St. Gabriel Village, 660 Sheppard Ave E: Big Suites on Former Church Land

St. Gabriel Village is not a building for first-time buyers, and it does not pretend to be. The smallest suite here is just over 1,000 square feet, the largest is well past 4,000, and the towers sit on land that was church property until the mid-2000s. If you are leaving a house in Bayview Village and want to keep the space, this is one of the few buildings that lets you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Built on land the church sold to pay for itself

The story of this site is more interesting than most. The Passionists, the Catholic order that runs St. Gabriel’s parish, owned roughly three hectares at Bayview and Sheppard. To pay for a new $10.5-million church, they sold most of that land to Shane Baghai, according to a 2006 Globe and Mail review of the church.

The church itself, designed by Roberto Chiotti and Kevin Weiss of Larkin Architect, is a low, glass-fronted building set well back from Sheppard, with its parking mostly underground and a garden in front. The same Globe piece notes that the City wanted taller, mixed-use buildings along the Sheppard frontage rather than a one-storey church at the street. The condos are the result of that compromise.

So when you buy here, part of your neighbour is not another tower. It is a church, its piazza and its gardens, which is a much quieter thing to live beside than a construction site.

One master plan, several buildings

St. Gabriel Village is one phase of a larger Shane Baghai plan for the site. Forum coverage on SkyriseCities refers to St. Gabriel Lanes (townhouses), St. Gabriel Terraces (Building A), the Village (Buildings B and C) and, last, St. Gabriel Manor, an eight-storey building with retail at grade on Sheppard.

That is why suite numbers here carry a letter. The two Village addresses, 660 and 662, are the B and C buildings, and they share one condominium corporation. When you read a listing, check which building the suite is in, because views, exposure and the walk to the parking elevator differ between them.

The phases were designed to match each other, so the whole block reads as one development. For buyers, that matters in one practical way: the Terraces, the Manor and the Village are separate corporations with separate budgets, even though they look alike from the street.

The contrast with the Terraces next door at 650 Sheppard is useful if you are choosing within the plan. Condos.ca shows the Terraces as a seven-storey building with suites of roughly 430 to 1,350 square feet and heat in the fee. The Village is taller, its suites start where the Terraces’ suites end, and its fee list does not include heat. Same builder, same block, very different buyers.

Suites sized for people leaving houses

Condos.ca puts the suite range at about 1,010 to 4,330 square feet. There are no bachelors or small one-bedrooms in that range. Every active listing when I checked was a two-bedroom or a two-bedroom-plus-den, which tells you who the building was designed for.

Large suites in a 2009 building usually mean separate dining rooms, full-size kitchens, two full bathrooms and real storage. They also mean real maintenance fees, which I come to below. Ceiling heights and the architect of the condo towers were not in any source I could find, so ask for the floor plan and measure for your furniture.

The upper end of the range is closer to a house than a condo. Those suites are rare, they trade privately as often as publicly, and they are hard to price because there are so few of them.

Living at Sheppard and Bayview

Sheppard Avenue East is a wide, busy road, and the Globe critic was not kind to it. That is the trade-off: suites facing the avenue look over five lanes of traffic, while those facing away from it look over the church grounds and lower buildings. Ask which way a suite faces before you fall for the floor plan.

The draw is what is nearby. Bayview Village Shopping Centre, the Sheppard subway line and Highway 401 are all part of daily life here, and the data panel on this page shows the exact transit options and walking times. For a downsizer who still drives but wants to stop driving everywhere, this corner works well.

What the large suites cost, and what the fee buys

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $805 per square foot. That is higher than older buildings nearby, such as Claridges at 12 Rean Drive at about $636, and in line with newer towers in the area. You are paying for size, a quieter outlook on the church side and a 2009 build, not for a new-construction premium.

When I checked, six suites were listed for sale, asking from about $850,000 to $1,695,000. Monthly fees on those listings ran from about $1,374 to $2,536. That is a lot of money in absolute terms, but it is spread across very large suites, so compare the fee per square foot rather than the monthly figure.

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking, water and air conditioning in the fee. Heat and hydro are not on that list, so ask how each suite is heated and what the winter bills look like before comparing with an all-inclusive building. The building’s own sales history is in the data panel, and it is the better guide to value than asking prices.

Building specifications

Amenities at St. Gabriel Village

The amenity list is modest for a building at this price: a concierge, a party room, a meeting room, guest suites and barbecues, with no pool or gym listed on condos.ca. That suits owners who already belong to a club and want staff at the door and somewhere for family to stay, not a resort lobby.

Jatin’s honest take on St. Gabriel Village

St. Gabriel Village — 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.