Twenty Collier, 20 Collier St: 89 Suites a Block Off Yonge and Bloor

Twenty Collier is what I suggest to buyers who want to live at Yonge and Bloor but do not want a 60-storey tower with a thousand neighbours. It is a 13-storey building of 89 suites on a short side street, built by Plazacorp in 2003, with a classical corner and a concierge who will actually know your name. Small buildings like this reward careful buyers and punish lazy ones. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A boutique building in the middle of the busiest corner in midtown

Yonge and Bloor is now defined by very tall towers. Twenty Collier sits a few steps away from that and feels like a different place: Collier is a short residential street on the east side of Yonge, roughly opposite the foot of Yorkville Avenue, and the building is a 13-storey mid-rise with a classically styled corner rather than a glass slab.

Eighty-nine suites spread over 13 floors means only a handful of homes per floor. You share elevators with fewer people, the concierge sees the same faces every day, and the lobby does not feel like a hotel. For many buyers coming out of a house, that scale is the whole point.

The trade-off is the usual one for small buildings. Fewer owners share every repair bill, and there are fewer sales each year to price against, so each one carries more weight.

It also means governance is personal. In an 89-suite corporation, a handful of engaged owners can shape the board, the budget and the rules. Before you buy, read the minutes for tone as well as content: a board that plans ahead and communicates clearly is worth more to you here than an extra amenity room.

Plazacorp, then and now

Plazacorp built this in the early 2000s, well before it became one of the GTA’s larger condo developers. In the years since, the company has been named Tarion’s Highrise Builder of the Year at the Homeowners’ Choice Awards and has put its name to projects such as Bijou on Bloor and the Theatre District towers.

That later reputation does not tell you how this specific building was put together twenty years ago, and I would not lean on it. What it does tell you is that the developer is still active and recognizable, which can help when you are trying to trace original drawings or warranty history. The building itself has to be judged on its reserve fund, its board minutes and the condition of its common areas.

Layouts, and the parking question

Suites run from about 541 sq ft to about 1,853 sq ft. That covers compact one-bedrooms through to large two-bedroom and two-plus-den plans, which is a sensible range for a building that attracts both professionals who work downtown and downsizers.

Pay attention to what is not in the fee. Heat, air conditioning and water are included, but parking is not listed among the inclusions here, unlike many midtown buildings of the same age. The building has an underground garage, and some listings have included a space, but you should confirm whether a space comes with the suite, whether it is owned or leased, and what it costs each month.

In a building this central, a parking space is a real asset at resale, and a suite without one appeals to a narrower group of buyers. Price that in on the way in.

The daily reality on Collier Street

The building faces quiet streets and is surrounded by the Bloor-Yorkville shopping district. Holt Renfrew Centre, the Manulife Centre and a Rabba grocery are all close by, and Yorkville’s restaurants are across Yonge.

You will hear the city. Yonge Street is a few doors west and the Bloor and Yonge corner keeps adding height, so construction near the building has been a constant for years and is likely to continue. If you are sensitive to noise, ask which way the suite faces and visit at rush hour.

Transit options, schools, parks and Walk Score are shown in the data panel on this page.

What Twenty Collier costs, in context

Condos.ca reports a building average of about $845 per square foot. For a Yonge and Bloor address that is moderate, below the averages for many newer towers near the intersection and below 66 Collier down the street, which shows about $1,123 per square foot for a much larger-suite, 1970s building with only 55 homes.

Part of that gap is age and finish, and part is the parking question. When you compare Twenty Collier with a newer building, check whether parking is extra in both cases, and remember that heat and cooling are on the common bill here, which narrows the difference in monthly costs.

Fees here run on a smaller base than in a big tower, so look at the trend as well as the level. Ask for the last three budgets and see whether increases have been steady and planned or sudden; steady is what you want, and a fee that has been held flat for years in a building this age is a question, not a bonus.

When I checked there was one suite for sale and one for rent, too few to quote a meaningful asking range. With only 89 suites, use a long sales window for comparables. If you want the recorded resale history, ask me for the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Twenty Collier

The package is small and practical: a staffed lobby, a gym, a party and meeting room and an outdoor patio with a barbecue. You are paying for the location and the scale, not for a pool or a rooftop lounge, and Yorkville’s gyms and restaurants are on your doorstep anyway.

Jatin’s honest take on Twenty Collier

Twenty Collier — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yorkville, the Annex and Midtown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.