The Upper House, 25 Malcolm Rd: Leaside’s Boutique Brick Mid-Rise

The Upper House is what I show buyers who want a newer condo in Leaside but do not want a tower. It is a seven-storey, 66-suite brick building at the south end of Laird Drive, with two-storey townhomes, nine-foot ceilings and a rooftop terrace. The question is whether the fee and the price per square foot make sense for you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Designed to fit an industrial-residential edge

The building sits on Malcolm Road where Laird Drive meets Millwood Road, on Leaside’s eastern edge near the rail corridor. This is where the neighbourhood’s houses give way to its older industrial and commercial strip along Laird, and the design responds to both.

Kearns Mancini Architects wrapped the building in black and red brick, a palette chosen to sit comfortably beside the area’s brick houses and former industrial buildings, with modern detailing on top. At seven storeys, it reads as a substantial mid-rise rather than a tower.

Knightstone Capital Management marketed it as Leaside’s first boutique condominium when sales launched in 2014, and construction started in 2015. The building was registered as TSCC-2657 in May 2018. Condos.ca’s description gives 2017 as the build year, so expect to see both dates.

Townhomes inside a condo

The feature that sets this building apart is its two-storey townhomes. By the time construction began, the plan was 66 homes, 12 of them two-storey townhomes, with interiors for those designed by Chase Architecture. Earlier launch material described more suites and fewer townhomes, so the final mix changed during sales.

The townhomes give you a front-door, house-like layout with stairs inside your own home, while still sharing the building’s amenities, management and maintenance. They suit downsizers from Leaside houses and couples who want separation between living and sleeping space.

The rest of the building is one-, two- and three-bedroom suites, from about 439 sq ft up to just over 1,500 sq ft. The developer advertised nine-foot ceilings and engineered hardwood floors. Confirm the ceiling height for the specific suite you are viewing, as heights can vary by floor and plan.

If you are weighing a townhome, think about how you will use the stairs in ten or fifteen years, and check how the unit connects to the lobby, the garage and the amenities. A townhome that opens directly to the street can feel more like a house, but ask how deliveries, visitors and security work for those suites.

A small building with a full amenity package

Most buildings of 66 suites offer a party room and little else. The Upper House was planned with a fitness studio, a residents’ lounge with a catering kitchen and fireplace, an outdoor garden patio, a rooftop terrace with barbecues and a gas fireplace, and a dog spa for grooming.

Condos.ca also lists a concierge, guest suites, a meeting room and bike storage. That is a lot of shared space for a small number of owners, and it is one reason fees here are higher than you might expect.

The trade-off is worth understanding. In a big tower, the cost of a concierge desk and a rooftop terrace is spread across hundreds of suites. Here it is spread across 66.

Ask the manager which amenities are well used and which sit empty, and whether the board has considered changes to bookings or hours. In a building this size, a guest suite or meeting room that nobody books is a real cost that every owner shares.

Daily life on Laird Drive

Laird Drive is Leaside’s working street: grocery stores, big-box retail, services and restaurants, plus independent shops such as the butcher that catered the building’s groundbreaking. Bayview Avenue’s shops are to the west, and the houses of Leaside are all around.

The area is also changing. Line 5 Eglinton opened in February 2026 with a station at Laird and Eglinton, and the city has been planning for more housing around that station. Expect more mid-rise buildings along Laird over the coming years.

The rail corridor beside the building is worth noting. Ask about noise and which side of the building a suite faces before you buy. The automatic panel on this page covers transit, schools and parks.

Pricing and fees

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $868 per sq ft. That is a premium over older Leaside condos; for example, the 1989 low-rise at 928 Millwood Road averages far less. It reflects newer construction, the townhome product and a Leaside address in a building this small.

At the time of writing two suites were for sale, both two-bedrooms of 700 to 799 sq ft asking roughly $645,000 to $720,000. Fees on those listings were about $834 to $951 a month, which works out to around $1.19 per sq ft.

That fee is high for a 2018 building, and you should go in knowing it. It covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, water and building insurance, but not hydro, and parking is not listed in the fee. The cause is mostly arithmetic: a concierge, rooftop terrace, lounge, gym and guest suites are being paid for by just 66 owners.

When you compare it with a larger Leaside or Midtown tower, add the fee into your monthly cost and look at total cost of ownership, not just price per square foot. With only two listings and a small number of sales each year, ask your agent to pull several years of history before settling on a price.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Upper House

For most owners, the rooftop terrace and the dog spa are the standout features, and the residents’ lounge works as a real extension of a smaller suite for hosting. Remember that 66 owners pay for all of it, which is where the fee comes from.

Jatin’s honest take on The Upper House

The Upper House — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.