Elm Kensington Residences, English Garden Way: 25 Large Townhomes

Elm Kensington Residences is one of the smallest condominiums I write about: 25 homes on a short street off Finch Avenue West, just west of Yonge. The homes are around 2,000 square feet, the fee covers very little, and listings are rare. That rarity is both the appeal and the challenge when you try to price one. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small enclave just off Finch

Elm Kensington Residences is made up of 25 homes, with addresses on English Garden Way, a short street off Finch, and lettered units at 66 Finch Avenue West. With so few owners, the corporation behaves less like a condo building and more like a small private street with shared upkeep.

This kind of project is typical of Newtonbrook in the late 1990s and 2000s. As older 1950s houses along the Finch and Yonge corridors came down, townhouse complexes went up in their place, giving the area a band of denser housing between the arterial roads and the bungalow streets behind them.

The name is worth a note too. Several listing sites file these homes under Elm Kensington Residences, but you may also see them listed simply by street address, so search both English Garden Way and 66 Finch Avenue West when you are tracking what has sold.

Condos.ca does not name a developer for this complex, and I could not confirm one, so I will not guess. With a corporation this small, the developer matters less than how the owners have run it since 2001.

About 2,000 square feet per home

Condos.ca records homes at roughly 1,950 to 2,070 square feet. That is family-house territory, comparable to a typical semi-detached house and well above anything you will find in the condo towers at Yonge and Finch.

Condos.ca lists the complex as a single floor, which I read as a reflection of its low-rise format rather than a description of the homes. At this size, expect plans spread over more than one level, and confirm the number of storeys, bedrooms and bathrooms on any home you are considering.

In a complex this small, the homes are likely to be close to identical, so the differences come down to position and upkeep. A home facing English Garden Way will be quieter than one fronting Finch, and an end unit gets more light and windows than an interior one.

A fee that covers very little

Condos.ca lists only common elements and building insurance as included. Heat, hydro and, on that list, water are not covered, so you should expect to run your household utilities much as you would in a freehold house.

That keeps the monthly fee low, but it also means the fee is not a good guide to your real cost of living. Ask the seller for a year of gas, hydro and water bills, and add them to the fee before you compare this home with an apartment.

There is an upside to a lean fee. Owners control their own utility costs, so a careful household pays less, and the corporation is not exposed to rising gas and electricity prices across the whole complex. In a building that bundles utilities, those increases land on everyone through the fee.

Parking is not listed as an inclusion either, even though condos.ca tags the complex with a parking garage and visitor parking. Confirm whether each home has its own garage or space, and whether it is owned or assigned by the corporation.

Living just west of Yonge and Finch

The complex sits on Finch Avenue West a short distance from Yonge Street. That puts the shops and services of Yonge and Finch within walking distance, in one of the most diverse parts of North York, where Persian, Korean, Mandarin and Russian are all widely spoken alongside English.

Finch is a busy road, so the position of the home in the complex matters for noise. Homes set back on English Garden Way will feel quite different from those that front onto Finch itself, and it is worth visiting at rush hour before you decide.

The panel beside this review shows the nearest station, schools and Walk Score. For a family, the appeal is simple: a house-sized home on a quiet side street, close to Yonge, without the lot and maintenance of a detached house.

Pricing a home that rarely comes up

Condos.ca puts the average at about $555 per square foot. That is well below what condo apartments near Yonge and Finch trade at per square foot, which is typical for townhouses, where you trade amenities and a concierge for more space.

There were no homes listed for sale or lease when I checked. With only 25 homes, there may be a year or more between sales, and a single sale can move the average by a lot.

To price a home here, I would use the most recent sales in this complex, adjusted for time, and then compare against similar townhouse condos and semi-detached houses in Newtonbrook and Willowdale. Ask me for that report before you make an offer, because with so few data points, an agent who guesses can easily leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table in either direction.

Building specifications

Amenities at Elm Kensington Residences

Condos.ca also tags this complex with a pool, concierge, guest suites and a security guard. That would be very unusual for 25 townhomes, so treat those tags with caution and confirm what actually exists, and who pays for it, in the status certificate.

Jatin’s honest take on Elm Kensington Residences

Elm Kensington Residences — 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.