Hedge End Road Condos: Harmony Village’s 1998 Lane-Garage Townhouses

Hedge End Road Condos is phase one of Harmony Village, and when it was approved in 1998 the City called it one of the first examples of neo-traditional planning in Scarborough. Front doors face the street, garages sit on a lane behind, and the 99 homes read more like a small-town block than a condo complex. That design is still the reason to buy here, and it comes with a few things to check. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Phase one of Harmony Village

Harmony Village was planned as a single neighbourhood of townhouses at the northwest corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Meadowvale Road. This corporation is the first phase, on the block bounded by Sheppard, Meadowvale and Hedge End Road. In March 1998, while it was still under construction, City planners recommended approval of the 99-home condominium plan.

A second phase, now its own corporation known as Harmony North at 9420 to 9466 Sheppard Avenue East and 2 Hedge End Road, followed on the north side of Hedge End Road with 143 more homes. The City described the finished project as three-storey, ground-related townhouses arranged around a central local park, home to 242 families in all.

In late 1998 the City also reviewed a Harmony proposal for 27 more townhouses on a former office-zoned parcel on the north side of Sheppard, west of Hedge End Road, reached by extending the private road. I did not confirm how that site was finally built out, so if a listing sits at the western end of Hedge End Road, check which corporation it belongs to.

That history matters when you shop. The two phases look alike and share a street, but they are separate corporations with separate budgets and reserve funds. Check which one a listing is in before you compare fees.

Front doors on the street, garages on the lane

The 1998 planning report notes that all but seven of the 99 homes face directly onto the surrounding streets, with pedestrian connections to the sidewalk and individual garages reached from a private lane. That is the neo-traditional idea: a street of porches and front doors, with cars kept out of sight at the back.

Day to day, it means your front entry feels like a house on a public street rather than an internal driveway, and the lane at the back handles cars, garbage and deliveries. The homes on Sheppard Avenue and Meadowvale Road face busy roads, though, so the units along Hedge End Road are usually the quieter choice.

The private lane is a common element. Its paving, drainage, lighting and snow clearing are corporation costs, so look at its condition and at what the reserve fund study says about repaving it.

Parking, visitor spaces and a shared arrangement

The 1998 report counts 164 parking spaces: 146 for residents and 18 for visitors. It also notes that more visitor parking was planned in the second phase, and one condition of approval required the declaration to give owners and visitors of this corporation access to visitor parking on the phase-two lands.

In plain terms, part of this complex’s visitor parking may sit on land owned by Harmony North. Ask for that arrangement in writing with the status certificate, and check whether it involves any cost sharing. These easements and shared-facility agreements are easy to miss and can matter when a neighbouring corporation repaves or changes its rules.

Parking is included in the maintenance fee. With most homes having an individual garage, ask whether the garage forms part of your unit or is a common element, because that decides who pays for doors and openers.

Living at Sheppard and Meadowvale

This is the far northeast of Scarborough, in the Rouge community, where the city’s suburbs meet the Rouge Valley. The planning reports describe a low-density residential neighbourhood south of Sheppard Avenue, a commercial plaza to the west and an Ontario Hydro corridor to the north of the Harmony lands.

Inside the home, the systems are usually yours. In most townhouse condos the furnace, air conditioner and water heater belong to the owner, and in a 1998 home they may be on their second set or still original. Ask for their ages, and find out whether the water heater is owned or on a rental contract, because that contract transfers to you.

That makes it a car-first location with a quiet, established feel. Schools, parks and transit for this address are in the data panel on this page. For buyers who want townhouse space and a house-like street at a lower price than detached homes in the same area, this pocket is worth a look.

Pricing and fees in context

There was one suite for sale and one for rent when I reviewed the complex, so current asking prices are too thin to quote as a range. The data panel on this page shows what has actually sold here.

Fees in older townhouse condos like this one tend to be low compared with high-rise buildings, because there is no elevator, lobby or amenity space to run. The trade-off is that the big costs are envelope and site costs, such as roofs, windows, the lane and drainage, and they arrive together as the buildings age. A low fee is only good news if the reserve fund study shows those costs are funded.

When I price a home here, I compare it with sales in Harmony North, which is the closest like-for-like comparison, and with other 1990s townhouse complexes in Malvern and the Rouge area, adjusted for size, finished basement, garage and which street the home faces.

Sellers here benefit from the design. A home with a street-facing front door and a lane garage photographs and shows more like a freehold townhouse than a typical condo, and buyers coming from detached-house searches often respond to that.

Building specifications

Amenities at Hedge End Road Condos

There is no amenity building. Your outdoor space and the local park at the centre of Harmony Village are the practical amenities, and the short list keeps operating costs down.

Jatin’s honest take on Hedge End Road Condos

Hedge End Road Condos — 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.