Tableau Condos, 125 Peter St: The Tower That Sits on a Table

Tableau Condominiums at 125 Peter Street is one of the few Entertainment District towers you can identify from a block away. Wallman Architects lifted the residential floors onto a giant four-storey table held up by columns, with a public plaza underneath and a rebuilt heritage façade tucked under one edge. Inside, it is a compact-suite building with fees that are low for downtown, and that is the real story for buyers. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A tower on a table

The name describes the structure. The podium is a four-storey table held up by nine tall, dark columns along Richmond Street, and the residential tower rises from its top. Underneath is a sheltered public plaza with a mosaic-tiled floor, framed by a colonnade.

On the Peter Street side, the table bridges over a reconstructed three-storey façade of the commercial building that once stood on the site, which in its last years held a Pizzaville and a nightclub. The front was replicated rather than kept intact, and it now holds the lobby, retail and about 25,000 square feet of office space, so the old streetscape survives at sidewalk level while the tower floats above it.

The art piece is part of the design rather than an afterthought. Shayne Dark’s sculpture “Nova,” a cluster of tilted green poles, rises through an opening cut into the table. Above the podium, the tower carries a black grid frame and patterned glazing that make it stand out from the plain glass towers around it.

Compact suites, designed by Cecconi Simone

Tableau is a compact-suite building. Units run from about 382 square feet for the smallest studios to about 1,036 for the largest two-bedrooms, and the suites on the market when I wrote this were one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom plans between 500 and 699 square feet.

Cecconi Simone designed both the suites and the amenity spaces, and Claude Cormier, the landscape architect behind Sugar Beach and Berczy Park, did the outdoor spaces. That is a stronger design team than most investor-oriented towers can claim.

Small suites need careful furniture planning, and dens in this size range are often better as a work nook than a bedroom. If you need a true second bedroom, look at the two-bedroom plans and check that both rooms have windows.

Fees, parking and what the building provides

The maintenance fee covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance and water, which is a good inclusion list for a 2016 tower. Parking is not on the list, so if a suite comes with a space, ask whether it carries a separate charge and confirm it on the status certificate.

The amenity package is built for a downtown lifestyle: a concierge, guest suites, a party room, a media room, a meeting room, a rec room and barbecue space. Beanfield fibre internet is available, which matters if you work from home in a small suite.

With 410 suites and office space in the same building, this is not a quiet boutique. Expect a busy lobby and an active rental market, and check the elevator data in the panel on this page.

The office space in the podium is worth understanding before you buy. A mixed-use building usually has a shared facilities agreement that splits the cost of the structure, the garage and common systems between the residential corporation and the commercial owner. Ask for it, and see how those costs have been shared in recent budgets.

Living at Peter and Richmond

This corner sits between the Entertainment District and Queen West. King Street’s theatres and restaurants are a short walk south, Queen West’s shops are just north, and the financial district is within walking distance east. The data panel on this page covers transit and walkability in detail.

The flip side is that the area has seen heavy condo construction, and new towers continue to be proposed around Peter, Richmond and Adelaide. Views can change, and construction noise is a real part of life here. If a view matters to you, check what has been approved or proposed on nearby sites before you buy a particular side of the building.

For daily life, the plaza under the table is more useful than it sounds. It gives the corner a covered public space out of the rain, and it pulls the building back from a busy intersection, so the entrance feels calmer than most Entertainment District lobbies. Late-night noise from the club strip to the south is still part of the deal on lower floors, so visit on a weekend night before you choose a side.

Pricing and fees at Tableau

The building averages about $915 per square foot, which is in the middle of the range for newer Entertainment District towers. Smaller suites carry a higher price per square foot than larger ones, so compare a studio with a studio, not with a two-bedroom.

Fees on the current listings work out to about $0.74 per square foot, which is low for downtown, especially with heat, air conditioning and water included. Low fees help carrying costs and rental yields, but make sure they are backed by a healthy reserve fund rather than kept artificially low.

Three suites were listed for sale when I wrote this, one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom plans between about 500 and 699 square feet, asking between $569,000 and $649,000. For what suites have actually sold for, see the aggregate sales data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Tableau Condominiums

The amenities are practical rather than lavish: guest suites for visitors, rooms for parties, meetings and movies, and barbecue space. For a building full of compact suites, the guest suites and meeting room do real work, giving you space your unit does not have.

Jatin’s honest take on Tableau Condominiums

Tableau Condominiums — frequently asked questions

Looking at King West, Liberty Village and CityPlace more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.