River City I, 51 Trolley Cres: The Black Tower That Began West Don Lands

River City I is the building you notice from the Don Valley Parkway ramp: matte black, angular and nothing like the beige towers around it. Urban Capital finished it in 2013 as the first residential building in the West Don Lands, and the design still holds up. The fee is low for downtown because almost nothing beyond the basics is included, and that is the first thing I want buyers to understand. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Architecture with an opinion

Urban Capital won this site through a Waterfront Toronto competition that weighted design and sustainability heavily, and it hired Montreal’s Saucier + Perrotte in a joint venture with ZAS Architects. Phase 1 is two connected pieces: a 16-storey tower along King that tapers at its eastern corner, and a lower black wing forming an L, joined by a multi-storey bridge.

The cladding is matte black aluminum, and the forms are angled and sloped on purpose, a nod to the area’s industrial past. Phase 2 next door went the opposite way in white. Together they read as one of the more deliberate pieces of residential architecture in the east end, and Canadian Architect gave the project a full feature.

Living inside a building like this is different from looking at it. Angled walls and sloped glass make for memorable rooms, but they can also cost you usable floor area and make furniture placement awkward. Walk the suite with a tape measure, and do not assume the listed square footage translates into the same livable space as a rectangular plan.

Waterfront Toronto required LEED Gold for buildings in this precinct. If energy performance matters to you, ask the corporation what certification was achieved and how the building’s systems have been maintained since.

More than 25 floor plans, and a garage above ground

The architects designed every suite, and Phase 1 alone has more than 25 floor plans. That variety is a real advantage on resale, because you are not competing against twenty identical units on the same stack, but it also means you cannot price a suite here off a generic one-bedroom average.

Sizes run from about 349 square feet up to roughly 1,744. The smallest suites are true studios, and they behave differently on resale: they appeal mostly to investors and first-time buyers, and they are more sensitive to interest rates than a two-bedroom. If you are buying one to live in, make sure the plan has a proper closet and room for a real bed, not just a sofa bed.

One detail most buyers never hear about: the soil on this former industrial site was contaminated, so excavating an underground garage was ruled out. Parking sits in an above-grade structure between Phase 1 and Phase 2. Parking is not listed in the fee, so confirm whether a suite comes with a space and how it is held.

The roof of that garage became the courtyard, roughly 20 metres wide, with a shared patio, a pool and a planted green roof. It is shared with the phases that face it. That arrangement is pleasant to use but means a shared-facilities agreement governs costs and rules, and you should read it.

Why the fee looks cheap

Active listings work out to about $0.78 per square foot in fees, which is low for downtown Toronto. The reason is in the inclusions: condos.ca lists only common elements and building insurance. Heat, cooling, water and hydro appear to be on your own account, so budget for those bills separately.

That is not a bad thing. Individually metered utilities reward owners who are careful with energy, and they keep the corporation’s budget less exposed to utility price swings. But when you compare this building to an older one at $1.00 per square foot with heat and water included, the true monthly gap is much smaller than it looks.

Ask the seller for a year of utility bills for the specific suite. A west-facing glass corner unit will cost more to cool than an interior suite, and that matters more here than in a building where the corporation pays.

The West Don Lands, ten years in

When River City I was going up, it was the only residential building between Corktown and the river. Since then the West Don Lands have filled in with the later River City phases, the former Pan Am athletes’ village buildings and new rental and condo towers, so the area now feels like a finished neighbourhood rather than a construction site.

Lower River Street was laid out as a woonerf, a street designed to prioritise pedestrians over cars. Corktown’s older streets and the King streetcar are a short walk north, and the Don River trails are to the east. The panel on this page covers transit, schools and nearby parks in detail.

Price per square foot and what is listed now

The building average is around $813 per square foot. That sits below the newer West Don Lands towers and well below King East buildings with loft finishes, which reflects both the age and the fact that many suites are compact.

At the time of writing there were three active listings asking from $449,900 to $960,000, with monthly fees from $406 to $853. That spans a one-bedroom through a two-plus-den, which is a reasonable spread for comparison. There were also two units listed for lease.

Because there are so many floor plans, I would compare a suite against sales of the same plan or exposure, not the building average. Get the floor plan name from the listing and look up past trades on that plan before making an offer.

Building specifications

Amenities at River City I

The standout is the outdoor courtyard pool on the garage roof, which is rare for a mid-sized downtown east building. The rest is a standard set: gym, party room, media and meeting rooms, and concierge.

Jatin’s honest take on River City I

River City I — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.