Minto Westside
Location: Toronto waterfront
Builder/developer Minto Communities
Size 330 to 1,024 square feet
Price $199,990 to $638,990
Contact To register, phone 437-836-8586 or visit mintowestside.com
At Minto Communities’ latest mixed-use, high-rise development, condo dwellers who want more space to play or impress their guests won't have to choose between staying within the confines of their own suite or paying for cabs, coat checks and cover charges for a night out.
By pushing an elevator button, residents can be whisked off to indoor and outdoor attractions and activities on two floors connecting 18- and 20-storey towers.
“Being situated near King West, right near transit, is really important to the clients we’re talking with right now,” says Amanda Wilson Watkins, vice-president of marketing and sales.
“But to have amenities, like a pool, gathering places and lounges that are more what you’d see in a recreational-type setting … is also important to them to have that inside their own building so they can chose to stay inside their own community.”
The concept has created huge demand during previews leading up to this month’s official launch of Minto Westside, which will house 660 suites in the first two of four towers at the northeast corner of Bathurst and Front streets.
“The amenity package is phenomenal; it’s beyond anything in that submarket right now,” Ms. Wilson Watkins says. “So we’re seeing a lot of interest from millennials who want to relax and have friends at their place in a setting that’s comfortable to them, but also like its own community within a community.”
Residents will have input on pay-per-use classes offered at Westside Club, home to a 4,000-square-foot fitness and wellness centre with a 2,500-square-foot terrace on the second floor, as well as dining and lounge areas and two courtyards, including a bar and barbecue facilities.
The ninth floor will accommodate lounging and dining areas, both indoors and on the rooftop, where there will also be a bar, reflecting and swimming pools.
“Because the amenities are not all in one building, but two separate buildings, there’s a bit more intimacy than you’d see in a building that has over 500 suites in it,” Ms. Wilson Watkins adds.
In addition, 30,000 square feet of retail space will serve residents and locals in an area renowned for its dining, clubbing, sporting and live-performance-arts establishments.
“To have an upscale or urban grocer on our ground floor is a huge perk,” Ms. Wilson Watkins says. “If you need a loaf of bread or some tea, you can just run down to the ground floor.”
In terms of design, the area’s original warehouses urged Wallman Architects to give the infill project a geometric, solid masonry shell punched out with varying window sizes to illuminate contemporary interiors by Burdifilek.
Studios to three-bedroom plans will feature open-concept principal rooms with up to 10-foot ceilings, European-style kitchens with Caesarstone counters and engineered laminate floors, plus recessed balconies.
“Floor plans across the city are shrinking in size, so … we wanted to deliver a good price point to buyers, but didn’t want to sacrifice on livable and usable square footage inside the suites,” Ms. Wilson Watkins says.
“There are functional second bedrooms and, in many cases, second washrooms where there are two bedrooms, which is not something you see across the board in Toronto.”
To meet LEED certification, the building will be outfitted with a green roof, rainwater harvesting, car chargers and bike storage, as well as Energy Star appliances, water-efficient features and heat-recovery ventilators en suite.
Monthly fees will be 59 cents a square foot. Lockers will be $4,750 and parking is $42,000.
Occupancy begins January, 2018.