The Carvalo on College, 877 College St: 23 Two-Storey Condo Suites

The Carvalo on College is not a normal condo building, and that is the first thing you need to understand before you buy here. Most of the seven-storey building is rental apartments; the condominium is a small group of 23 two-storey suites, and the monthly fees reflect that. For the right buyer it is a rare product on College Street. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A condo inside a rental building

The planning record explains the unusual structure. When Clifton Blake applied to rezone the site in July 2017, the proposal was 131 homes: 23 condominium suites and 108 rental apartments, including 13 units replacing the rental housing that was on the site. Later marketing described 112 suites in total, with 23 premium two-storey suites averaging more than 1,200 square feet.

The sources do not agree on the exact total, but they agree on the number that matters to a buyer: 23. That is also the suite count condos.ca records for the condominium corporation, listed as two floors, which matches two-storey suites stacked at the top of the building.

So when you buy here, you are joining a corporation of 23 owners, not 112 or 131. The rental apartments are not part of the condominium corporation. That shapes almost everything else on this page, from the fees to how decisions get made.

A small corporation has real advantages. Owners tend to know each other, board meetings are manageable, and a single motivated owner can get things done. The flip side is that every cost, from insurance to a lawyer’s bill, lands on very few shoulders, and a board of three can be hard to fill year after year. Ask how the board is working and whether owners attend the annual meeting.

Two-storey suites with penthouse positioning

The condo suites are two-level layouts, and the listings for sale when I checked were two-bedroom-plus-den plans marketed as penthouse suites. At an average of more than 1,200 square feet, they are much larger than the typical College Street condo, and closer to a townhouse in how they live.

Launch materials described wide-plank hardwood floors, granite counters and integrated appliances. I could not confirm ceiling heights from a reliable source, and in two-storey suites the main level and upper level often differ, so measure both at a viewing.

A two-storey plan suits people who want separation between living space and bedrooms, or a home office on a different floor from the kitchen. It is less suited to anyone who wants single-floor living; check where the stairs land and whether the layout works if you have bad knees or plan to stay into retirement.

What replaced the car lot on College

Before construction, the site held a car dealership and a three-storey apartment building, both demolished around 2019. Excavation and the first concrete pour followed in 2020, and condos.ca records completion in 2024.

Studio JCI designed the building. Discussion on UrbanToronto’s project thread reports that the City asked for an earlier brick street frontage to be replaced with a curtain wall with vertical fins, so the College Street face is more glass than the brick main-street buildings around it. Opinions on that change were mixed.

The ground floor is retail along College, roughly 1,746 square metres in the later application. Parking is underground with access from the rear lane, and the later application showed 57 vehicle spaces and 180 bicycle spaces for the whole building. Ask whether the suite you are looking at comes with a deeded space, since the condo and rental portions may have separate allocations.

Living on this stretch of College

This is the western end of the Little Italy strip, where College runs toward Dufferin Grove. You are close to the restaurants and cafés between Ossington and Shaw, and Dufferin Grove Park is a walk west. It is a neighbourhood people choose to live in rather than commute through.

College Street has a streetcar and an active evening scene, so the street side of the building will carry noise. Suites at the top of a seven-storey building are above most of it, which is one advantage of how the condo is positioned. Ask which direction the suite faces: the north side looks over College toward Little Italy, while the rear looks over the lane and the low-rise houses to the south. The data panel on this page covers transit, parks and nearby food in more detail.

Pricing and fees for a 23-suite corporation

With only two suites listed for sale when I checked, there is no reliable building average. Those two two-bedroom-plus-den suites asked between about $1.40 million and $1.55 million, which puts this building in the range of a smaller freehold home in the area rather than a typical condo.

Monthly fees on those listings ran from about $1,650 to $1,994. That is high by any standard, and the reason is structural: whatever this corporation pays for its share of the building is spread across 23 owners. Condos.ca does not list what the fee includes, so you need the status certificate and budget to see what you are actually paying for.

For sold figures, see the data panel or ask me for a building sold report. In a corporation this small, a handful of sales can swing any average, so I look at each comparable individually and adjust for the floor, the exposure and whether parking is included.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Carvalo on College

Launch materials listed a rooftop lounge and patio, a rooftop dog run, a wine tasting room, a gym and a concierge, and condos.ca lists a rooftop deck, rec room and wine tasting area. Ask whether these spaces are shared with the rental residents and how the cost is split, because that agreement affects your fee.

Jatin’s honest take on The Carvalo on College

The Carvalo on College — frequently asked questions

Looking at Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, Kensington and Little Italy more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.