School House Lofts, 391 Brunswick Ave: 19 Suites in a Former Annex School

School House Lofts is the building I show Annex buyers who want a house-sized suite without a house-sized maintenance list. It has just 19 suites inside a former Loretto girls’ school on Brunswick Avenue, a few minutes north of Bloor, and most of them are over 1,000 square feet. It is quiet, small and very limited on amenities, and that is exactly why some people love it and others should walk away. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A school conversion with only 19 neighbours

The building’s past is in its name. It sits on the former Loretto school property on Brunswick Avenue, right beside The Loretto at 385 Brunswick, which was converted a few years earlier. Sources disagree on exactly which institution this wing housed: condos.ca and blogTO call it the original Loretto College, while Post City describes it as the former Loretto Abbey Day School, a private girls’ school. Either way, this is the second chapter of the same Loretto site.

Empire Communities completed the conversion in 2010. From the street it reads as a traditional brick building, and blogTO noted that the brick matches or closely resembles the original, set against newer tall rectangular windows and curved balconies. It does not look like a new-build pretending to be old, which matters on a heritage-heavy Annex street.

With 19 suites, this is closer to a large house than a condo tower. You will know your neighbours by name, the lobby is never crowded, and the board is a handful of owners. That intimacy cuts both ways, and I come back to it below.

Big suites, 10-foot ceilings and real loft windows

Nothing here is small. Condos.ca puts the range at roughly 1,032 to 2,071 sq ft, and one loft-specialist site says the largest plans approach 2,800 sq ft, so treat the top of the range as unconfirmed. Even the smallest suites are one-bedroom-plus-den layouts that most downtown towers would call a two-bedroom.

Ten-foot ceilings are described as standard, with warehouse-style windows and open-concept plans. Post City’s write-up of a second-floor suite mentions hardwood floors, a dining area off the kitchen, an island that seats four and a marble-tiled ensuite shower.

The upper suites are where the building gets special. Some are multi-level with rooftop terraces, and blogTO’s look at one penthouse described a private roof terrace of roughly 380 sq ft plus a balcony, with Viking appliances in the kitchen. If outdoor space matters to you, focus on the top floor and expect to wait for one to list.

Parking, lockers and the rear garden

One loft-specialist source says every suite came with underground parking and a storage locker, and the penthouse blogTO profiled had two spaces and an oversized locker. In the Annex, where street permit parking is a constant headache, that is a real asset. I would still confirm the exact parking and locker units attached to any suite on the status certificate and the deed.

The shared outdoor space is a private garden at the back with a fountain, planting beds and seating, and barbecues are permitted. There is bike storage and a security system. There is no gym, no party room and no concierge. If you want a 24-hour front desk, look at a larger building.

Living on this stretch of Brunswick

Brunswick Avenue north of Bloor is one of the Annex’s classic residential streets: Victorian and Edwardian houses, mature trees and very little through traffic. Bloor Street West, with its shops, cafés and the Bloor-Brunswick strip, is a short walk south. The University of Toronto campus is close enough that many owners here are academics or people who work downtown.

The trade-off is that your building is one of very few condos on a street of houses. That keeps it quiet. It also means resale buyers are a specific crowd: downsizers from Annex houses and professionals who want space, not investors. The automatic transit and Walk Score panel on this page covers the numbers.

Because the building is set among houses rather than towers, the view from most suites is of rooftops, trees and the neighbouring Loretto buildings rather than a skyline. Light depends heavily on which side a suite faces and which floor it is on, so I always recommend seeing a suite in daylight and asking the seller which direction the main windows face. A lower suite on the garden side and a top-floor penthouse are very different homes under the same roof.

What School House Lofts costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $901 per square foot. For the Annex that is a reasonable number for a conversion with 10-foot ceilings and parking, and it is well below what new boutique buildings in nearby Yorkville ask. The catch is that with only 19 suites, there may be a year with no sale at all, so that average rests on very few trades.

There were no suites listed for sale or lease here when I wrote this. Condos.ca records only water as a fee inclusion, which suggests heat and hydro are on each owner’s own account; check the budget and the status certificate to confirm what you are paying for. For a value check on a specific suite, use my building sold report or the sold data panel on this page, and compare against The Loretto next door.

When comparing, adjust for parking. A School House suite that comes with one or two underground spaces is worth more than a similar-sized Annex suite without one, because permit parking on these streets is limited and not guaranteed. Size the premium against what a separate parking space sells for in the area.

Building specifications

Amenities at School House Lofts

This is a building with almost no amenity package, and that is deliberate. You get a quiet garden, a barbecue and secure parking, and you pay for very little you will not use; if you want a gym or concierge, this is the wrong building.

Jatin’s honest take on School House Lofts

School House Lofts — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yorkville, the Annex and Midtown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.