Upper Beach Village Phase III, Carnahan Terrace: Townhomes With Parking In

Upper Beach Village Phase III is the kind of complex I show families who have outgrown a condo but are not ready for a Beach freehold. It is 40 townhomes on two quiet streets north of Gerrard, completed in 2012, with every home at least 1,000 square feet and parking in the fee. It is also thinly documented online, which means you have to do more of the homework yourself. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The last piece of a new neighbourhood

Carnahan Terrace and the streets around it are recent. The land north of Gerrard along the rail corridor was industrial, and over the 2000s it was rebuilt as housing. The name Upper Beaches itself came from developers and agents around 2001 to 2003; the City still calls the area East End-Danforth.

A 2007 City of Toronto report on this block, bounded by Dengate Road, Belleville Street, Enroutes Street and Brockville Street, described it as the last undeveloped piece of the new Upper Beach neighbourhood. Planners wanted homes facing public streets and ground-level outdoor space, which is a useful lens for judging what was eventually built.

Phase III sits on Brockville Street and Carnahan Terrace, and appears to be one of the corporations that came out of that process. Its neighbours, Upper Beach Villas and Upper Beach Villas II, are separate corporations on the adjoining streets. They look alike from the sidewalk, but each has its own budget, reserve fund and rules, so do not assume what is true of one is true of another.

Family-size homes in a townhouse format

Condos.ca records homes from about 1,025 to 1,367 square feet. That floor is the useful part: there is nothing small here, and most plans should give you two or three bedrooms with room for a desk. The listing title on condos.ca also references 10 Carnahan Terrace, so the address range includes homes on both sides of the street.

Condos.ca describes the complex as a single storey, which is how many databases code townhouse condominiums and not a description of the homes. Ask for the floor plan. Find out whether the home you are looking at is a full townhouse from the ground up or a stacked unit with a neighbour above or below, because that changes the noise, the stairs and the outdoor space.

Ask which outdoor areas belong to the home. In townhouse condominiums, front gardens, rear patios and rooftop terraces are often exclusive-use common elements: yours to use, the corporation’s to repair. The declaration says who pays for what.

Parking and water in the fee

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking and water as covered. Parking being included is the detail I would point out to buyers coming from downtown, where a space is often a separate charge or a separate purchase. Confirm how the parking is arranged here, whether in a shared underground garage or in garages at each home, because the 2007 report shows the plans swung between both.

Water in the fee is less common in townhouse condominiums, where owners often pay their own. It is a convenience, but it also means heavy users are subsidised by light ones, and rising water rates show up in the budget. Heat and hydro are not on the inclusion list, so budget for them yourself.

If parking is in an underground garage shared by the complex, that garage is the biggest long-term cost the corporation carries. Ask what the reserve fund study says about the garage membrane and the roofs, and when the next study is due.

Daily life north of Gerrard

This is a residential pocket, not a main street. You walk out to Gerrard for the 506 Carlton streetcar, which ends at Main Street station on Line 2, and Danforth and Main are close by for shops. The Beach proper and the boardwalk are south of Kingston Road, a longer walk than the name suggests.

For families, the appeal is newer housing on quiet streets with schools and parks nearby; the data panel on this page lists the zoned schools, transit and parks with distances. Check your commute route at rush hour, because getting across the rail line and onto the subway is the daily reality here.

The area is still changing. Almost all of the old industry along the rail line has been replaced by housing, and the remaining larger sites on Gerrard and Danforth are the ones to watch. New projects bring shops and services closer over time, and construction in the meantime, so check what is proposed near the home you want.

Pricing: compare to a freehold, not a condo

There is one home for sale and one for rent here at the time of writing, so I cannot give a range of asking prices. In a 40-home complex, a year can pass with only a handful of sales. Use the 12-month sold figures in the data panel above, and ask me for a building sold report that pulls in the neighbouring Upper Beach corporations for a wider sample.

The right benchmark is a semi or a freehold townhouse in the Upper Beaches. Those typically cost more and come with no help on roofs, snow or exterior repairs. Here, the fee covers that work, plus parking and water. Weigh the fee against what you would set aside each year to maintain a freehold of the same size.

Do not compare the fee with a condo apartment’s fee per square foot. Townhouse fees cover less, so they are usually lower, and the cost you need to understand is the reserve fund’s plan for roofs, windows, paving and the garage.

Building specifications

Amenities at Upper Beach Village Phase III

Condos.ca lists barbecues as permitted and no shared amenities. That is normal for townhouses: you are paying for roofs, grounds and parking, not a gym or a party room, which helps keep the fee down.

Jatin’s honest take on Upper Beach Village Phase III

Upper Beach Village Phase III — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.