Peter Street Condos, 101 Peter St: Small Suites, Big Fee Per Foot

Peter Street Condos is a building of small suites, and it does not pretend otherwise. Every one of its 429 units is under 800 sq ft, which makes it a clear choice for a single buyer or an investor and a poor one for anyone planning to grow into a space. Know that going in and it can be a sensible buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A slender tower with a warehouse-inspired base

CentreCourt Developments built Peter Street Condos on the northeast corner of Adelaide and Peter, and architectsAlliance, led on this project by founding partner Peter Clewes, designed it. UrbanToronto reports the tower at 40 storeys and roughly 426 feet.

The tower is white glass, but the podium is the interesting part. A Globe and Mail architecture column described a black masonry grid across the lower floors, meant to echo the brick-framed windows of the old warehouses that still line this part of Adelaide and Peter. The podium height was set to match an older building across the street.

That column was not entirely kind. Its writer argued that a 40-storey tower was too big to blend in and that the contextual base softened a building that should have been bolder. Twelve years on, with taller towers around it, the base is the part of the building that has aged best.

Every suite is under 800 square feet

Suites range from about 303 to 772 sq ft. That makes this one of the more compact buildings downtown. The mix is studios, one-bedrooms and small one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms, and current listings are all in the under-500 sq ft band.

The same Globe column pointed out that the unit mix was aimed at first-time buyers and singles rather than families. That is still true. A couple can live here in one of the larger plans, but there is no move-up suite in the building, so when your life changes you will be selling, not upgrading within the tower.

In a 303 to 450 sq ft suite, the plan is everything. Look for a layout where the bed is not in the path to the balcony, where the kitchen has at least some counter on both sides of the sink, and where there is a real closet. Measure your furniture before you fall for the view.

For context, Tableau down the street runs to about 1,036 sq ft and 87 Peter to about 996 sq ft, according to Condos.ca. Neither is a family building, but both give a growing household somewhere to move within the same block. Here, the largest plan stops at 772 sq ft.

Why the fee per foot looks high

Condos.ca shows the fee on current listings at about $1.67 per square foot, which looks alarming next to Tableau down the street at about $0.74. Most of the gap is arithmetic. Small suites carry the same share of fixed costs, such as concierge, elevators and insurance, as a larger one, so their fee per foot is always higher.

The inclusion list is also broad. Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, air conditioning, water and building insurance. Hydro is not listed, so you will pay your own electricity. For a studio or one-bedroom, the monthly dollar amount is the number to compare, not the per-foot figure.

If you are buying to rent, run the numbers on the actual monthly fee and the realistic rent for the suite size. Tiny suites rent quickly downtown, but the fee takes a larger share of the rent than it does in a bigger unit.

A broad inclusion list also has a downside. When heat, cooling and water are shared, the owners in the smallest suites pay for neighbours who run their air conditioning all summer, and utility increases flow straight into the fee. Ask how much the fee has risen over the past three years and whether the board has looked at sub-metering.

Adelaide and Peter, day to day

You are a block south of Queen West and a short walk from King West, the theatres and the Financial District. Osgoode and St. Andrew stations are both walkable. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and Walk Score.

Adelaide is a busy one-way street heading east, and this corner sits near the Richmond and Adelaide club strip. Lower suites will hear traffic and late-night crowds. North- and east-facing upper suites get the Financial District skyline that UrbanToronto highlighted when the tower launched.

The block is still changing. UrbanToronto reported in 2015 on proposals for more towers on Peter and Adelaide, including a two-tower plan by Graywood at 350 Adelaide West, and 87 Peter and Tableau have since been built nearby. Check what is approved around your floor before paying for a view.

Pricing context

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $945 per square foot, higher than Tableau at about $915 and 87 Peter at about $931. That premium is mostly the small-suite effect: per-foot prices rise as suites shrink, because every unit still needs a kitchen and a bathroom.

Four suites were listed for sale when I prepared this review, asking from about $400,000 to about $620,000, all in the under-500 sq ft band. One suite was listed for lease.

Compare total monthly cost, not price per foot, when you weigh this building against a larger-suite neighbour. For the aggregate sold record at this address, ask for my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Peter Street Condos

The amenities are practical rather than lavish: a fitness centre fitted out by Totum, a party room, a theatre room and guest suites. In a building of small suites, the guest suite and party room do real work, because there is no room to host at home.

Jatin’s honest take on Peter Street Condos

Peter Street Condos — frequently asked questions

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