Picasso on Richmond, 318 Richmond St W: Teeple’s Stacked White Boxes

Picasso on Richmond is the tower you can pick out from Queen Street: white boxes pushed out from a dark core, with a red cut running through it. It is one of the few Entertainment District condos where the architecture was the selling point, and it trades below most of its neighbours per square foot. That combination is why I think it deserves a closer look than it usually gets. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A building designed to be noticed

Stephen Teeple’s firm designed Picasso as a kind of vertical landscape. White and grey volumes shift outward from the tower, a red slot cuts through the composition, and many of the stepped roofs carry planted terraces. Teeple’s own description compares the massing to a mountain; from the street it reads more like a stack of boxes that somebody forgot to push back in.

That projecting form is not just decoration. Several living spaces extend out past the main face of the tower, which is where the marketing name Sky Suites came from. Those projecting rooms get wider views than a flat-faced suite on the same floor, so a plan’s position on the tower matters a lot here.

The site has some history. UrbanToronto reported in 2011 that the land had previously been planned for a Gansevoort-branded condo-hotel, which was shelved after the 2008 downturn. The approved 39-storey height carried over to the new owners, which is why Picasso went ahead without a fresh rezoning.

The podium and the tenth floor

The tower sits on a ten-storey podium that holds the street wall on Richmond. Teeple lists the first three floors as retail and commercial space, so the residential lobby is part of a busier base than many nearby condos have.

The top of the podium is the amenity floor. UrbanToronto’s project page describes a tenth-floor package with a party lounge and bar, a billiards room, a yoga and fitness studio, a media lounge, a dining room, and spa and sauna areas, plus an outdoor terrace with cabanas and a hot-water area looking toward the lake. The lobby and party room interiors were by Union31.

The planted terraces on the podium and the stepped roofs are a real feature, but they are also a maintenance item. Green roofs and terrace membranes need upkeep, and this building has a lot of them. That is a reserve fund question, not a reason to walk away.

Layouts: small to mid-size, with paired-unit options

Condos.ca lists suites from about 347 to 1,357 sq ft, and Teeple describes the mix as studios to three-bedrooms. The bulk of the building is studios, one-bedrooms and one-plus-dens, which is typical for a 2016 Entertainment District tower aimed at first-time buyers and investors.

One detail I like: during sales, UrbanToronto reported that some Sky Suite layouts were offered as paired units, two independent suites sharing a common entry door. A buyer could use them as one larger home or as two separate units. If you see a listing described this way, confirm how the suites are registered and whether they carry one fee or two.

With small suites, the shape matters more than the number. Look for a plan with a usable wall for a sofa and a bedroom that fits a queen bed with space on both sides. The projecting rooms are the best ones in the building, and they are worth paying for.

Richmond near Peter Street, day to day

This is the middle of the Entertainment District. Queen West is a block north, the King Street theatres and restaurants two blocks south, and the Financial District is a walk east. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and Walk Score.

Day to day, that location means you rarely need a car. Groceries, coffee, a gym and most of downtown’s restaurants are within a short walk, and the Queen and King streetcars are both close. If you do drive, confirm whether a suite comes with a parking space, since Condos.ca does not list parking in the fee.

Richmond is a busy one-way street with a separated bike lane, and the clubs and bars on Richmond and Adelaide still draw late crowds on weekends. Lower floors on the Richmond side will hear traffic and, on weekend nights, people. The higher you go, the more that fades.

The block around Picasso has filled in since 2016, with 330 Richmond completed in 2021 nearby and more towers rising on Peter and Adelaide. Upper-floor views to the east and west can change as those sites build out, so check what is approved nearby.

Pricing context

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $842 per square foot. That is noticeably below 330 Richmond nearby at about $916, Tableau at about $915 and Peter Street Condos at about $945. Some of that is age, and some is the larger share of small suites, but it is a discount for a building with this much design character.

Only two suites were listed for sale when I prepared this review, asking from about $600,000 to about $1,150,000, and two were listed for lease. Two listings is too thin to draw conclusions about pricing, so I would not read much into that range on its own.

Condos.ca lists only heat and water in the fee. I could not confirm whether air conditioning, building insurance or common elements are itemized separately, so read the fee schedule in the status certificate. For the aggregate sold record at this address, ask for my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Picasso on Richmond

The tenth-floor package is genuinely complete for a building of this size, and the outdoor terrace with cabanas and a hot tub is the part residents use most in summer. It means you can skip a separate gym membership and still have a place to host.

Jatin’s honest take on Picasso on Richmond

Picasso on Richmond — 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.