32 Shank Townhouses: 70 Garage-Parked Townhomes at Adelaide and Shaw

32 Shank Townhouses is the larger half of a quiet townhouse enclave at Adelaide and Shaw, and the half with an underground garage. For a buyer who wants Trinity Bellwoods within walking distance, a car parked out of the weather and no elevator to wait for, it is one of the few options at this price level. It is also 37 years old, and that shapes everything I would check. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The bigger twin, with the garage

Walk the blocks between Shaw and Crawford and the townhouses look like a single development. Legally they are two. This complex, MTCC-854, has 70 units and was registered in December 1989. Its neighbour to the east, the 897 Adelaide Street Townhouses, is MTCC-843, with 56 units, registered three months earlier. Some listing sites group them under the Copperfield name.

The difference that matters most to buyers is parking. Condos.ca records an underground parking garage and visitor parking for this corporation, along with bike storage, and records no amenities at all for its neighbour. In a pocket where street parking is scarce, a space in a shared garage is worth real money.

Both corporations use Best Practices Property Management, but each has its own board, budget and reserve fund. Confirm which one a listing belongs to before you compare fees, because a home on Crawford Street could be in either.

Stacked homes and lettered addresses

The addresses run from A to D, such as 27A to 33D Shaw Street, which tells you several homes share each civic number. That is the usual signature of stacked or back-to-back townhouses from the late 1980s, where upper and lower homes have separate front doors under one roof.

The complex is recorded at two storeys. Within that, the layout of a given home can vary a lot: some will be on one level, others split between floors, and the number of exterior walls changes the light. Ask which floors the unit occupies, who lives above or below, and whether it has any private outdoor space such as a patio or terrace.

Barbecues are permitted, which is a small thing that matters to townhouse buyers. Confirm where you are allowed to use one, and whether the rules treat a patio or terrace as exclusive-use common element, because that decides who pays when it needs repair.

A garage under a townhouse complex is a long-term cost

Underground garages are the single biggest capital item in many older Toronto townhouse corporations. The concrete slab, the waterproofing membrane over it and the drainage all have a finite life, and in a 1989 complex the original components are well into it. When a garage membrane is replaced, the landscaping and walkways above it often have to come up too.

None of that is a reason to walk away. It is a reason to read the reserve fund study closely. Look for when the garage was last assessed, what work the study schedules and when, and whether the reserve fund balance tracks the plan. Ask the manager whether any major garage or roofing project is under discussion.

Check the same way for roofs, windows and exterior doors. If they have been replaced in the last decade or so, much of the cost of owning an older complex is already behind you. If they are original, the bill is still ahead, and someone pays it.

Adelaide and Shaw, day to day

This corner sits between Queen Street West to the north and King Street West to the south, with Trinity Bellwoods Park a short walk north and Liberty Village beyond King. The townhouse streets themselves are residential and quiet, which is the appeal. You get the restaurants and shops of two major strips without living on either of them.

Just south on King Street West is the former Massey-Harris head office, the last surviving building of a farm-implement factory complex that ran here from the 1870s until the plant closed in 1982. It became the Massey Harris Lofts in 2003 and was designated a heritage building in 2008, with Massey Harris Park beside it.

New building continues nearby. 950 King West, a 14-storey, 192-unit project by Intentional Capital designed by Sweeny &Co Architects, is in pre-construction at the northeast corner of King and Strachan. Transit, schools and walkability for this address are in the data panel on this page.

How I would price a home here

There was a single active listing when I checked, and I do not quote individual listings. No building average per square foot is published, and with 70 homes and only a handful of trades a year, any average would move a lot from one sale to the next.

I would start with recent trades in this corporation, then in the 897 Adelaide Street Townhouses next door, adjusting for parking, size, layout and the state of each corporation’s finances. After that, look at condominium townhouses and freehold row houses around Trinity Bellwoods. Garage parking should put a home here ahead of a comparable unit next door that has none.

Expect a buyer pool that is narrower than for a condo apartment at the same price. Stacked townhouses ask buyers to accept stairs and a shared roof, and lenders and buyers alike will look harder at an older corporation’s finances. A clean status certificate is the single best thing a seller here can offer.

Because fee inclusions are not published, calculate the fee per square foot once you know the unit size, and ask which utilities are separately metered. My building sold report can pull aggregate results for this corporation and its twin.

Building specifications

Amenities at 32 Shank Townhouses

The amenity list is practical rather than social: a garage, visitor parking, bike storage and barbecues. For a townhouse buyer between Queen and King, that covers most of what matters, and it keeps the fee from funding rooms nobody uses.

Jatin’s honest take on 32 Shank Townhouses

32 Shank Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, Kensington and Little Italy more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.