Visto Condominium, 2522 Keele St: Boutique Mid-Rise With Parking In

Visto is the kind of building the City wanted on Keele Street: a small mid-rise with shops underneath, replacing a tired one-storey store. With only 128 suites it feels more like a boutique building than a tower, and its fee includes parking, which changes the maths. It is also small enough that one bad year in the reserve fund matters. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An Avenues building on an old grocery site

Keele Street between Lawrence and the 401 is one of the corridors the City designated as an Avenue, where it wants mid-rise buildings with retail at grade instead of low strip plazas. Visto was an early example. When UrbanToronto introduced it in 2013, the site held a grocery store that dated back to the 1940s, and the plan was to replace it with a mid-rise that kept shops on the main floor.

That history matters for daily life. You live above retail, not beside a parking lot, and the building addresses the street rather than turning its back on it. The trade-off is that Keele is a busy arterial road with steady bus and truck traffic, so suite orientation matters more here than in a building set back on a side street.

The building was designed by architect Alan Tregebov, and the developer is listed as YYZed Project Management. UrbanToronto’s project record also lists RJC Engineers, Urban Strategies, Weston Consulting and Kramer Design Associates among the firms involved.

How many storeys, and what the suites look like

Sources disagree slightly on the height. Condos.ca records Visto as an 8-storey building, while UrbanToronto described it as 9 storeys when it launched. The difference may come down to how the rooftop level or mezzanine is counted. It does not change much for a buyer, but it is worth knowing if you are comparing floor numbers on listings.

Suites run from roughly 463 to 1,209 square feet, according to condos.ca. At launch the developer quoted 502 to 1,094 square feet, with two-bedroom plans at the top of the range, so the final building appears to have added both a smaller entry suite and some larger plans. The mix is mostly one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms, with a few two-plus-den layouts.

For a 2018 building, that is a sensible spread. You are not getting the 400-square-foot investor boxes common downtown, and the two-plus-den plans are real family-sized options at this price point. Ask for the floor plan of any suite you view; in a building this small, there are only a handful of layouts and you can compare them directly.

Parking in the fee, and what that does to the comparison

Visto’s fee covers common elements, building insurance, water and parking. Heat and hydro are not listed as included, so plan for your own utility bills. The parking inclusion is the part buyers miss. In most newer buildings parking is either a separate monthly charge or not available at all, so a fee that looks high per square foot can hide a real saving.

On current listings, fees work out to about $1.08 per square foot, which is on the high side for North York. Some of that is parking, and some is simple arithmetic: a 128-suite building spreads its elevator, roof, garage and staff costs across far fewer owners than a 400-suite tower does. Small buildings feel quieter and more personal, but they rarely have the cheapest fees.

Before you buy, confirm that the specific suite actually comes with a parking space, and whether a locker is included. Not every suite in a building with parking in the fee necessarily has a space, and the status certificate will tell you what is attached to the unit you are buying.

Daily reality at Keele and Maple Leaf

This is a practical, not a pretty, location. You have Keele Street retail at the door, Humber River Hospital a short drive north at Keele and Wilson, Yorkdale to the east and Downsview Park to the northeast. When Visto launched, UrbanToronto pointed to York University to the north as part of the pitch, and that still shapes who rents here.

Away from Keele, the side streets are low-rise and residential, which gives the immediate area a quieter feel than the arterial suggests. Keele itself is slowly filling in with mid-rise buildings like this one, so expect construction nearby over the coming years as more of those strip sites turn over. The transit, school and walkability details are in the data panel on this page.

What Visto costs per square foot

The building average is about $633 per square foot. That sits at the more affordable end for a 2018-built condo in Toronto, and it reflects the location on a busy arterial road well outside the core, as well as the building’s modest amenity package.

Four suites were listed for sale when I looked, with asking prices ranging from about $455,000 to $675,000 and monthly fees from about $590 to $919. That is a wide spread for a small building, and it tells you that suite size, floor and parking make a real difference here. Use the sold-data panel on this page for what has actually traded, not just what is being asked.

If you are weighing value, set the fee against what you would pay for parking elsewhere. A buyer who needs a car will find Visto’s all-in cost more competitive than the per-square-foot fee suggests. A buyer who does not drive is paying for a space they may not use, unless they can rent it out under the corporation’s rules.

Building specifications

Amenities at Visto Condominium

The amenity list is short and practical: a rooftop terrace with barbecues, a party room, a meeting room and a gym. There is no pool or concierge to fund, which is one reason a small building like this can keep its operating costs under control.

Jatin’s honest take on Visto Condominium

Visto Condominium — frequently asked questions

Looking at Downsview, Weston, York University Heights, Rexdale and northwest Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.