Mona Lisa Residences, 18 Holmes Ave: Tower Plus Townhomes at Yonge-Finch

Mona Lisa Residences is the building I point first-time buyers to when they want a North York address near Yonge and Finch without paying new-tower prices. It is really two products under one corporation: a 28-storey tower at 18 Holmes Avenue and a row of townhomes facing Olive and Doris. Which one you buy changes the whole decision. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A tower and a row of townhomes, one corporation

Mona Lisa was built as a 28-storey tower with townhomes along the Doris Avenue side. A 2009 Daily Commercial News report quoted on UrbanToronto described 311 tower units and 74 townhouses over shared underground parking, which lines up closely with the 384 homes condos.ca lists today.

That mix is the most important thing to understand here. The tower gives you elevators, concierge and views; the townhomes give you a ground-level door and a more house-like layout, but you share a single corporation, budget and reserve fund with the tower. Costs for elevators and tower systems are spread across everyone, including townhome owners.

The architect was Northgrave Architects. The developer is reported differently by different sources: the trade press and condos.ca’s own overview name Great Lands Corp., while condos.ca’s developer field shows Harhay Developments. UrbanToronto forum posters at the time described it as a near-twin of The Monet, the earlier building next door.

Small suites, and lots of them

Suites range from about 310 to 1,247 square feet. The bottom of that range is a studio-sized unit, and much of the tower stock is one-bedrooms in the 500 to 600 square foot band. When I checked, four of the six listings for sale were one-bedrooms of that size.

That is good news if you are a first-time buyer or an investor, because there is real choice and there are plenty of comparable sales. It is less good if you are hoping to stand out when you sell, because you will usually be competing with several near-identical suites at the same time.

If you need more space, look at the one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms at the top of the range, or at the townhomes. Check whether a den is a usable room with a door or an alcove before you count it as a bedroom.

In a tower with this many small suites, orientation does a lot of the work. Ask which way the suite faces and how high it is, because a low one-bedroom facing a neighbouring tower and a high one facing open sky are not the same product, even at the same size and asking price.

What the fee covers, and what it costs

The fee includes common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. Having heating and cooling bundled is a real advantage over many newer Yonge corridor towers, where each suite has its own heat pump and its own hydro bill for both.

On the active listings when I checked, fees ran from about $524 to $1,127 a month and averaged about $1.13 per square foot. That is high for a building that does not include hydro, and part of it is the cost of heat, cooling and parking being in the fee. Some of it is simply what a 2010 tower with concierge costs to run.

Compare like with like. If you are weighing Mona Lisa against a newer tower nearby, add a monthly parking charge and a heating and cooling bill to the newer building’s fee before you decide which is cheaper.

Bundled heating and cooling also has a downside: owners who run their systems lightly subsidise those who do not, and energy cost increases arrive in the budget as a fee increase. Look at how the fee has moved over the last few budgets, which the status certificate package will show.

Living near Yonge and Finch

The building sits east of Yonge between Holmes and Olive Avenues, on the stretch of North York where Yonge Street has filled in with towers over the past 25 years. Daily errands happen on Yonge, a short walk west, and the data panel on this page covers transit, schools and the Walk Score.

Doris Avenue was extended alongside this site when it was built, and the blocks east of Yonge between Sheppard and Finch are still being redeveloped. Expect construction nearby over the life of your ownership, and check what is proposed on the neighbouring lots before you choose a suite facing a vacant or low-rise site.

The townhomes face the quieter side streets rather than Yonge, which suits buyers who want to be near the corridor without living on it.

Pricing: an entry point to the Yonge corridor

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $774 per square foot. That sits well below what new towers on this stretch of Yonge have been marketed at, and it reflects the building’s age and the high share of small suites.

When I checked, one-bedrooms of about 500 to 600 square feet were asking between roughly $375,000 and $438,000. Across all six active listings, which included, asking prices ran from about $375,000 to $649,000. Treat those as asking prices, not what suites have sold for.

The per-square-foot figure looks very reasonable, but the fee per square foot is on the high side, and both belong in the same calculation. For a clearer picture of what has actually traded, use the sold data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Mona Lisa Residences

The package covers what most owners actually use: a staffed lobby, a rooftop deck, a party room and guest suites for visiting family. Check what is currently open and its condition when you view, since amenity spaces in 15-year-old buildings are often due for a refresh.

Jatin’s honest take on Mona Lisa Residences

Mona Lisa Residences — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yonge & Eglinton, Davisville and North Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.