Shangri-La, 180 University Ave: Living Above a Five-Star Hotel

Shangri-La is the building I show buyers who want a hotel to be part of their home: a doorman, a lobby that feels like an arrival, and a restaurant and spa downstairs. The residences sit above the five-star Shangri-La Hotel on University Avenue, in a tower that was among the tallest in the city when it opened in 2012. It is expensive to buy and expensive to carry, and you should go in knowing exactly why. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A hotel below, homes above

The structure of this building explains almost everything about it. The first 17 floors are the Shangri-La Hotel, with 202 rooms, and the residences start above it. Owners have a separate residential entrance and their own amenities, but they live in a building whose ground floor is a five-star hotel with its restaurants, bar and spa.

Westbank, the Vancouver developer, brought the Shangri-La brand to Toronto after a similar project in Vancouver. Hariri Pontarini Architects designed the tower, the spa and the penthouses, working with James KM Cheng Architects, and the project won a Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence in 2013.

The storey count depends on who you ask. The architect gives 65 storeys and UrbanToronto lists 66, while condos.ca counts 49 residential floors above the hotel. They are all describing the same tower; the difference is whether the hotel floors and mechanical levels are counted.

Heritage at the base and art at the door

At the foot of the tower is the reconstructed Bishop’s Block, a designated heritage building dating to about 1829, which gives the corner at Adelaide a low, historic face. At the entrance is Rising, a large sculpture by the artist Zhang Huan, commissioned for the project. Together they make this one of the more memorable arrivals on University Avenue.

Structurally, the tower uses post-tensioned slabs, which allow longer spans and more open interiors with fewer columns. There are eight levels of underground parking, and the architect says the project helped set the Ontario standard for sprinkler systems in very tall buildings.

Large suites, sold to a particular buyer

Condos.ca puts the suite range at about 678 to 4,430 sq ft. There are almost no small investor suites here; the smallest plans are a generous one-bedroom, and most of what trades is two bedrooms and up. At the very top are four two-level penthouses.

Higher floors bring views over the Financial District, the lake and the theatre district, and because the residences start above the hotel, even the lowest suites sit well above the street. Which side you face matters a lot: views to the lake and the east tend to command a premium over suites looking into neighbouring towers.

Many owners here are downsizers from large homes, or buyers who split their time between Toronto and another city. That shapes the building: it is quiet, very serviced, and turnover tends to be low.

Because sizes and views vary so much, average price per square foot is a rough guide at best here. Two suites with the same bedroom count can differ by more than a million dollars. When I price a suite in this building, I compare it with sales on similar floors and exposures, not with the building average.

The daily reality on University Avenue

University Avenue is a wide, formal boulevard, and this stretch puts you between the Financial District to the east and the restaurants and theatres of King Street West to the south and west. Osgoode Hall, the courts and the hospital district are a short walk north.

It is a busy corner on weekdays and quieter at night than the entertainment district a few blocks away. You live with hotel traffic at the door, taxis and deliveries, and the occasional event. Most owners see that as part of the service rather than a nuisance.

Getting around is simple. The Financial District’s office towers, the PATH network and Union Station’s rail connections are all within reach on foot, and the Gardiner is close for drivers heading west. For many owners, the car in the eight-level garage is used mostly on weekends.

What Shangri-La costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,229 per square foot, near the top of the downtown condo market. Only a few buildings in the city, such as the other hotel-branded towers in Yorkville and the Financial District, trade at a similar level.

When I checked, six suites were for sale and 11 for lease. Asking prices across those listings ran from about $1.72 million to $4.98 million. The two-bedroom listings alone spanned roughly $1.72 million to $2.99 million, and the two two-bedroom-plus-den listings were both asking about $3.15 million. That spread reflects floor, view and size more than bedroom count.

Fees are the real carrying cost. Monthly fees across those listings ran from about $1,755 to $2,732. Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water as included, so part of that is utilities and parking you would pay for elsewhere. The rest is staffing and the cost of running a building to a hotel standard. Ask for the budget, and do the total-cost arithmetic before you compare with a non-hotel building. If you want a value check on a specific suite, I can pull comparables through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Shangri-La Toronto

Condos.ca lists a concierge, party room, media room, business centre and guest suites for residents. The bigger draw is what sits downstairs in the hotel, such as the restaurants, bar and spa, but those are hotel services, so confirm what residents can use and on what terms.

Jatin’s honest take on Shangri-La Toronto

Shangri-La Toronto — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.