Park Lane II, 3 Pemberton Ave: Parking and Hydro in the Fee at Finch

Park Lane II is the smaller twin at Pemberton and Yonge, and on paper it has the better fee: heat, hydro, air conditioning, water and parking are all listed as included. It is a 1999 building with a sauna and party room, priced well below new construction a few blocks south. What you are really buying is a 26-year-old tower’s reserve fund, so that is where I would start. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The second tower, with its own board

Park Lane II was built alongside Park Lane I by the Pemberton Group, and both were finished in 1999 to designs credited to Burka Varacalli Architects. This is the shorter tower: 23 storeys and about 72 metres, with 176 suites, against 25 storeys and 192 suites at 1 Pemberton.

The two buildings look like one project, but legally they are not. Park Lane II is MTCC-1239, registered on 1 April 1999, two months after its twin. Each has its own board, budget, reserve fund and rules, and each makes its own decisions about when to spend on repairs.

That is useful to a buyer. Because the towers share an age, a builder and a design, comparing their status certificates shows you which board is ahead on capital work and which one has been deferring it. I would always look at both before choosing either. It is also worth asking whether the two corporations share anything, such as a driveway, a garage ramp or a service agreement, because shared items come with shared costs.

Layouts that are larger than today’s

Suites at 3 Pemberton run from about 557 to 1,112 square feet, almost exactly the same range as the taller tower. At the bottom are one-bedroom plans that are noticeably roomier than what new towers on Yonge deliver, and at the top are two-bedroom suites with enough space for a family or two people working from home.

I have not found published floor plans or ceiling heights for Park Lane II, so treat any listing diagram as approximate and walk the space. In a building of this era, kitchens and bathrooms are often original or partly updated, and that varies widely from suite to suite.

Because it is shorter, Park Lane II has fewer upper floors with long views than its twin. Ask what the suite looks onto. A view east over the low-rise streets is very different from a view toward the neighbouring tower or into the new construction along Yonge.

A fee that includes almost everything

The headline here is the inclusion list. Condos.ca shows common elements, heat, hydro, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water all covered. Hydro and parking are the two items most newer buildings leave out, and together they can add a meaningful amount to a monthly budget elsewhere.

Interestingly, parking is on the list for Park Lane II but not for Park Lane I next door. That could be a data quirk or a real difference between the two corporations. Either way, confirm in the status certificate that the specific suite has a space, and whether it is owned, exclusive-use or assigned.

An all-inclusive fee shifts energy risk onto the corporation. When gas and electricity costs rise, the board has to cover them, and owners see that in the next budget. Ask for the last few years of fee increases and how the board has explained them.

What daily life looks like on Pemberton

Pemberton Avenue is a short street just east of Yonge near Finch. You step out onto a quiet block and walk a minute or two to the Yonge strip, with its restaurants, grocers and services, and to the bus and subway connections at Finch. The panel on this page shows the exact walk.

The trade-off is that this part of Yonge keeps getting denser. New towers continue to go up between Sheppard and Steeles, which brings more shops and services but also more construction and more competing resale and rental supply. That supply is part of why older buildings like Park Lane II trade at a discount.

For buyers who drive, having parking in the fee and being a short hop from the main north-south and east-west routes is a real plus. For those who do not, the subway at the corner is the reason to be here. Either way, the nearby food, parks and transit details in the panel beside this review are worth a look before you book a showing, so you know exactly what the walk looks like.

Price per square foot, and what is on the market

Condos.ca puts the average for 3 Pemberton at about $714 per square foot, the same figure it gives for Park Lane I. That is well below what new towers along Yonge and in North York Centre ask, which is the usual discount for a 1999 building with original-generation systems.

Only one suite was listed for sale when I checked, and none for lease, so there is no asking range worth reporting. With supply this thin, I would price any offer from recent sales of the same plan in both Park Lane towers, since the suite sizes are so close.

When you compare this building’s fee with a newer tower’s, add hydro, heat and parking back to the newer building first. That is the honest comparison, and it usually narrows the gap a lot. For a full picture of what has traded, request my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Park Lane II

Park Lane II adds a sauna, a party room and a meeting room to the basics of security, a gym and parking. It is a practical package rather than a resort, and that keeps the maintenance burden lower than in buildings with pools.

Jatin’s honest take on Park Lane II

Park Lane II — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.