Daniels FirstHome Markham Sheppard: Wood-Frame Mid-Rises, Honestly

Daniels FirstHome Markham Sheppard is one of the few places in Toronto where a first-time buyer can still find a studio or one-bedroom in a building that is only a few years old. It was built for exactly that buyer, on public land, with a rule that a share of the homes had to be affordable. The trade-offs are real, and they are not the ones most people expect. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Built on TTC land with an affordability rule

The 3.6-acre site was originally held by the TTC. It was declared surplus and passed to Build Toronto, the City’s land agency, which tendered it to developers on the condition that 30 per cent of the homes be affordable. Daniels and Diamond Corp. won it and broke ground in 2017.

At groundbreaking, the affordable share was aimed at households earning up to about $90,500 a year. The City also set aside $7.7 million in down-payment assistance loans for close to 100 eligible families here, and Daniels offered its BOOST program, an interest-free second mortgage worth 10 per cent of the price, funded by the federal and provincial governments.

That history matters when you buy a resale. Some original owners bought with assistance loans or second mortgages. Your lawyer should confirm that anything registered against the suite is discharged on closing, and you should not assume every suite was sold on the same terms.

The first six-storey wood-frame condos in the GTA

This is the detail almost nobody mentions in a listing. The three mid-rise buildings use wood-framed structure, which became possible after Ontario changed its building code in 2015 to allow six storeys in wood. At launch, this was described as the first six-storey residential wood-frame development in the Greater Toronto Area.

Wood frame kept costs down, which is part of how the prices worked. For you, the practical questions are sound and movement. Visit at a busy time of day, stand in the suite, and listen for footsteps from above. Ask the property manager whether there have been any noise complaints between floors and how they were handled.

Read the reserve fund study with the building type in mind. A wood-frame mid-rise is maintained differently from a concrete tower, and you want to see that the engineer who prepared the study has planned for its envelope, balconies and roof on a realistic schedule.

Studios to three-bedrooms, plus townhomes

The community was planned as 228 condo suites across three six-storey buildings and 100 townhomes in four blocks, built in two phases. Half the homes were designed as two- or three-bedroom plans, which is unusual for an entry-level project and good news if you are buying for a growing household.

Launch materials put condo suites at about 443 square feet for a studio up to 1,053 square feet for a three-bedroom, with townhomes from about 528 to 1,172 square feet. Condos.ca shows a range of roughly 592 to 1,180 square feet. The figures do not line up exactly, so use the builder floor plan for the specific suite rather than either summary.

The townhome addresses on Orchid Place Drive and the mid-rise addresses on Sheppard Avenue East sit in one corporation, so you share a budget and a board even though the home types are different. Ask how costs for roofs and private areas are split between the two.

Choosing between the two comes down to how you live. A mid-rise suite gives you an elevator, a gym down the hall and one level to clean. A townhome gives you your own entrance and usually more separation from neighbours, but stairs and less access to indoor amenities. Ask which addresses have parking in the garage and which park at grade, because it changes your winter.

Daily life at Sheppard and Markham

This is a car-friendly corner. Highway 401 is a short drive away, and Centennial College is minutes from the site, which keeps rental demand steady from students and staff. Shopping and services along Markham Road and Sheppard cover most errands.

Daniels designed the outdoor space as part of the pitch: community garden plots, a greenhouse for urban gardening workshops, barbecue and picnic areas, a children’s play area and a parkette with benches and chess tables. Confirm with management which of these are in use today and how the garden plots are allocated.

Next door, the older Orchid Place Condos at 80 to 90 Orchid Place Drive give you a useful comparison. They are a few years older, smaller, and have a different fee structure, so it is worth looking at both before you decide.

What Markham Sheppard costs

At the time of writing, condos.ca showed 10 homes for sale and eight for rent. Across the eight listings with full details, asking prices ran from $343,000 to $499,900, and maintenance fees ran from $301 to $519 a month.

Those fees work out to about $0.77 per square foot on average. That is reasonable for a building with a gym and party room, but condos.ca does not list what the fee includes. In a newer building like this, expect to pay hydro, and possibly heat and water, on separate meters. Ask for the fee schedule and recent utility bills before you compare it with another building.

The value case is simple: you are buying a building from 2021 at prices that are hard to find for new construction in Toronto. The cost is that the corporation is young, so its reserve fund history is short. Check the latest reserve fund study and the current budget, not just the fee.

Building specifications

Amenities at Daniels FirstHome Markham Sheppard

Condos.ca lists a gym, a party room and visitor parking, and Beanfield Fibre is available, which helps if you work from home. At launch Daniels described more than 3,500 square feet of indoor amenity space with a multipurpose room, kitchenette and lounge, so ask how those rooms are used and booked now.

Jatin’s honest take on Daniels FirstHome Markham Sheppard

Daniels FirstHome Markham Sheppard — frequently asked questions

Looking at Scarborough Bluffs, West Hill, Guildwood, Woburn, Malvern and Rouge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.