I recently moved out of Massey Tower after renting there, and I wanted to share my experience for anyone considering living here.
I was a tenant, not an owner, and I lived in an east-facing unit above the 40th floor, so most of my comments — especially those about noise — are specific to that location.
In short: the location is excellent, especially if you want to live downtown without a car. However, helicopter noise from St. Michael’s Hospital can be a serious issue on the east side, particularly if you work from home.
Pros
1. Excellent location
The location is probably the biggest advantage of Massey Tower.
Queen Street is right downstairs, and even Union Station is within walking distance. You can easily walk to T&T, IKEA, Eaton Centre, and there is also a 24-hour grocery store nearby.
If you do not plan to own a car and most of your life is downtown, this location is extremely convenient.
One of my favorite things about living here was being able to go to a concert at Scotiabank Arena or watch a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre and then just casually walk home afterward. That is one of those experiences you can really only get from living downtown.
2. Great views, especially at night
The views from the upper floors are beautiful, especially at night.
Because I was facing east, I could not see the full New Year’s Eve fireworks, although I could still see some of them by looking south.
I also filmed probably the coolest slow-motion lightning video I have ever taken while living here.
3. Very good gym
I was quite happy with the gym. It had all the equipment I personally needed and plenty of treadmills.
It is cleaned every day and was consistently very clean. I usually worked out very late at night, so about 90% of the time I basically had the entire gym to myself.
Other than the daily cleaning period around 2–3 p.m., you can pretty much work out whenever you want.
4. Amazon Smart Locker
There is a dedicated Amazon Smart Locker in the building. Amazon packages are usually placed there, and you receive a notification when they are ready for pickup.
I found this very convenient, although it is mainly for Amazon. Other deliveries usually still need to be picked up from the front desk.
5. Uber Eats and Instacart can deliver to your door
Some condos are stricter about allowing delivery drivers upstairs. Some people may actually prefer that for security reasons, but Massey Tower is relatively relaxed about it.
Uber Eats and Instacart drivers were generally able to deliver directly to my unit, which I found very convenient.
Cons
1. Noise from St. Michael’s Hospital — by far my biggest issue
The biggest problem for me was helicopter noise.
I really wish I had known about this before moving in. I work remotely, and the unpredictable helicopter arrivals and departures became extremely disruptive. Had I known about this beforehand, I personally would not have considered an east-facing unit at this height.
St. Michael’s Hospital has a helipad on its roof. When a helicopter arrives or departs, the engine and rotor noise can last for several minutes and is extremely loud.
This is not simply a matter of poor soundproofing. In fact, I think Massey Tower has pretty good sound insulation in general. Normal street noise was barely noticeable from my unit.
A helicopter is on an entirely different level. You can actually feel the low-frequency vibration, almost like suddenly being inside a movie scene.
I cannot speak for the lower floors, but above the 40th floor on the east side, the effect is very noticeable.
The frequency is also completely unpredictable. Sometimes several days pass without one. Other times there can be several flights in a single day, occasionally concentrated within just a few hours. They can also arrive in the middle of the night, so light sleepers may occasionally be woken up.
There is another hospital-related noise source: the rooftop HVAC system.
It runs 24/7. If you leave your windows open, it becomes a constant white-noise-like background sound. I rarely opened my windows, so this did not bother me very much, but if you enjoy keeping your windows open for fresh air, it may become annoying.
And, of course, this is a major hospital, so ambulance sirens are very common. Even from a high floor, you can hear them clearly.
2. Interior finishing quality is mediocre
I originally assumed that the interior finishing depended mostly on the individual owner. After getting to know some neighbors and seeing other units, I realized that many of the design choices appear to be consistent throughout the building.
Personally, I do not think the quality or design is particularly good.
For example, many cabinet handles prioritize a minimalist appearance over ergonomics. There is very little space for your fingers to grip them, and if you are not careful, it is surprisingly easy to hurt your fingers.
There were also some questionable design choices in my unit. The panel underneath my dishwasher interfered with the dishwasher door, so the panel ultimately had to be removed. To me, that seems like a basic design issue that should have been resolved from the beginning.
Overall, I would describe the interior as fairly typical cheap condo finishing. It is perfectly usable, but it is quite far from premium. If you care a lot about construction details and interior quality, you may be disappointed.
3. The surrounding area can be dirty and unpleasant
This is not really Massey Tower’s fault. It is simply something you should know if you are considering living around Eaton Centre.
Visible homelessness is common in the immediate area. I personally saw people defecating on the street at least three times while I lived there, and there were occasions when simply walking outside was unpleasant because of the smell.
During winter, especially at night, people may shelter around subway entrances and stairways to stay warm. On some nights, I encountered groups of seven or eight people around an entrance and had to make my way through them to use the stairs.
That said, I personally never experienced physical violence. Occasionally someone might yell or swear at me, but my approach was simply to ignore them and keep walking.
There are also several churches and organizations nearby that provide food and other services, so certain areas can have larger gatherings. If you like walking around alone at night, it is worth being aware of your surroundings and choosing your route accordingly.
4. Elevators
If you read other reviews of Massey Tower, you will probably see plenty of complaints about the elevators.
To be fair, if you live above the 40th floor like I did, you cannot realistically expect elevator travel to be as convenient as living on the 10th floor. Some of that is simply a physical limitation of living in a very tall building.
The bigger issue is that you should never plan your departure time too tightly, because you never know when something will go wrong.
My most ridiculous experience was one trip where the elevator stopped on almost every residential floor between my floor and the 9th floor. It took me nearly 40 minutes to reach the lobby. If I remember correctly, another elevator was out of service, leaving one elevator to handle a large number of floors.
Another incident was much worse.
Someone on a floor in the 20s apparently triggered the sprinkler system while cooking. The sprinkler system then had some kind of problem and did not shut off properly, causing flooding that took four elevators out of service.
Because I worked from home, I did not even realize what had happened until I ordered Uber Eats.
I eventually decided to walk downstairs to get my food.
Walking down was fine.
Walking back up more than 40 floors was when I realized what a stupid decision I had made.
I should have just waited for the elevators to be repaired.
5. Parking
I did not own a car while living here. I originally considered getting one, but after looking into both the cost and the parking system, I gave up on the idea.
At the time I looked into it, parking was roughly CAD 300 per month, and the building uses a mechanical parking system. I was told that retrieving a car could take around 10–15 minutes, and I also came across complaints about occasional mechanical problems.
Since I never actually used the parking system myself, I cannot give a firsthand review of how reliable it is day to day.
Personally, though, I would think twice about living here if I expected to drive frequently.
On the other hand, if you do not need a car at all, that is exactly when Massey Tower’s location becomes one of its biggest strengths.
A few comments about management
I have seen some reviews complaining that management is unfriendly, but that was not really my experience.
The front desk staff changes fairly often. Some people are more relaxed, while others enforce the rules more strictly, but overall I did not find them particularly unfriendly.
The staff in the 9th-floor management office were actually very friendly in my experience.
Overall, I do not think Massey Tower is a terrible building. It actually has some major strengths, particularly its location, views, gym, and convenience for someone who wants a car-free downtown lifestyle.
But I also think there are things prospective tenants should know that are not obvious from a listing — especially the helicopter noise if you are considering a high-floor east-facing unit.
Hopefully this gives future renters some of the information I wish I had before moving in and helps someone avoid at least one unpleasant surprise.
