The Gatsby, 88 Alton Towers Cir: Hydro In, Indoor Pool and Tennis

The Gatsby is the building on Alton Towers Circle that buyers pay up for, and the reason is mostly on the fee statement. Condos.ca lists hydro, heat, air conditioning, water and parking as included, and the building adds an indoor pool and a tennis court. It is a 1989 tower, so the question is whether that premium still holds once you read the reserve fund. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The priciest tower on the circle, and why

Condos.ca puts The Gatsby at about $535 per square foot. Its neighbours on Alton Towers Circle, all from 1989 to 1991, sit between about $374 and $454. That is about 18 percent above the next-highest building of the same age on the same street, and it needs explaining before you pay it.

Three things account for most of it. First, the fee covers hydro, which the three Ambassadors towers do not list. Second, The Gatsby has an indoor pool and a tennis court, where the Ambassadors buildings list an outdoor pool. Third, its suite range starts lower, at about 643 square feet, and smaller suites push the average price per square foot up.

That last point matters when you compare. A $535 average does not mean every suite costs a third more than next door. Compare suites of the same size, and look at the total monthly cost, before you decide the premium is or is not justified.

The wider size range also gives the building a broader buyer pool than its neighbours. A first-time buyer can look at the smaller plans here, while a downsizer can find something over 1,200 square feet, and both get the same all-inclusive fee structure. That mix tends to support resale demand in slow markets as well as busy ones.

Hydro, heat and cooling in one fee

The inclusion list is the core of this building’s appeal. Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, hydro, air conditioning, water, parking and building insurance. Apart from internet and your own contents insurance, very little else lands on a separate bill.

For a retiree or anyone on a fixed budget, that predictability is worth real money. Your summer cooling and winter heating do not swing your monthly costs, and there is no separate parking charge.

The other side is that everyone shares the energy bill. When utility rates rise, the fee absorbs it for all owners, whether they keep the thermostat low or not. Ask the manager how the last two budgets handled utility increases, and whether the board has looked at suite metering or energy retrofits.

If you are coming from a house, compare a full year of your current hydro and gas bills against the fee here. That exercise usually tells you more about value than any price-per-square-foot chart.

Indoor pool, tennis court and the rest

Condos.ca lists an indoor pool, a tennis court, a sauna, a gym, a security guard, a security system and a parking garage. An indoor pool means year-round swimming, which is the amenity people most often tell me they miss when they move from an older building to a new one.

Tennis courts are rare in Toronto condos now, because land is too expensive to give over to one. Here it is a genuine feature, but also a surface the corporation has to resurface and fence from time to time, so look for it in the reserve fund plan alongside the pool.

Security staffing is part of what the fee pays for. Ask whether the guard is on site around the clock or for set hours, because that is one of the larger line items in any older building’s budget.

Bradsil, and who runs the building

Condos.ca names Bradsil as the developer and builder. I could not find much published detail about the firm or its other projects, so I would not lean on the builder’s name either way. At 37 years old, how the building has been maintained matters far more than who poured the concrete.

The manager is listed as Gatsby Management. The name suggests an arrangement specific to this building rather than one of the large management firms, but I could not confirm how it is structured. Ask who employs the on-site staff, who keeps the books and how the contract is reviewed, since that shapes how well the corporation is run.

Alton Towers Circle itself is a loop of seven condo towers from the same period, including the Ambassadors buildings, Optima on the Park I and II and Platinum East. It is a quiet residential street; the data panel on this page shows the transit, shops and parks around it.

What The Gatsby costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $535 per square foot, the highest on Alton Towers Circle. It lists Optima on the Park II at about $454, Platinum East at about $453, The Ambassadors I at about $421, The Ambassadors III at about $399 and The Ambassadors II at about $374.

There were no suites listed for sale or for lease when I checked, so there is no current asking range to quote. The data panel on this page shows what has traded here over the last twelve months in aggregate.

To judge the premium, put two suites of the same size side by side: one here, one at a neighbouring tower. Add the fee and property tax for each, then add a hydro bill to the neighbour, since its fee does not include it. If the gap in monthly cost is small, the gap in price per square foot is mostly paying for the indoor pool and tennis court, and you can decide whether those are worth it to you.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Gatsby

An indoor pool plus a tennis court is a package almost no new Toronto tower offers. It is the main reason to choose this building over its neighbours, and also the main long-term maintenance cost to check.

Jatin’s honest take on The Gatsby

The Gatsby — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.