U Condominium, 1080 Bay St: Two Towers on Land Bought From St. Mike’s

U Condominium is the building I suggest when someone wants Yorkville within walking distance but a calmer street to come home to. Pemberton Group built two glass towers at Bay and St. Mary on land bought from St. Michael’s College, wrapped townhomes around a private courtyard, and listed parking in the fee. It is large, popular with investors, and priced like it knows its address. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two towers, a courtyard and a university next door

The name is a nod to the University of Toronto. Pemberton bought the site from St. Michael’s College, whose campus sits directly beside it, and that neighbour is the building’s quiet advantage. An institutional campus is unlikely to sprout a tower that blocks your view next year, and the short streets and cul-de-sacs west of Bay keep traffic calmer than the blocks east of Yonge.

architectsAlliance designed two glass towers, one of 55 storeys and one of 45, set on a ring of townhomes that encloses an inner courtyard. The townhome base gives St. Mary Street a residential scale at the sidewalk and gives the towers a private garden in the middle.

With 1,002 suites in one corporation, this is a big community. Big corporations spread fixed costs across many owners, which helps keep fees per foot moderate, but they also mean busy elevators, a lot of move-ins and a board managing two towers at once.

Layouts, balconies and ceilings

Suites run from about 325 sq ft studios to about 1,475 sq ft. During sales, Pemberton marketed ceilings of 9 to 10 feet, bedrooms with windows, and kitchens with islands in most plans. Those are marketing claims from 2012, so check the actual suite.

The balconies are the standout. BlogTO’s preview of the second sales phase described corner two-bedroom plans of close to 900 sq ft with two balconies totalling at least 277 sq ft, and even the 325 sq ft studio with its own 54 sq ft balcony. Outdoor space like that is rare at this price point.

The townhomes are a separate product inside the same corporation. They suit buyers who want a front door at street level with condo services behind it, and they come up for sale far less often than tower suites.

The size range leans small at the bottom end. The 325 sq ft studios were clearly aimed at students and investors, and that shows in the number of suites listed for lease compared with those for sale at any given time. If you are buying to live here, the corner two-bedrooms and the townhomes are the plans I would focus on, because they offer the most space and outdoor room for the money.

Parking in the fee, and a big amenity floor

Condos.ca lists parking among the fee inclusions, along with heat, air conditioning, water and insurance. At launch, Pemberton included a parking space and locker in the purchase price, although that does not mean every resale suite has one. Confirm it on the status certificate and the listing before you compare prices.

Each tower was topped with roughly 4,500 sq ft of amenity space, about 9,000 sq ft in total, including a library, a yoga studio, a gym and a wraparound terrace. BlogTO’s 2012 critic worried that so much amenity space would push fees up over time. That is a fair question to put to the reserve fund study now that the building is ten years old.

In fairness, the fee has to be read against what it covers. With parking, heat and cooling all included, an owner here has fewer separate bills than at most towers of the same age, and a 1,002-suite corporation has a much larger base over which to spread the cost of running two amenity floors.

Bay and St. Mary, day to day

You are a short walk south of Bloor Street and Yorkville, with Queen’s Park, the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto just to the west. The Church-Wellesley Village and the hospitals are within walking distance too. The automatic panel on this page shows transit and walkability details.

Bay Street itself is busy, so suites facing Bay hear traffic. Suites facing the courtyard or the college grounds are calmer. That orientation choice matters more here than the floor number, so ask which way a suite faces before you book a showing.

The surrounding blocks keep growing, with The Britt, Crystal Blu and other towers nearby. That brings more services and more competition when you sell, so plan on the suite itself, not scarcity, to carry your resale value.

What U Condominium costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,129 per square foot. That is well above Crystal Blu at about $966 and The Uptown Residences at about $930, and well below The Residences at Windsor Arms at about $1,549. You are paying for the address, the age of the building and the parking in the fee.

Current asking prices for one-bedroom and one-plus-den suites of 500 to 600 sq ft run from about $629,000 to $699,000. Two-bedroom plans of 800 to 900 sq ft are asking about $950,000 to $1.06 million, and larger two-plus-den suites are asking about $2.0 million to $2.85 million. Those are asking prices, not sales.

Asking fees on current listings average about $0.90 per square foot, ranging from about $427 to about $1,305 a month. With parking and cooling included, that is competitive for a 2016 building. For a specific suite, I can pull recent comparables with my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at U Condominium

The amenity floors sit at the top of each tower rather than in a podium, so the terrace and lounges come with views most buildings reserve for penthouses. For owners in smaller suites, that rooftop space is the real draw; for everyone, it is also a large area to maintain.

Jatin’s honest take on U Condominium

U Condominium — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.