles, in a building that looks like it belongs on an older street. Whether that is worth a premium is a personal call, and it is the comparison I walk every Mirabella buyer through.

Layouts and the amenity floor

Strata.ca’s unit mix leans to one-bedroom-plus-den suites at about 41%, with two-bedrooms and two-plus-dens at about 21% each and three-bedrooms at around 11%. Launch materials gave sizes of roughly 457 to 1,510 square feet, and strata.ca shows about 400 to 1,510. Every suite was sold with a balcony, and dining areas open into the living room rather than sitting in a separate space.

The amenity level sits on top of the podium, with more than 20,000 square feet indoors and out. Launch coverage describes an indoor pool with a lake and skyline view, a gym looking toward High Park, a yoga studio and an outdoor terrace with barbecues, lounge seating and a reflecting pool with a waterfall. One source puts the amenities on the 10th floor and another on the 11th; check on your visit.

Strata.ca lists an outdoor pool, while every launch source describes an indoor one. I believe the pool is indoor, but see it for yourself. Some amenities, including the spa with saunas and whirlpool, were planned for the West tower, so ask how the two towers share facilities.

Between the lake and the Gardiner

The south side is the prize. Across Lake Shore you have the Sunnyside waterfront, the boardwalk and the Martin Goodman Trail, and the lake beyond. High Park is to the north, and Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village and Swansea are all close. Driving downtown is easy, since the Gardiner is right there.

The north side is the trade-off. That same Gardiner runs directly behind the tower, along with the noise that comes with it. North-facing suites get High Park and city views, but also the expressway below. Visit a north-facing suite at rush hour with the balcony door open before you decide, and check window and balcony door seals. The data panel shows transit details; this is a car-friendly address more than a walk-everywhere one.

Pricing and fees: what the numbers say

The two main data sources disagree on price. Condos.ca puts the building average at about $827 per square foot. Strata.ca’s 12-month figure is about $994, based on roughly 21 to 25 sales, and ranks it the highest of 14 buildings it tracks in South Parkdale. The truth for any given suite depends heavily on floor and exposure. A high south-facing suite and a low north-facing one are not the same product.

Across the active listings I reviewed, one-bedroom-plus-dens were asking roughly $510,000 to $600,000, and two-bedrooms and two-plus-dens roughly $630,000 to $900,000. Strata.ca shows suites selling about 1% below list on average, and about 32 days on market, so the market here is steady rather than heated.

Fees across those listings average about $0.86 per square foot, while strata.ca reports $0.73. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and water as included, and strata.ca lists hydro, heat and air conditioning as excluded, so budget for your own utilities. For actual sold prices by suite type and floor, ask me for the sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Mirabella East

The amenity floor is the building’s shared backyard: a pool, gym and yoga room with views, and a large outdoor terrace with barbecues on top of the podium. For a resident on the north side, it is also the easiest way to spend time on the lake side of the building.

Jatin’s honest take on Mirabella East

Mirabella East — frequently asked questions

Looking at South Parkdale more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.