The Boulevard, 188 Doris Ave: Monarch Tower With a Pool Near Sheppard

The Boulevard at 188 Doris Avenue is a Monarch tower from 2001 a block east of Yonge, toward the Sheppard end of North York Centre. It has the pool, rooftop deck and guest suites that buildings of its era offered, and it has more suites on the market than most of its neighbours, which gives a buyer real choice. That also means you need to compare carefully. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A Monarch building on the Doris Avenue side

Doris Avenue runs parallel to Yonge, one block east, through the middle of North York Centre. The Boulevard sits toward its south end, closer to Sheppard than to Finch. Being on Doris rather than Yonge gives you a quieter street out front with the Yonge strip a short walk away.

Condos.ca names Monarch Development Corporation as builder, and a recent listing describes it the same way. It is one of a group of towers of the same age on Doris and Empress Avenues, which gives you plenty of comparable buildings to measure it against.

Sources differ by a year on the build date: condos.ca says 2001, REW says 2000, and the corporation was registered in June 2001. Use the corporation number, MTCC-1377, when you order the status certificate.

That depth of comparison is useful when you negotiate. If a suite here is priced above a similar plan in a neighbouring tower of the same age, you can see it, and so can the seller’s agent. I always pull the last year of sales for this building and two or three of its neighbours before writing an offer.

Pool, rooftop deck and guest suites

Listings and REW describe an indoor pool, a hot tub, a sauna, a gym, a rooftop deck, a billiards room, a party room and furnished guest suites, with a 24-hour concierge and security. That is a full package for a building of 323 suites.

The guest suites are the amenity people underrate. If family visits from out of town, a guest suite saves you a hotel bill, and in a one-bedroom it saves you from the sofa bed. The rooftop deck is the other one I would look at, since outdoor space you can use in summer is scarce in this area.

Every owner pays for these through the fee and the reserve fund, used or not. A pool is the most expensive of them to run and to rebuild, so pay attention to what the reserve fund study says about it.

Layouts, from one-bedrooms to large two-bedrooms

Condos.ca puts suite sizes at about 576 to 1,787 square feet. Current listings run from a one-bedroom through one-bedroom-plus-dens to several two-bedrooms, so most buyers will find something in their range.

One recent listing for a two-bedroom-plus-den described a split-bedroom plan, a separate dining area, floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony, with one parking space and a locker. A split plan, with the bedrooms on opposite sides of the living room, is what roommates and couples with a home office want.

Check whether a den is a real room or a nook, and confirm the parking space and locker for the suite. In a building of this age the answer varies from suite to suite.

Also look at the windows and balcony door in the suite itself. The floor-to-ceiling glass that makes these plans bright is original in many suites, and older sealed units can fog or leak air. Ask whether window and door replacement is the owner’s cost or the corporation’s, because the declaration decides that, not the listing.

Daily life near Yonge and Sheppard

Listings describe schools, cafés, pubs, restaurants and transit close by, with Highway 401 and Pearson Airport a short drive away. The data panel on this page has the exact transit and walkability details.

The area keeps adding towers along Yonge and around Sheppard. That brings more shops and services, and a stretch of construction noise. For resale, it means you will compete with newer suites, so the amenities, the larger layouts and the fee inclusions are what will sell your suite later.

Parking is in the fee, which helps here. You can live without a car in this part of the city, but a space you do not pay extra for makes weekend trips easy and makes the suite easier to sell.

What The Boulevard costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $749 per square foot. That is below the newer towers on Yonge near Sheppard and close to other buildings of the same age on Doris Avenue and Empress Avenue.

When I checked, five suites were listed for sale, asking from $419,900 to $938,800. Monthly fees across those listings ran from about $588 to $1,242, and condos.ca works the active listings out at about $0.94 per square foot. One suite was listed for rent.

That spread is wide because the suites are so different. The bottom of the range is a compact one-bedroom, while the top is a large two-bedroom with a higher fee to match. Work out price and fee per square foot for each suite you shortlist rather than relying on the building average, which mixes all of them together.

The fee covers air conditioning, heat, common elements, building insurance, parking and water, so hydro is the main utility you pay yourself. With five suites to choose from, take your time and compare them on floor, view and condition rather than price alone. For closed results, use the sold data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Boulevard

The Boulevard has the full amenity set of its era: pool, hot tub, sauna, gym, rooftop deck and guest suites. The pool and gym can replace a membership, and the guest suites are useful for anyone with family who visits from out of town.

Jatin’s honest take on The Boulevard

The Boulevard — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yonge & Eglinton, Davisville and North Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.