Toy Factory Lofts, 43 Hanna Ave: Liberty Village’s Real Factory Lofts

Most of what gets sold as a “loft” in Liberty Village is a glass tower with a high ceiling. Toy Factory Lofts at 43 Hanna Avenue is one of the few places where the brick, the beams and the wood ceilings are actually the old factory, and that history is both the reason to buy here and the reason to read the status certificate closely. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An actual factory, not a loft-style tower

The building started life around the turn of the last century and was the headquarters of the Irwin Toy company. When Lanterra took it on, the original structure was four storeys and covered a full city block on Hanna Avenue.

The conversion kept the original wood ceilings, the exposed brick and the steel-and-wood beams, and was designed to show off the ceiling heights those factory floors already had. Quadrangle Architects handled the architecture, II BY IV Design did the interiors and NAK Design Strategies did the landscape. The project won Project of the Year from the Greater Toronto Home Builders’ Association in 2005, one of seven awards it collected.

Two moves shaped what you live in today. Part of the old building was cut away to create a central courtyard, which brings light into suites that would otherwise sit deep in a wide industrial floor plate. And three new storeys were added on top, so the upper floors are new construction sitting on a heritage base.

Heritage floors versus the new storeys on top

This is the most important thing to understand before you book showings. A suite on the original factory floors gets the brick, the timber and the character. A suite on the added upper storeys gets newer construction, often better views and terraces, but less of the industrial fabric that people come here for.

Neither is wrong, but they are different products and they should not be compared on price per square foot alone. Ask which part of the building a suite is in, and look at the ceiling in person rather than relying on listing photos.

Sizes are generous for Liberty Village. Current records show suites from about 644 to 3,026 sq ft, and at launch the plans ran roughly 656 to 2,120 sq ft. The larger numbers come from later additions: a company called Authentic Lofts on Hanna added five suites in previously undeveloped space, which is why counts vary between 215 and 218 depending on the source. The original marketing called these live-work lofts, and the building also carries more than 20,000 sq ft of commercial space.

Parking, lockers and the loft trade-offs

At launch the building had 181 parking stalls, fewer than the number of suites, so not every loft comes with a spot. Lanterra also sold a larger car-port style space with its own garage door at a premium, and storage lockers were an extra. Parking is not listed among the items covered by the maintenance fee, so confirm in writing whether a suite includes a deeded or exclusive-use spot and a locker.

The windows were planned as full-height operable units, which is a real advantage over sealed curtain-wall towers on summer nights. The trade-off is the usual one for converted lofts: exposed ceilings carry sound, open plans mean fewer walls for privacy, and the bedrooms in some layouts are semi-enclosed. If you work from home or share the suite, check how the sleeping area actually closes off.

Living in the middle of Liberty Village

Toy Factory sits in the middle of Liberty Village, one of the first parts of the old industrial west end to be converted, and it is surrounded by the condo towers that came after it, including Zip Condos on Western Battery Road. That makes it a mid-rise brick building in a neighbourhood that is now mostly glass, which is part of its scarcity value.

The building was originally sold as live-work space, and that shows in who lives here: people running small studios and practices from home, alongside couples who simply wanted more room. If a home office or client meetings matter to you, ask the property manager what the declaration permits before you assume a suite can be used that way.

The commercial space in the building and the offices around it mean the street is busy by day, and the neighbourhood’s restaurants and shops are a short walk. Transit, school and walkability details are in the data panel on this page, so I won’t repeat them here.

What Toy Factory Lofts costs, and how fees compare

The building average sits around $931 per square foot. That is a premium over the newer towers nearby: Zip Condos down the street averages about $841. Buyers here are paying for brick and beam that cannot be built again.

Active listings right now ask between $749,000 and $1,075,000 across four one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-den suites, mostly in the 700 to 900 sq ft range. That is a narrow sample, so treat it as a snapshot rather than a price list, and use the sold data in the panel for actual trading levels.

Fees on active listings average about $0.67 per square foot, which is reasonable for a building that includes heat, air conditioning, water and insurance. Parking is not in that list, so if a suite has a spot, ask whether it carries a separate fee. For a 2008 conversion, that fee level is also a prompt to look at the reserve fund: low fees are only good news if the fund is healthy.

Building specifications

Amenities at Toy Factory Lofts

The amenity package is modest by tower standards: a rooftop deck, gym, media and party rooms and a concierge. You buy here for the suites and the building, not for a pool.

Jatin’s honest take on Toy Factory Lofts

Toy Factory Lofts — 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.