The Avenue, 155 St Clair Ave W: 73 Large Suites at Avenue and St. Clair

The Avenue is the building I show downsizers from Forest Hill and Deer Park who want to stay close to home and never shovel again. Camrost Felcorp finished it in 2011: 19 storeys, only 73 suites, at the corner of Avenue Road and St. Clair, on the high ground above the old Lake Iroquois shoreline. It is a low-density luxury building, and you pay for that density in the fee. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A traditional tower on a modernist street

St. Clair Avenue West between Yonge and Avenue Road is lined with mid-century apartment slabs and office buildings. The Avenue deliberately does not look like them. UrbanToronto described its design as drawing on the traditional houses of Forest Hill and Deer Park, and the developer expected many of its buyers to come from those neighbourhoods.

Page + Steele designed it, with Toddglen as construction manager. The details that set it apart are at the base: a porte cochère for drop-offs and an arcade along the street. On the UrbanToronto forum, opinion was mixed, from praise that it stands out on the strip to complaints that the setbacks were a missed opportunity. I think the base works well and the tower is solid rather than daring.

Its neighbour is Imperial Plaza, Camrost Felcorp’s conversion of the former Imperial Oil building at 111 St. Clair West. The two together reshaped this end of the street over the 2010s.

73 suites in 19 storeys: what low density buys you

Most 19-storey towers hold well over 150 suites. The Avenue holds 73, which means fewer suites per floor, larger plans and more privacy in the corridors. The suite range runs roughly 825 to 3,895 sq ft; even the smallest is a generous one-bedroom by midtown standards.

The site helps the views. The building stands at the top of the hill on Avenue Road that marks the old Lake Iroquois shoreline, so upper south-facing suites look over the city to the skyline. Upper north-facing suites have large planted terraces, created by the setbacks the forum disliked.

So choose by orientation. South for the view, north for the terrace. Ceiling heights are not published in the sources I found, so measure them in the suite.

With only a handful of suites on each floor, the corridor and elevator experience is closer to a private residence than a tower. For buyers coming from a house, that matters more than any finish detail, and it is worth seeing at a busy time of day.

Parking, the pool and the St. Clair streetcar

Parking is included in the fee, and the Daily Commercial News reported four levels of underground parking for the project. That is a lot of garage for 73 suites, which suggests generous allocations, but confirm exactly what comes with the suite you are buying.

Inside, the amenity list is unusually full for a building this small: concierge, an indoor pool, a gym, guest suites and a party room. Pools are expensive to run, and in a 73-suite corporation each owner carries a larger share of that cost.

Outside, the St. Clair streetcar runs past the door, and Yonge Street is a short walk east. The streetcar and subway details are in the data panel on this page.

How it compares on St. Clair West

St. Clair West near Avenue Road offers a wide set of alternatives. Imperial Plaza next door, completed as condominiums in 2017 per condos.ca, has 399 suites over 23 storeys and averages about $908 per square foot. Zigg at 223 St. Clair West, from 2018, has 166 suites and averages about $967.

The Avenue’s average of about $1,268 per square foot sits well above both. The reason is the product: 73 large suites, versus hundreds of mostly smaller ones. Compare like with like, a 2,000-square-foot suite against a 2,000-square-foot suite, and the gap narrows.

The low suite count cuts both ways at resale. There are fewer competing listings when you sell, which helps. There are also fewer recent sales to support your price, so expect appraisals and offers to lean on the wider area. Plan on a longer holding period here than in a large tower, and buy the suite you would be happy to keep.

Pricing and fees at The Avenue

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,268 per square foot. That is high for St. Clair West, and it reflects the suite sizes, the low density and the full amenity package rather than the street itself. Older buildings nearby trade for considerably less per foot, but they are different products.

The fee covers heat, air conditioning, water, parking, building insurance and common elements. Expect a high monthly figure in dollar terms, because the suites are large and a pool, concierge and guest suites are shared among only 73 owners.

Do the arithmetic the way a downsizer should. Selling a Forest Hill or Deer Park house and buying here usually means trading property tax, heating, snow clearing, roof and garden costs for one predictable monthly fee. Put both sets of costs on the same page before you judge the fee as high.

Only one suite was listed when I checked, so I will not quote an asking range. For the recorded resale history, ask me for the building sold report, and compare fee per square foot against Imperial Plaza and the other St. Clair towers before you decide.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Avenue

A pool, a gym and guest suites in a 73-suite building is a generous package, and the guest suites matter to downsizers whose families visit from out of town. The porte cochère makes drop-offs and deliveries easy on a busy corner.

Jatin’s honest take on The Avenue

The Avenue — 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.