The Harlowe, 608 Richmond St W: Real Brick, Newer Build, Lean Fee List

The Harlowe at 608 Richmond Street West is the newer building I show buyers who like the look of a King West warehouse but want a 2018 building behind it. Lamb Development and Core Architects clad it in real red brick, gave it black divided-light windows and stepped the top floors back in glass. The thing to understand before you fall for it is the fee: it looks reasonable until you notice how little it includes. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A new building that borrows the warehouse look honestly

The Harlowe was designed to fit the old garment and warehouse buildings around King and Bathurst rather than to stand out from them. The lower ten storeys are red brick laid in slightly staggered columns, with black-framed windows broken into small panes the way old factory windows were. Above that, the top four floors step back and switch to glass and steel, with the black mullions carried up so the two parts still read as one building.

The brick is real, not a printed panel. UrbanToronto reported that it came from a brickworks in Pennsylvania and that the same brick continues into the lobby and corridors. That matters to me because it is the kind of detail that ages well; brick weathers into a building, while some of the cladding systems used on towers of the same era have not.

It replaced a row of detached houses on Richmond, and it needed extra height beyond what the zoning allowed as of right to get to 14 storeys. You will see that negotiation in the shape: the setback at the 11th floor and the deeper setback from the street both came out of fitting a mid-rise into a low-rise block.

The ground floor was planned as roughly 5,000 square feet of retail along Richmond, which the developer said it intended to keep and lease to a restaurant, with the kitchen exhaust routed up to the roof and a covered patio in the setback. A restaurant downstairs is convenient, but it also brings deliveries, late closing times and cooking smells. If you are looking at a low south-facing suite, find out what is operating at grade now and walk past it on a Friday night before you commit.

Layouts: south for studios, north for the bigger plans

The original plans put about 20 suites on a typical floor. South-facing suites were mostly studios and one-bedrooms, and the north side held the one-plus-dens and two-plus-dens. The penthouse level was planned with three-bedroom suites of up to about 1,500 square feet, which lines up with the top of the size range now quoted for the building.

Ceilings were planned at 9 or 10 feet on most floors, with 11 feet at the top. Suites at and above the 11th-floor setback have full-length balconies or terraces, and on the north side the balconies were designed to look suspended from steel cables. If you want outdoor space you can actually use, the setback floors are where to look.

One thing to understand about the orientation: the south side faces Richmond Street and gets the sun and the light, but also the traffic. The north side faces Perry Lane, which is quieter but darker in winter. Walk both at different times of day before you choose.

Parking is scarce here by design

The development application described about 145 residential and visitor parking spaces on five underground levels for a building of more than 200 suites. In plain terms, many suites were sold without parking. Bicycle parking was planned at grade.

That has two consequences. If you need a car, buy a suite that comes with a deeded or exclusive-use space, because adding one later depends on someone being willing to sell or lease theirs. And if you are buying without parking, you are in the majority here, so it will not hurt resale the way it would in a suburban building. Visitor parking is listed among the amenities, but plan around it being limited.

What The Harlowe costs, and what the fee leaves out

The building average sits around $898 per square foot, which is at the upper end of King West resale for a building of this age. You are paying for a 2018 building with real brick and a well-regarded design, and the market has treated it that way.

At the time I wrote this there were four active listings. One-plus-den suites were asking about $699,000 to $699,900, and the two larger two-bedroom and two-plus-den suites were asking roughly $1.53 million to $1.55 million. Fees on those listings ranged from about $738 to about $1,271 a month, which works out to roughly $0.92 per square foot.

Here is the catch. The fee list I have includes water only. Heat, cooling and hydro appear to be on your own meter, so the real monthly cost is the fee plus your utility bills. A building at $0.92 per square foot with water only is more expensive to carry than an older building at the same fee that includes heat and air conditioning. Compare the all-in number. For actual sold figures, use the aggregate data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Harlowe

The amenities are compact: a concierge, a gym and a party room, with the shared space planned on the second floor alongside a small terrace over the lane. It is enough for daily life without the pool or theatre that would push the fee up, and most residents will use the neighbourhood rather than the building.

Jatin’s honest take on The Harlowe

The Harlowe — frequently asked questions

Looking at King West, Liberty Village and CityPlace more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.