365 Church Street is one of the most anticipated condo launches of 2013. So far. With a great plot of land at Church and Carlton, this project will surely seduce Ryerson students and/or those who hope to rent to Ryerson students. Rising nearly 30 storeys with a three-storey podium at its base, this building will offer all of those sweet, sweet condo extras, minus square footage in your suite. Here is a closer look at 365 Church Condos.

SPECS

Address: 365 Church St

Floors: 29

Total number of units: 359

Elevators: 3

Types of units: Studio, one bedroom, one-plus-den, two bedroom, three bedroom

Unit sizes (in square feet): 323 - 804

Ceiling heights: 8' and 9'

Prices from: $200,000

Parking: $50,000 (for select suites)

Maintenance fees: $0.55/s.f. +hydro

Developer: Menkes Developments

Architect: Wallman Architects

Amenities: Theatre room, rooftop terrace, party room, gym, yoga studio, reading room

Expected occupancy: Spring 2017

THE GOOD

Menkes should probably just call this one "INCOME PROPERTY!!!" because that's probably how most potential buyers will see it. 365 Church says 'student' all the way, with bitty 300-square-foot studios and a fantastic location that's just steps from Ryerson's campus. In terms of immediate vicinity, this spot can't be beat. Across the street from the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws (where you can get a doctor's note, a mortgage, and a slab of parmesan all in one stop), this condo will have everything a September-to-May resident will need including coffee down the road, plenty of restaurants in the Village, late night cheap eats, and the College TTC station a few steps away. Granted, the rendering of the building isn't terribly inspired, but it's surely an improvement on the sad parking lot and low concrete shops currently occupying the designated space.

So, will 365 Church be the rich man's Neill-Wycik? Turns out he may not have to be so rich, after all (relatively speaking, of course). So-called "insider" pricing for a unit at 365 Church starts at an eyebrow-raising $575-ish per square foot, leading me to believe there must be a catch. A new condo priced as resale? Perhaps Menkes (rightfully) realizes that no one wants to spend upwards of $650 to $700 per square foot for a unit he or she is going to rent out to a rowdy group of urban planning students, with their mommies and daddies as co-signers. A parking spot will gouge you, of course, at $50,000 for a little concrete square, but for a slice of real estate that will seemingly always be in demand by post-secondary students, potential investors can surely do a lot worse. (See: CityPlace.)

THE BAD

What an adorable motel kitchenette. I bet you could really heat up some frozen entrĂŠes in that bad boy. This is surely compact living at its most exaggerated, with a 300-square-foot box presented as a complete living space. Mind you, that might be OK for a first-year dorm room, but these studios are built to include bathrooms, kitchen areas, and living and sleeping spaces. God help you if you want to move in a bookshelf or two. It also seems to me that Menkes missed an opportunity to incorporate more two- and three-bedroom units (aren't "family-sized condos" all the rage now?), especially since cohabitation-minded students will surely flock to this address. Nevertheless, I suspect many of those one-plus-den plans (especially where the dens come equipped with a door) will end up housing two students during the year.

But the high proportion of tenants over owners and fairly rapid turnover will surely take its toll on the integrity of the building. Literally and figuratively. This building will definitely see some in/out migration between school semesters, and I assume tenants won't be as gentle on common elements as might someone who is paying off a mortgage. And if I haven't already gotten the stereotype police on guard, I'll just say that I suspect Friday and Saturday night noise might be an issue. Rage on.

THE VERDICT

Better than Neill-Wycik.

What do you think? Would you live here? Add your comments to the thread below.

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