Oscar Residences, 500 Dupont St: A Boutique Mid-Rise on Dupont, Reviewed

Oscar Residences is the kind of building the Annex rarely gets: new, mid-rise and small enough that you will know your neighbours. Lifetime Developments built nine storeys of black glass and white precast on Dupont Street, with terraces stepping back on the upper floors and Mason Studio interiors. The question here is not whether it is attractive. It is whether the compact suites and the fee per square foot make sense for you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A stepped mid-rise in black and white

Turner Fleischer designed Oscar as a three-storey base that covers almost the whole lot, with the upper floors stepping back on the north and south sides. UrbanToronto described the result as a C-shaped mass opening to the south, which is the shape that gives the upper suites their terraces and the south-facing units their light.

The palette is deliberately simple: glass at street level, crisp white precast on the middle floors and glass again at the top. On a stretch of Dupont that is still a mix of low commercial buildings and older houses, it reads as a clean, modern insertion rather than a tower.

At street level, the Dupont frontage has retail behind a double-height window wall. That is good for the street and for convenience, but ask what kind of tenant is going in below you, since a restaurant brings different noise and ventilation than an office or shop.

Mason Studio interiors and the red-carpet idea

Lifetime hired Mason Studio for the interiors, including the lobby. UrbanToronto reported that the interior concept draws on the area’s shift from industrial to residential and on red-carpet celebrity photography by George Pimentel, which is where the Oscar name and the black-and-white theme come from.

In practice, that means a lobby and common areas with more personality than the usual builder-grade finish. Whether it suits you is a matter of taste, but it does help the building stand out on resale against generic new product.

Inside the suites, the thing to look at is the layout rather than the finishes. Most of the active listings are in the under-800-square-foot range, so the plan, the depth of the living space and the size of any terrace matter far more than the brand of the cabinets.

Compact suites in a 155-unit building

Current listings run from studios to two-bedroom-plus-den plans, and the size bands on condos.ca put most of them under 800 square feet. This is a building of efficient one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites, with the upper stepped floors offering the larger terrace units.

With 155 suites, it is small for a new Toronto condo. That brings real advantages: fewer people per elevator, a quieter lobby and a board where one engaged owner can make a difference. The trade-off is that fixed costs such as staff, insurance and the reserve fund are spread across fewer units.

Parking is on a single underground level, which UrbanToronto noted was complete in 2022. Not every suite will have a space in a building like this, so confirm whether parking and a locker come with the unit you are considering.

Because the building is so new, the first owners are still setting its habits. Rules on move-ins, amenity bookings, short leases and pets are often written or revised in the first years, so read the declaration and rules in the status certificate, and the early board minutes if you can get them, before assuming anything about how the building runs.

Living on Dupont, at the top of the Annex

Dupont runs along an old rail corridor, and this part of the street was once industrial. Today it is a transition zone: the Annex and Seaton Village’s residential streets to the south, and Dupont itself slowly filling in with mid-rise buildings like this one. In plain terms, you are on Dupont just west of Bathurst.

For most owners, that location gives you Annex and Seaton Village side streets on foot, with the Bloor Street shops and restaurants a walk to the south, while keeping prices a step below addresses right on Bloor. The rail line behind Dupont is part of the reality too, so ask about train noise and look at which side the suite faces.

The data panel on this page covers transit, schools, Walk Score and nearby restaurants and parks, so I won’t repeat those details here.

Fees run high per square foot

When I checked, there were nine suites listed for sale and three for lease. Active asking prices ranged from about $288,000 to about $699,000, reflecting how small most of the suites are.

Fees on those listings ranged from about $410 to $825 a month, and condos.ca works out the active average at roughly $1.10 per square foot. That is high for a new building, and it is the number I would focus on. Small suites push the per-square-foot figure up, and a 155-unit building has fewer owners to share staff and reserve costs.

Nine listings in a building this size is also a fair amount of supply at once, which usually gives buyers room to negotiate. It also means you have real comparables to measure against, so line up two or three similar suites in the building before deciding what a fair price is. Before you make an offer, find out what the fee covers and whether the developer’s first budget has been revised by the board. My building sold report shows recorded sales here.

Building specifications

Amenities at Oscar Residences

Condos.ca lists a gym, and the building’s real draw is its design: a Mason Studio lobby and stepped terraces on the upper floors. If a long list of lounges and pools matters to you, a larger tower will offer more; this is a building you choose for its scale and its look.

Jatin’s honest take on Oscar Residences

Oscar Residences — frequently asked questions

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