Spectrum Condos, 28 Harrison Garden Blvd: Menkes’ Mid-Size Option

Spectrum at 28 Harrison Garden is the quieter neighbour on a street best known for Tridel’s Skymark towers. It is a 24-storey Menkes building from 2003, the second half of a two-tower Spectrum community, with sensible mid-size suites and fewer frills than Skymark. The fee is structured differently from its neighbours, and that is the first thing I walk buyers through. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One half of a two-tower Menkes community

Spectrum is a pair of towers on Harrison Garden Boulevard, just north of the 401 on the east side of Yonge. The south tower at 30 Harrison Garden came first: a property manager’s building page describes it as a 27-storey, 267-suite Menkes building completed in 2002, under TSCC-1466. This tower at 28 Harrison Garden followed in 2003, with 24 storeys and 231 suites, as its own corporation, TSCC-1526.

Menkes is a well-known GTA developer, and the suite sizes here say a lot about who this tower was designed for. Even the smallest suites are larger than many of the compact layouts newer towers rely on, which points to end users rather than investors.

Two separate corporations side by side usually share some facilities, a driveway or a garage. I could not confirm what is shared between 28 and 30 Harrison Garden, so ask for any shared facilities agreement along with the status certificate.

Mid-size suites, not penthouses

Condos.ca gives a suite range of about 511 to 1,591 square feet. That is narrower than Skymark down the street, which runs to well over 3,000 square feet. Spectrum’s sweet spot is one-bedroom-plus-dens and two-bedrooms of roughly 700 to 900 square feet, which is a practical size for couples, small families and end users who want an extra room for an office.

The suite listed for sale when I checked was a two-bedroom in the 800-to-899-square-foot band, which fits that pattern. Two more were listed for lease.

For investors, that size range also matters on the lease side. One-bedroom-plus-dens and two-bedrooms near Yonge and the 401 lease to young professionals and small families who want a real second room, and those tenants tend to stay longer than in micro-suites. The data panel shows recent lease figures for this building.

I could not find the architect or ceiling heights in the sources I checked. At more than 20 years old, the main variable between suites is renovation: original kitchens and bathrooms are common in buildings of this age, so price an unrenovated suite with the cost of updating it in mind.

Amenities: a practical list

Condos.ca lists concierge, a party room, guest suites, a meeting room, visitor parking and an underground garage for 28 Harrison Garden. The south tower’s building page adds a gym, a sauna and a security guard for 30 Harrison Garden. Whether residents of one tower can use the other’s facilities is something to confirm with management.

That is a more modest package than the Skymark Club next door, with its pool and bowling alley. For many buyers that is fine. Fewer amenities usually means fewer costly facilities to maintain, and it is part of why the fee here is narrower.

Harrison Garden, Yonge and the 401

Spectrum sits at the Yonge end of Harrison Garden Boulevard, so Yonge Street shops and restaurants are close and the 401 ramps are minutes away by car. The highway is also the main downside: south-facing suites will see and hear it, and that is worth checking at rush hour before you buy.

Harrison Garden itself is a short internal street lined almost entirely by these four towers, so there is little through traffic and the sidewalks are mostly residents walking to Yonge. That is a real advantage over buildings fronting Yonge directly, where the noise and the crowds at street level never stop.

Tridel’s twin Skymark towers are the other two big buildings on the street, and the Yonge and Sheppard tower cluster is to the north. The data panel on this page shows the transit options, schools, parks and food nearby.

Price per square foot, and the heat question

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $724 per square foot. That is slightly higher than the two Skymark towers along the street, which average about $703 and $704. Part of that is suite size: smaller suites usually sell for more per square foot, and Spectrum has fewer large suites pulling the average down.

The fee structure is the real difference. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking and water as included, but not heat or air conditioning, both of which are listed as included at Skymark. If heating and cooling are billed to the suite here, your monthly cost is the fee plus those utilities. Ask how heating and cooling are supplied and billed, and get the last year’s bills from the seller if you can.

With only one suite for sale when I checked, there was no range of asking prices to quote. For pricing, I would look at this building’s sales over the last year in the data panel or my building sold report, and at sales in 30 Harrison Garden and the Skymark towers, adjusting for size and the fee difference.

Building specifications

Amenities at Spectrum Condos

This is a concierge building with the basics: a party room, a meeting room and guest suites for visiting family. It is not a resort-style package, which keeps the shared costs simpler, and the bigger club at Skymark is a walk away if you want to compare.

Jatin’s honest take on Spectrum Condos

Spectrum Condos — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.