The Marquis, 135 Maitland St: A 34-Suite Condo at Maitland and Jarvis

The Marquis is one of the smallest condominium buildings in this part of downtown, and that is both why people buy here and why some should not. It is an eight-storey building with just 34 suites at the corner of Maitland and Jarvis, registered in 1997, with no concierge desk and no amenity floor. If you want a quiet building where everyone knows each other, it is worth a look; if you want services, it is not. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A boutique building in the truest sense

Plenty of buildings call themselves boutique with 150 suites. The Marquis has 34. It is an eight-storey mid-rise on a white stone base, with Juliet balconies on the upper floors, sitting on the corner where Maitland meets Jarvis.

At this size, the building feels more like a small community than a tower. There are only a handful of suites per floor, the board is drawn from a small pool of owners, and the person on the elevator with you is probably a neighbour you know by name. For many buyers that is exactly what they want downtown.

condos.ca does not name the original developer, and I could not confirm it from other sources. If that matters to you, the declaration and the original disclosure documents in the status certificate package will show it.

There is also no developer marketing to speak of, so most of what you can learn comes from the documents and from owners. I would talk to a resident or two if you get the chance; in a building this small, they will know the history of every repair.

What 34 suites means for your money

The economics of a small corporation are the thing to understand. Every building has a roof, an elevator, a garage, windows and a heating plant, and those cost roughly the same to replace whether 34 owners share the bill or 400 do. In The Marquis, each owner carries a much larger share of every big repair.

That makes the reserve fund study the single most important document here. Look at how well funded it is, when the next big items are due, and whether recent studies have pushed contributions up sharply. A well-run small building can be excellent; an underfunded one can surprise you.

The upside of no concierge and no amenity floor is that you are not paying staff and running costs for spaces you would not use. That shows up in a short list of fee inclusions and a building with fewer systems to maintain.

Small buildings can also be harder to finance and insure if their documents are weak, and lenders read the status certificate too. A clean certificate, a healthy reserve fund and a stable fee history make a suite here easier to resell, so the documents protect you twice.

Larger suites with Juliet balconies

condos.ca records suites from about 501 to 1,597 square feet. That top end tells you there are genuine family-size and downsizer suites here, which is unusual for a downtown building of any age.

Juliet balconies give you a door that opens to fresh air but no space to sit. If outdoor space matters, ask whether any suites, especially on the top floor, have a walkout terrace, and check whether outdoor areas are exclusive-use common elements with their own rules.

Buildings of this era generally have more generous floor plans than newer stock, with separate bedrooms and more closet space. Many suites will have been updated, but each one is different, so judge the suite in front of you.

Maitland and Jarvis, day to day

Maitland is a short residential street running east from Yonge, and The Marquis sits at its east end on Jarvis. The Church-Wellesley Village is a few minutes west, and Yonge Street is a little further. Allan Gardens is a short walk to the southeast.

Jarvis is a busy arterial, so suites facing it get more traffic noise than those facing Maitland. Visit at rush hour and on a weekend evening before you decide. Transit, schools and walkability are covered in the automatic panel on this page.

This end of Maitland is a mix of older houses, low-rise apartments and small condo buildings, and it is quieter than Church or Yonge. Big change is coming to the west: a 68-storey tower is proposed at 543 Yonge Street, between Wellesley and Maitland on the east side of Yonge, according to UrbanToronto. That is a few blocks away, but construction traffic on Maitland is likely once it starts.

Price per square foot, fees and supply

condos.ca puts the building average at about $659 per square foot. For comparison, the same source shows 555 Yonge Street at about $665, The Alexus at 70 Alexander Street at about $530 and X Condos at about $877. The Marquis sits with the older mid-rises, well below the newer towers to the north.

condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and water in the fee. Heat and hydro are not on that list, so ask how each suite is heated and cooled and get a year of utility bills. With such a short inclusion list, the true monthly cost of a suite here is the fee plus utilities, and that is the number to compare with buildings that include heat.

At the time of writing there were no suites for sale. In a 34-suite building, a year can pass with only a few sales, so the building average can swing on one transaction. Ask me for the building sold report at /building-sold-report/ for real comparables before you make an offer.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Marquis

There is no concierge, gym or party room listed: you get underground parking, visitor parking and a security system. That keeps the fee down, but it also means parcels, guests and building issues are managed without a front desk.

Jatin’s honest take on The Marquis

The Marquis — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.