One of the most frequently asked questions of the Board of 25 The Esplanade is, “How do our maintenance fees compare to those of other buildings?”
Everyone wants to know that we are getting good value for what we pay.
To help answer the question, the Board has been benchmarking the fees of 25 the Esplanade with other buildings.
Direct ‘apples to apples’ comparisons are difficult as not all condo corporations are responsible for the same expenses. For example, 25 the Esplanade building is one of the few with hydro designated as a common expense. Hydro alone accounts for 29% of the maintenance fees.

As well, services and amenities vary among condos. For instance,the residents of 25 the Esplanade have 24-hour security, which accounts for 13% of the maintenance fees.
The age of the building also matters.
 
Maintenance fees in new buildings are often understated to make the suites more attractive to buyers. This is often at the expense of the important Reserve Fund and can result in special assessments later.
The good news is that our maintenance fees compare very well in the marketplace. When compared with other condo buildings in the Crossbridge (the management company of 25 the Esplanade) portfolio, we found that our 2017 fee per square foot of $.61 is 18% lower than the portfolio average. Most of Crossbridge’s buildings don’t pay for hydro as a common expense and, when we factor that difference in, our fee per square foot is actually 38% lower than the average.

A further comparison that we pre-sented at the 2017 AGM looks at our fees and those of 13 local build-ings. The results were similar to the Crossbridge comparison.

So, the answer to the original question is that our maintenance fees are very competitive.
The Board is committed to delivering good value and a high-quality living environment for residents. Continued benchmarking will help us achieve this and we’ll keep you updated on our progress.

Source: Fall Newsletter Of 25 The Esplanade