The Dunhill Club, 95 Prince Arthur Ave: Annex Condo With Hydro in the Fee

The Dunhill Club is the building I show people who want the Annex at an Annex-adjusted price. It is an eight-storey, 206-suite condominium from 1987, a block off Bloor, with a rooftop deck and hot tub, a concierge and a maintenance fee that covers almost every utility, hydro included. It is not new, and it is not glamorous, but it is honest value on one of the best streets in the core. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A low building on a residential street

Prince Arthur Avenue changes character as you walk west from Avenue Road. The east end is towers: 20 Prince Arthur from 1968 and The Prince Arthur at 38 Avenue Road from 1999. By the time you reach 95, between Huron and St. George, the street is mostly brick houses and mature trees, and an eight-storey building reads as part of the block rather than above it.

That is the main reason people choose the Dunhill Club. You are a short walk from Bloor Street, the subway and Yorkville, but the street you come home to is quiet. With 206 suites in eight storeys, it is a wide, low building rather than a tall one, so the suite count is high for its height.

Its neighbours on the same street give you a useful comparison set: 55 Prince Arthur, an 11-storey building from 1986, and the new boutique project at 10 Prince Arthur. All three sit within a few minutes of each other and trade at very different prices.

The fee covers more than it seems

The maintenance fee here lists heat, hydro, air conditioning, water, parking, building insurance and common elements. Hydro in the fee is now unusual in Toronto; most buildings from the 2000s onward meter electricity suite by suite, and many charge separately for parking.

So when you compare the Dunhill Club’s fee with a newer building’s, add the other building’s hydro bill, its heating and cooling costs and any parking charge before you decide which is cheaper. The gap usually narrows a lot. The trade-off is that bundled utilities are shared, so a rise in energy costs lands on the whole building’s budget, and light users subsidise heavy ones.

Before you buy, ask for the current budget and the last two years of fee increases. In an older bulk-metered building, that history tells you more about future costs than the fee on the listing does.

Small suites, a few with terraces

Suites run from about 418 sq ft to about 1,212 sq ft, so the building is weighted toward studios, one-bedrooms and modest two-bedrooms. That mix tends to suit students’ parents buying near the university, single professionals and downsizers who want a pied-à-terre near Bloor.

Layouts vary more than you might expect from a 1980s building. A recent ground-floor listing described 9-foot ceilings and a private gated terrace, which is not something I would assume every suite has; ground-floor terrace suites are their own product here and should be priced separately from upper-floor units.

Many suites have been renovated over the years and some have not. Kitchens and bathrooms in this building range from original to fully redone, and that alone can move the price of two otherwise similar units by a wide margin.

Parking is listed in the fee, but do not assume every suite comes with a space. In a building with this many small suites, the fee listing tells you parking is a shared cost, not that a space comes with every unit. Confirm in the status certificate exactly which space and locker, if any, belong to the suite you are buying.

If you are buying a studio for a student, check the suite’s heating and cooling arrangement and the window exposure as well as the size. Because cooling is in the fee, a sunny suite costs the owner nothing extra to keep comfortable, but ask how the building’s system performs in late summer and when it was last upgraded.

The rooftop and the daily reality

The building’s shared space is concentrated on the roof: a deck with a barbecue area and a hot tub, with views over the Annex and toward downtown. A listing agent described the amenities as recently renovated; ask for the date and the cost of that work, and how it was paid for.

There is a concierge, a meeting or party room, an underground garage and visitor parking. Visitor parking in this part of the Annex is worth more than it sounds, because street parking around the university is scarce.

Day to day, you can walk to Bloor Street shops and restaurants, the Royal Ontario Museum and Yorkville. Transit, schools, parks and Walk Score are shown in the data panel on this page.

Where the Dunhill Club sits on price

Condos.ca reports a building average of about $938 per square foot. That is above 55 Prince Arthur at about $771 and far below The Prince Arthur at 38 Avenue Road at about $1,452. For a 1980s low-rise a block from Bloor in the Annex, I think that is a reasonable middle position.

Once you factor in that hydro, heat, air conditioning and parking are inside the fee, the all-in monthly cost compares well with newer buildings nearby. When I checked, there were no suites listed for sale and one for rent, so I cannot quote a current asking range.

With 206 suites, the building has enough recorded resales to price a suite properly against its own history. Match the floor, the exposure and the renovation level, and treat terrace suites separately. Ask me for the building sold report for the recorded sales.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Dunhill Club

This is not a full-service tower with a pool and gym; the amenity package is a rooftop deck with a hot tub and barbecue, a party room and a concierge. For most owners here that is the right amount: the Annex itself is the amenity, and the fee is not carrying equipment you would rarely use.

Jatin’s honest take on The Dunhill Club

The Dunhill Club — 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.