Queenscourt, 362 The East Mall: Two Pools and Four-Bedroom Condo Suites

Queenscourt is where I send families who need three or four bedrooms in a condo and cannot find them anywhere else. The suites are the size of a small house, there is an indoor pool and an outdoor one, and heat and parking are in the fee. You are buying a 1977 complex with almost 700 suites, and the fee and the reserve fund are the two numbers that decide the deal. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three addresses, one corporation

Queenscourt is not a single tower. It spans three street addresses, 362 and 366 The East Mall and 2 Valhalla Inn Road, all under one condominium corporation, YCC-340. With 697 suites, it is one of the larger condominium communities in Etobicoke.

Scale cuts both ways. A large corporation spreads the cost of the pools, the security staff and major repairs over many owners, which is part of how a complex this age can keep two pools open. It also means a large board, many residents and a lot of shared space to maintain, so the quality of management matters more than usual.

When you look at a suite, find out which address it is in. The buildings were finished at the same time, but elevators, views and distance to the amenities differ, and those details change how the suite lives day to day.

Suites the size of a small house

This is the reason to look at Queenscourt. Condos.ca’s size data for the building runs from about 1,344 to 1,508 square feet, and every suite currently for sale has at least three bedrooms. Two active listings are four-bedroom-plus-den plans, a format that almost no condo built in the last 30 years offers.

These suites were designed in the 1970s for families moving up from apartments, so expect separate kitchens, a dining room that can take a full table, multiple bathrooms and real storage. Many will have been renovated. Some will be close to original, and those are where the best value usually sits if you are prepared to do the work.

If you are a family of five or six choosing between a small semi-detached house and a condo, Queenscourt is one of the few condo options that genuinely competes on space.

Before you plan a renovation, ask management for the renovation rules. Older buildings often require board approval for flooring, plumbing and electrical work, and some limit moving kitchens or bathrooms because of the original risers. Knowing that early changes what a dated suite is really worth to you.

Two pools, squash and a security desk

The amenity package is unusually complete for a building of this age: an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a sauna, a gym, a squash court, a party room and a meeting room, with a security guard on site. Most Etobicoke buildings have one pool at most, and few have kept a squash court.

These are expensive facilities to run and replace, and they are a large part of why the fee is above $1,000 a month. If you would use the pools every week, that cost works in your favour. If you would not, you are paying for your neighbours’ swim.

Ask how the outdoor pool season runs and whether any amenity has been closed for repairs recently. Board minutes will tell you which facilities have needed work, and how the corporation paid for it, which is often the best guide to what comes next.

The East Mall, the old Valhalla Inn site and what is next

Valhalla Inn Road takes its name from the Valhalla Inn, a motor hotel by Highway 427 that UrbanToronto describes as one of the city’s first, opened in 1963. It was demolished in 2011 to make way for Edilcan’s One Valhalla, a project of three towers and townhouses. So the immediate neighbourhood has already seen one major redevelopment.

More is coming. The new Etobicoke Civic Centre is under construction at Bloor and Kipling, with a district library, recreation centre and pools, and the surrounding Bloor-Kipling lands are planned for thousands of new homes. That is useful services nearby, and also more traffic and construction over the next several years. The panel on this page has the transit and school details.

Low price per foot, but price the fee into every offer

Eight active listings ask between about $500,000 and $750,000. Three-bedroom suites ask from about $500,000 to $629,000 across four listings, and the four-bedroom-plus-den plans ask about $690,000 to $700,000. Against the condos.ca size range, that works out to roughly $370 to $500 per square foot, which is far below the newer towers at Islington and Kipling.

Fees on those listings run from about $1,000 to $1,125 a month. On suites of 1,344 to 1,508 square feet, that is roughly $0.66 to $0.84 per square foot, which is reasonable for a fee that includes heat, air conditioning, water, parking and cable. Hydro is not on the list, so expect your own bill.

With eight listings for sale at once, buyers have choice here, and that usually means room to negotiate on suites that need work. The fee is still the number that limits what you can borrow. A $1,050 monthly fee reduces your mortgage approval as much as a large car loan, so have your lender run the full carrying cost before you set a price.

Building specifications

Amenities at Queenscourt

Two pools, a sauna and a squash court is a recreation-centre package inside your own building, and it is the reason families stay here for years. It is also the costliest part of the operating budget, so read the reserve fund study with the pools in mind.

Jatin’s honest take on Queenscourt

Queenscourt — frequently asked questions

Looking at Humber Bay Shores, Mimico, the Queensway and central Etobicoke more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.