385 Brunswick Ave., unit 408, Toronto<\/p>\n
Asking Price: $3,250,000<\/p>\n
Taxes: $11,575.23 (2025)<\/p>\n
Monthly maintenance fee: $2,753.77<\/p>\n
Agents: Ophira Sutton and Eliana Sutton Balaban, Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc.<\/p>\n
The backstoryOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The fa\u00e7ade of the building at 385 Brunswick Ave., designed by architect Neil Beggs in the early 1900s, was protected under heritage conservation rules.Raffi Tutundjian\/Raffi Tutundjian\/Jagged Lens<\/p>\n In the 1990s, architect Alex Speigel often admired the landmark Loretto Abbey as he cycled past the Edwardian-era building on Brunswick Avenue.<\/p>\n By the early 2000s, Mr. Speigel was working for Context Development when the vacant structure was put on the block. <\/p>\n The Loretto Abbey Day School had been part of the Annex neighbourhood since 1915, when the Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary opened the academy for the education of young girls.<\/p>\n Decades later, many of the retired nuns lived on the upper floors of the Loretto Abbey.<\/p>\n In the late 1990s, a fire broke out in the basement. The building suffered only minor damage, but the Loretto Sisters moved to a new location soon after.<\/p>\n Context was not the successful bidder at auction, recalls Mr. Speigel, who was the firm\u2019s director of development. But in 2004, Context had another chance to buy the vacant building.<\/p>\n I lived, ate, and slept this project for many years.<\/p>\n \u2014 architect and owner Alex Speigel<\/p>\n The developers were already experienced in finding new uses for aging structures after creating residential lofts from the former Tip Top Tailors headquarters and a 1920s public school in Kensington Market.<\/p>\n Context purchased the property and began drawing up plans to convert the building into a boutique condo with a row of townhouses behind.<\/p>\n When Mr. Speigel broached the idea of buying a unit with his wife, Chari Cohen, she was reluctant to leave the large detached house where they raised their four children.<\/p>\n But Mr. Speigel was looking ahead to the day when their last two children would leave and the couple would become empty nesters. He had his eye on a sub-penthouse on the fourth floor.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard to convince Chari at first, but she came around,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n For Ms. Cohen\u2019s part, she did not want to stand in the way of Mr. Speigel\u2019s chance to realize his vision.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving an architect-developer husband pushed me ahead of my game plan,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when an opportunity came to hone off a corner of the Loretto, Alex could see the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n As the design process began, the retired architect immersed himself in plans for each unit, along with the couple\u2019s future home.<\/p>\n \u201cI lived, ate and slept this project for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n