Jennifer Wilson – Toronto Star

Even in Toronto’s booming real estate market, $7.5 million is enough to take your breath away. Or maybe that’s just the private rooftop infinity pool with a view of the CN Tower working its magic.

Banish thoughts of picket fences and manicured lawns – this pricey property is a sky-high penthouse.

In addition to the pool, this entertainment district unit, which belongs to Thompson Hotel developer Peter Freed of Freed Developments (freeddevelopments.com) boasts a second private terrace, two private elevators and a luxury price tag of $7.5 million.

“I wanted to dream up the ultimate penthouse,” says Freed of the inspiration behind the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home. “We put so much passion into designing it.”

The sprawling 6,200 square feet of gleaming white marble and European oak sits on the 10th floor of 500 Wellington St., one of a mere 17 units in the building.

“High-end buyers were asking for a more exclusive building, where it was fully made up of large units and more private,” the developer explains. As a result, most of the units occupy either half or a full floor.

Freed’s unit occupies the entire top floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the city from every direction, including views of the lake, the CN Tower and many a construction crane.

Freed says a “grand, open space for entertaining” was a must, and Toronto-based design firm Burdifilek (burdifilek.com), which was also responsible for the Thompson Hotel sales centre, delivered nearly 4,000 square feet, indoors and out, where guests can mingle.

Indoors, the airy living space features a restaurant-style kitchen with grey glass Scavolini cabinet doors, a Viking cooktop in the kitchen island, a breakfast bar, and a long book-matched marble countertop. Not to mention a large pantry for stowing a wide selection of hors d’ouevres and a wine fridge for 147 of your favourite bottles.

The outdoor entertainment space includes the infinity pool, a hot tub, a lounge area, and a barbecue and dining area with a surprisingly secluded feel.

“It’s a really exciting property,” says Freed, who has also purchased the top floor of other buildings he’s developed. But he never moved into this space, he explains, because they “bought many years ago when we didn’t have kids.”

Still, he spent five years planning the space, and a perk of being the developer, in addition to purchasing the penthouse suite, is the ability to bring in unusual finishes. Due to venting and permit issues, wood-burning fireplaces are a rarity in condo buildings – Freed did install one in a previous condo – and, in this penthouse, it’s sleekly nestled into smooth Staturio marble.

When not up for entertaining, the unit does allow some privacy via the second private elevator, which delivers the resident straight into the bedroom wing. The bedrooms each feature a spacious closet, with the master suite boasting a ready-to-be-customized walk-through (yes, it has two doors) larger than many second bedrooms in this city.

The master suite also delivers a private terrace and a large, marble-clad bathroom with water closet, rain showerhead, double-sink vanity and a free-standing soaker tub that looks out onto a private Zen garden, enclosed with ipe wood for added privacy.

The building itself offers few amenities, outside of the standard security, which was a conscious decision by the owners to keep maintenance fees down, Freed says. Even with the barebone offerings, owners of the penthouse will still be looking at upwards of $2,000 a month in maintenance fees. Exclusivity has its price.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto Realtor with Century 21 Regal Realty. He did not
write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who are
interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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