37-39 Drewry Ave Townhouses: 45 Rivermill Homes Townhomes West of Yonge

37-39 Drewry Avenue is a small, newer townhouse complex on a side street off Yonge, and that combination is rarer north of Finch than it should be. You get a 2018 build, only 45 homes and a low-rise setting, a short walk from the towers and restaurants of Yonge Street. What you do not get is much published history, so you have to do more of your own homework here. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A newer low-rise complex on a street of older stock

Drewry Avenue runs west from Yonge Street north of Finch, and most of what lines it was built decades before this complex. A 2018 condominium townhouse complex here stands out simply by being new. Condos.ca lists it at two storeys with 45 homes, registered as TSCC-2673 in September 2018.

The builder on record is Rivermill Homes. I could find very little published about the company or its other projects, which is not unusual for smaller infill builders. It does mean you cannot rely on a track record, so the quality of the construction has to be judged from the home itself, the inspection and the corporation’s paperwork.

At under ten years old, the complex is still young enough that major components such as roofs and paving should not be near replacement. That is one of its real advantages over the 1970s and 1980s townhouse complexes elsewhere in North York.

Layouts: ask before you assume

Condos.ca records the complex at two storeys, and the only home listed for sale when I checked sat in the 900 to 999 square foot range. That points to compact two-bedroom townhouse plans rather than large family homes, but I could not find published floor plans for the complex, so confirm the layout of any home you view.

In townhouse condos of this size and age, the questions that matter day to day are practical ones. Is the home stacked over or under a neighbour, or a full two-storey unit with its own roof? Where is the parking, and how far is it from your door? Is there private outdoor space, and who maintains it? The answers change both how the home lives and what you will be responsible for.

Get those answers from the listing agent, the declaration and the status certificate before you write an offer. They are much harder to sort out after.

Small corporation, short history

A 45-home corporation is small. That has benefits: fewer neighbours, a board you can get to know, and less of the anonymous feel of a big tower. It also means every shared cost is split among few owners, so a single large repair or a rise in insurance shows up quickly in the fee.

Newer corporations also have short histories. The first reserve fund study, any performance audit done in the early years and the way the board handled warranty claims with the builder are all worth asking about. They tell you whether early construction issues were caught and fixed, or simply deferred.

When I checked, only one home was listed for sale and none for lease. Turnover in a complex this size is naturally low, which is good for stability but means you may wait a while for the right layout to come up.

Living off Yonge, north of Finch

The practical appeal of this location is that you are on a quieter residential street but close to the Yonge Street strip, with its restaurants, grocery stores and services. For daily errands, that strip does most of the work.

This stretch is also changing. New towers and townhouse complexes, this one included, have been replacing older low-rise lots along and near Yonge, and that tends to continue once a street starts turning over. For an owner in a small low-rise complex, more density nearby generally means more services, more traffic and a more urban feel.

The nearest comparable is Hendon Park Towns on Eldora Avenue, a 113-home Wycliffe Homes townhouse complex from 2017 just to the south. It is larger, with a longer record of sales, which makes it a useful benchmark when you are weighing a home here.

Fees and pricing: what you can compare

Condos.ca lists air conditioning, common elements, building insurance and parking as included. Parking in the fee matters, because in many newer buildings near Yonge it is a separate monthly charge. Seeing air conditioning on the list in a townhouse complex is less common, and it is worth asking the manager exactly what that covers, whether it is shared equipment or simply how the listing was categorized.

Heat, hydro and water are not on the condos.ca list, so expect to pay those yourself. Confirm the inclusions in the status certificate rather than relying on any listing summary, including this one.

With a single home listed for sale when I checked, I am not quoting its asking price or fee. One listing is not a market, and quoting it would effectively identify one owner’s sale. For actual sale figures, I can prepare aggregates in a building sold report.

The better comparison is the area. Look at recent sales here alongside Hendon Park Towns and other condo townhouses between Finch and Steeles, and compare the fee by what it includes. A home here with parking in the fee is not directly comparable to one where parking is billed separately.

Also compare the total monthly cost, not just the fee. Add heat, hydro and water, which you pay yourself, and compare that number against a condo suite nearby where heat may be included but parking is not.

Building specifications

Amenities at 37-39 Drewry Ave Townhouses

There is no gym, pool or party room, so the fee is not carrying the cost of shared facilities. Visitor parking and permission to barbecue are the practical extras, and for many buyers that is exactly the low-maintenance trade they are looking for.

Jatin’s honest take on 37-39 Drewry Ave Townhouses

37-39 Drewry Ave Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.