Theatre District Residence, 8 & 30 Widmer St: Condos Above a Riu Hotel

Theatre District Residence is the building I show buyers who want to live in the Entertainment District itself, not near it. Plaza built two towers at Adelaide and Widmer, and one of them has Canada’s first Riu hotel on its lower floors, with condos stacked above. The fees are among the lower ones I see for a new downtown tower, and the layouts need a careful eye. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two towers, one hotel, and an Art Deco nod

This project is easy to misunderstand from a listing, so here is the layout. The first phase, at 8 Widmer, is a 49-storey residential tower. The second, at the corner of Adelaide, is a mixed tower: the Riu Plaza Toronto hotel occupies the lower floors and the condo suites, marketed as Encore at Theatre District, sit above it. Condos.ca groups the two under one listing, so check which tower a suite is in before you compare it with another.

The sources do not agree on the split. One builder feature from 2018 described the hotel on the first 24 floors with 23 residential storeys above; UrbanToronto has described a 48-storey north tower with the hotel on the first 28 floors, and gives the hotel 350 or 353 rooms depending on the article. The towers sit on podiums of about ten or eleven storeys.

Quadrangle designed both towers in faceted, shaded metal panels, and the podiums take their cue from the 1920s Art Deco Commodore Building nearby. The first phase also kept six historic townhouses on Widmer, which gives the street a scale that most of the Entertainment District has lost.

Living above a hotel

The hotel has its own entrance, its own elevators and its own amenities, separate from the condo side, which is what you want. Riu is a Spanish chain, and this was its first hotel in Canada. For an owner, the practical upside is a bar and restaurant downstairs and a steady flow of activity at the corner. The downside is the same activity: taxis, tour buses and luggage at the curb.

If you are buying in the Encore tower, ask how costs are split between the hotel and the residential corporation for shared systems such as the structure, the garage and the mechanical plant. That kind of shared-facilities arrangement is normal in mixed buildings, but it is also where surprises in the budget tend to come from, and you want to read it in the status certificate before you firm up.

Layouts: read the floor plan, not the bedroom count

Suites here run from about 509 to 1,267 sq ft. In the second phase, about 70 per cent of the suites were planned as two- or three-bedrooms. That is a good mix on paper, but some of the two-bedrooms are only about 675 sq ft with an interior second bedroom, meaning no window, while others around 720 sq ft have windows in every bedroom.

That difference matters more than the price gap between them. A windowless second bedroom works as an office or a nursery, and it is harder to rent as a true bedroom and harder to resell. Upper and corner suites get the open downtown views; lower suites in a block this dense look straight at neighbouring towers.

Listings for sale when I checked included studios, one-bedrooms, several two-bedrooms and a pair of compact three-bedrooms between 700 and 900 sq ft. A three-bedroom at that size is small, so walk it before you assume it will work for a family.

The daily reality at Adelaide and Widmer

You are in the middle of the Entertainment District. The theatres on King, the TIFF Lightbox, restaurants and late-night bars are steps away, and during the film festival this is one of the busiest few blocks in the city. If you love that, nothing else downtown will feel as central. If you sleep lightly, look at higher floors and suites away from the busiest corner.

The automatic panel on this page covers transit, walkability and nearby food. The point I would add is that the Entertainment District has been one of the busiest development areas in the city for two decades and has not slowed down. A parking lot today can be a 50-storey building by the time you sell, so check the City of Toronto development applications map before you rely on a view.

What Theatre District Residence costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $911 per square foot, at the higher end for new towers in the King-Spadina and Entertainment District area. You are paying for the address.

When I checked, eleven suites were for sale and ten for lease. The eight priced listings I reviewed were asking between $388,000 and $850,000. Two-bedrooms were asking roughly $590,000 to $695,000, and the three-bedrooms $825,000 to $850,000.

Fees are the good news. Across those listings they ran from about $328 to $639 a month, about $0.78 per square foot, which is lower than most new towers nearby. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and water as included, so heat and hydro are likely on your own meter. Beanfield fibre is available in the building. Early fees in a new building are often set low, so read the budget and the reserve fund study for signs of an increase. If you want a value check on a specific suite, I can pull the comparables through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Theatre District Residence

Condos.ca lists a concierge, gym and party room. Launch materials also promised an outdoor pool and amenity space on the ground floor and the third-floor podium of 8 Widmer; confirm what was actually delivered, and which amenities residents of each tower can use, before you count them in the price you are willing to pay.

Jatin’s honest take on Theatre District Residence

Theatre District Residence — 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.