The Town Plaza, 935 Sheppard Ave W: Mid-Rise Value on a Changing Strip

The Town Plaza is a building I like for buyers who want a real two-bedroom-sized home without paying Yonge Street prices. It is a nine-storey, 110-suite mid-rise from 2006 on Sheppard Avenue West, built by Tor-Bel Group, with suites that mostly run from 650 to just over 1,000 square feet and a fee that is reasonable for what it covers. Sheppard West is about to change around it, and that is part of the story. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small Tor-Bel mid-rise

Tor-Bel Group built The Town Plaza, and it is typical of the mid-rise condominiums that went up along North York’s arterial roads in the mid-2000s: nine storeys, a modest footprint, and a little over a hundred suites. It is not a showpiece, and it was not designed to be one.

The scale is the point. With 110 suites, the elevators are not crowded, the lobby is quiet, and owners tend to recognise each other. Smaller buildings also make decisions faster, for better or worse, so the quality of the board matters more here than in a 500-suite tower.

Condos.ca does not name an architect, and I could not confirm one from a reliable source, so I am not going to guess.

The setting is Clanton Park, a residential pocket of mostly detached houses and low apartment buildings between Bathurst and the Allen. On the main road you have plazas and service businesses; behind it, quiet streets. Living on Sheppard means you get the bus traffic and the convenience together.

Mid-sized suites, built for living in

Condos.ca lists suites from about 650 to 1,035 square feet. There are no tiny studios at the bottom of that range, and no penthouses at the top. Most suites are the size that a couple or a small family can actually live in long term.

The suites listed for sale when I checked were all in the 800 to 999 square foot range. That is larger than the typical new one-bedroom-plus-den on Sheppard or Yonge, and it is the main reason buyers pick an older mid-rise over a new tower.

Layouts from 2006 often have more enclosed kitchens and fewer floor-to-ceiling windows than today’s plans. If you want an open kitchen, look at whether the wall you want to remove is one you are allowed to remove, and ask management for the renovation approval process before you buy.

What the fee covers, and the rooftop

The fees on the suites listed for sale ran from about $607 to $679 a month, which condos.ca works out to roughly $0.71 per square foot. For a 2006 building with an elevator, a garage and parking in the fee, that is moderate.

The inclusion list is common elements, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not on it, so budget for your own utility bills. If you are comparing with a building where heat is included, add a winter heating estimate to this fee before you decide which is cheaper.

The amenity that stands out is the rooftop deck. In a building without a gym or pool, the roof is the shared space that matters most, and it is the one I would ask to see on a showing. There is also a party room and a meeting room.

Parking is in the fee, with an underground garage and visitor parking. That is worth real money on Sheppard West, where street parking is limited and many newer buildings sell spaces separately. Check how many spaces and lockers come with the suite you are buying, and whether they are owned or exclusive-use, because a listing will not always say.

Sheppard West is starting to change

For years this part of Sheppard Avenue West has been low-rise plazas, older apartment buildings and houses on the side streets. That is changing. Just to the east, at the northeast corner of Sheppard and Wilmington Avenue, Brixen Developments has proposed a 12-storey, 328-unit mixed-use building at 824 Sheppard Avenue West with retail at grade.

Further east, past Bathurst, a 35-storey, 331-unit condominium has been proposed at 500 Sheppard Avenue West, and UrbanToronto’s coverage lists several other applications along the corridor, including at 740 and 665 Sheppard West. None of these are built, and some may never be, but the direction is clear.

For owners here, more density usually means more retail and services within walking distance, along with years of construction and more competing supply. Allen Road and the subway line at the west end of this stretch are part of why developers are interested; the panel beside this review shows the nearest stations.

What The Town Plaza is asking

Condos.ca puts the building’s average at about $726 per square foot. For a 2006 mid-rise in North York with larger-than-average suites, that sits in a reasonable band: well below new construction, and in line with what you would expect for an established building on a major arterial.

Three suites were listed for sale when I checked, asking between $585,000 and $665,000, with fees of roughly $607 to $679 a month. One suite was listed for lease.

That range is tight, which tells you the suites here are similar enough that location in the building, exposure and condition drive most of the difference. The sales panel shows what has actually traded. If you want a number for a specific suite, book a call and I will pull the comparables.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Town Plaza

The amenity list is short: a rooftop deck, a party room, a meeting room and visitor parking. That keeps the fee down. If you need a gym or a pool in the building, this is not your building; if you want a quiet place to sit outside on a summer evening, the roof covers it.

Jatin’s honest take on The Town Plaza

The Town Plaza — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.