One York Quay, 77 & 99 Harbour Square: The Fee That Covers Everything

One York Quay is the building I point to when a buyer tells me fees are the only number that matters, because here the fee is almost the only number there is. Greywood finished these twin 39-storey towers at the foot of downtown around 1990 and 1991, and the monthly charge still covers hydro, heat, cooling, cable, internet and parking. That looks expensive on paper and often isn’t, and working out which it is for your suite is the whole job. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two towers, 812 suites and an early waterfront address

One York Quay is two towers sharing one condominium corporation: 77 Harbour Square and 99 Harbour Square. With 812 suites between them, this is one of the larger condo communities on the waterfront, and that scale shapes everything from the amenity package to how often suites come up for sale.

These were among the first condos on this stretch of the lake. An UrbanToronto look back at the area in 2002 shows the completed One York Quay towers standing on their own while WaterClub and Riviera were still going up around them. Almost everything you now see along Queens Quay West came after this building.

That history matters because it explains the views. The towers sit right at the water’s edge, so many suites look over the lake, the harbour and the Toronto Islands, while the north sides face the downtown skyline. Which side you are on is the single biggest driver of price here.

A fee that includes hydro, cable and internet

Most Toronto buildings that went up after 2000 put every suite on its own hydro meter and leave cable and internet to the owner. One York Quay does neither. The fee covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, hydro, cable TV, internet, building insurance and parking.

Active listings when I wrote this showed fees working out to roughly $1.31 per square foot. That is high next to a new tower at $0.70 to $0.80, but the comparison is misleading. Add back a monthly hydro bill, an internet plan, cable and a parking charge at the newer building, and the gap closes quickly, especially in a larger suite where the hydro bill alone would be significant.

The flip side is that you have no control over the costs that are bundled in. When utility rates rise, they show up across every owner’s fee. Ask the property manager for the last three years of fee increases and what drove them before you commit.

Layouts from studio to very large

Suites here run from about 357 square feet up to roughly 2,669 square feet, which is an unusually wide spread for one building. At the small end you have compact studios that appeal to investors and first-time buyers; at the top you have large multi-bedroom suites that compete with houses for downsizers.

The listings I reviewed included studios in the 400 and 600 square foot bands and one-bedrooms from about 600 to 900 square feet. A 1991 one-bedroom of 800-plus square feet is a very different product from a new 500-square-foot one-bedroom, and that is a large part of this building’s appeal.

Being more than 30 years old, the finishes vary a great deal from suite to suite. Some have been fully redone and some are close to original. Price any renovation into your offer rather than treating every listing as the same product.

Living at York Quay day to day

Harbour Square sits between Queens Quay and the water, at the foot of Bay Street and York Street. You live on the lake itself, with the waterfront promenade outside the door and the financial district on the other side of the Gardiner. Older neighbours include Harbour Square at 33 Harbour Square, finished by Campeau in 1976, and Harbourside at 55 and 65 Harbour Square.

The trade-off is that this is a busy, event-heavy part of the city in summer. Crowds, festival noise and tourist traffic along Queens Quay are part of the deal from May to September. Owners who love it tend to love it for exactly that reason. Transit, schools and Walk Score are shown in the automatic panel on this page.

The other daily reality is the Gardiner Expressway and the rail corridor between you and the rest of downtown. Getting north on foot means crossing under the expressway, and lower north-facing suites look toward it. If you are sensitive to traffic noise, view any suite at rush hour, and favour the south and lake-facing sides of either tower.

What One York Quay costs, and how to compare it

The building averages about $931 per square foot on condos.ca. That is a strong figure for a 1991 building and reflects the waterfront address and the views more than the age of the suites. Expect lake-facing suites on high floors to sit well above that average and lower, north-facing suites to sit below it.

When I wrote this there were 12 suites for sale and 6 for rent. Studios and one-bedrooms were asking roughly $425,000 to $700,000, with monthly fees across those listings of about $595 to $1,077. A couple of lower-priced listings were not suites at all and appear to be parking or storage units sold separately, so read the listing type carefully.

The right way to compare this building is total monthly cost, not fee alone. Take the fee here and set it against the fee plus hydro, internet, cable and parking at any newer building you are considering. Ask me for the building’s recent sold report before you set a budget.

Building specifications

Amenities at One York Quay

Two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, plus a sauna are the headline here, and in a building of 812 suites the cost of running them is spread across a lot of owners. Concierge and security staff on site matter more than usual at a waterfront address that draws big summer crowds.

Jatin’s honest take on One York Quay

One York Quay — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.