Liberty Village Hard Lofts: The Buildings, the Character, and What to Know Before You Buy

Liberty Villiage Rachel Currey July 20, 2026

Liberty Village is known for glass towers, but the buildings people fall hardest for are the old factories. True hard lofts, the kind with century old brick, timber posts and factory windows, are genuinely scarce here: one landmark conversion, a newer building designed to echo it, and a handful of heritage industrial buildings that never became homes at all. Scarce means they trade differently, and it pays to know the buildings before you start booking showings.

Want to see every loft currently for sale in and around Liberty Village? Start your search here.

Hard loft or soft loft, what's the difference?

A hard loft is a converted industrial or commercial building, with the original structure left showing. Exposed brick, heavy timber or steel, concrete floors, oversized windows, ceilings you couldn't touch with a ladder. A soft loft is a new build designed to feel that way, usually with high ceilings and exposed ductwork but modern construction underneath. Neither is better. Hard lofts bring character and quirks. Soft lofts bring warranties and predictable mechanicals. The trick is knowing which trade you're making.

Toy Factory Lofts, 43 Hanna Avenue

The flagship, and one of the best loft conversions in the city. The building started life in the 1890s as a paper factory, and from 1940 it was home to Irwin Toy, the company behind generations of Canadian childhoods, hula hoops and yo-yos included. The city added it to its heritage inventory in 2004, and the conversion wrapped up in 2008 with 213 units. Inside you'll find Douglas fir posts, steel beams, exposed brick, and a mix of true hard loft spaces alongside softer suites, which is worth paying attention to unit by unit. Two identical floor counts can be very different lofts.

Liberty Market Lofts, 5 Hanna Avenue

Across the intersection sits the 2013 answer to the Toy Factory: a 14 storey building of roughly 300 soft lofts, many zoned live/work. It borrowed the industrial look, high ceilings and big windows without the century of history, and the live/work zoning has made it a favourite for people running a business from home. If you're financing a live/work unit, tell your lender exactly what you're buying early in the process, since some treat these differently than standard condos.

The Carpet Factory, and why it matters right now

The other great heritage complex in the neighbourhood, the Carpet Factory on Fraser Avenue, never became residential. It's been creative office space for decades. It's in the news because of a proposal to build a 37 storey tower on the site while keeping the heritage buildings, which we broke down in our Carpet Factory post. If it proceeds, the block around Liberty Village's loft stock changes meaningfully, and heritage character becomes an even bigger part of the neighbourhood conversation.

What do lofts cost here?

Loft inventory is thin, so sold prices swing with whichever units happen to trade in a given quarter, and quoting an average would mislead more than it helps. For the market context, our guide to Liberty Village condo prices covers what buyers are paying in the neighbourhood overall, and our parking spot breakdown shows how much a single line item can move value here. Ask us for building level sold data on 43 Hanna or 5 Hanna and we'll pull it for you.

What to check before you offer

With a hard loft, the building's age is part of the deal, so read the status certificate with extra care. Look at what the reserve fund says about the roof, the original windows and the mechanical systems, and how the maintenance fees compare for what's included. Our maintenance fee guide covers what's normal and what's a red flag. Ask about heating and cooling too, since factory conversions handle HVAC in creative ways, and a gorgeous south facing wall of single pane factory glass has a July personality and a January personality.

Getting to know the neighbourhood? These will help:

Who hard lofts suit

People who walk into a room with twelve foot ceilings and brick walls and stop negotiating with themselves. Buyers who want a home that doesn't look like anyone else's. And owners of businesses that suit a live/work address. If that's you, get a sense of the buildings early, because when a good one lists, it rarely waits around.