Markham Gardens, 19 Rosebank Dr: 450 Townhouses Over One Garage

Markham Gardens is the condo townhouse I show to families who need four bedrooms and a basement but cannot stretch to a freehold. The fees are startlingly low for homes of this size, and the reason is worth understanding before you fall for the number: 450 townhouses share one underground garage that is now close to 30 years old. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse community the size of a high-rise

The condo townhouse complexes I cover in Guildwood have 55 and 143 homes. Markham Gardens has 450, spread across two municipal addresses on Rosebank Drive, which puts it closer in scale to a 29-storey tower like the 557-suite Consilium I than to a typical townhouse row. That size cuts both ways: costs are spread across many owners, but decisions take longer and the common property is large.

Listing descriptions describe the homes as three-storey townhouses with a finished basement, and some basements walk out at grade or have windows in the recreation room. Condos.ca records sizes of roughly 1,439 to 2,184 square feet, which is freehold-townhouse territory and well above what most condo apartments in this part of Scarborough offer.

The unit numbering can look odd at first. Homes carry suite-style numbers such as 503 or 908 even though they are townhouses, so do not assume a number refers to a floor. Use the address, the corporation number and the floor plan to confirm exactly which home you are seeing.

Townhouse corporations also split repair responsibilities differently from apartment condos. Read the declaration to see who pays for windows, doors, decks, patios and the roof over your home, because in some complexes those items sit with the owner and in others with the corporation, and that changes what a low fee really covers.

Parking underneath, and why that matters

The defining feature here is the shared underground garage. Listing descriptions mention direct access from the home down to underground parking, and at least one home was marketed with two spaces. In a Toronto winter, walking from your car to your basement without going outside is a real convenience, and it keeps the streets inside the complex clear of parked cars.

The trade-off is the structure itself. An underground garage under townhouses needs a waterproofing membrane, drainage, ventilation and lighting, and in a 1997 complex those systems are well into the second half of their life. Garage repair is often the single largest capital project a townhouse corporation of this age faces.

Condos.ca lists a security guard, a security system and an enter-phone system, which is more than most townhouse complexes provide and probably reflects the garage and the scale of the site. Visitor parking is also listed. Ask how many parking spaces come with a home and whether they are owned or exclusive-use, because that varies by unit.

If you want the same street without the stairs, the two Markham Place towers at 2 to 8 Rosebank Drive, built by V.H.L. Developments in 2010 and 2011 according to condos.ca, are the apartment alternative, with newer construction and elevators instead of stairs.

Fees that look too low, and the questions they raise

Across four active listings, monthly fees ran from about $320 to $396. Against homes of 1,439 to 2,184 square feet, that is roughly 15 to 27 cents a square foot, a fraction of what condo apartments in the same postal code charge. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking and cable TV as included.

Water, heat and hydro are not on that list, so expect to pay your own utilities as you would in a freehold. Even so, the fee is low for a complex with a staffed security presence and a garage to maintain.

A low fee is good news only if the reserve fund is healthy. Before you firm up, read the status certificate, the latest reserve fund study and recent board minutes, and look specifically for planned garage, roofing and window work. If the study shows a large project coming with a thin fund, the low fee today may simply be deferring a special assessment or a sharp increase tomorrow.

Living in this corner of Malvern

This is a practical, family-oriented pocket. The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto is on Sheppard Avenue East nearby, an 85,000 square foot centre with a 626-seat theatre, an art gallery, classrooms and an active living centre for seniors. Listing descriptions also point to Centennial College, a library, a community centre and quick access to Highway 401.

Transit in this area is changing. The Scarborough Subway Extension is being built from Kennedy Station to Sheppard Avenue and McCowan Road, about eight kilometres, with tunnelling under way since 2023. The data panel on this page shows the current transit options and distances from Rosebank Drive.

What Markham Gardens costs per square foot

Condos.ca puts the average here at about $323 per square foot, low by Toronto standards. Part of that is simply size: when a home includes a full basement and three storeys, the price per square foot drops even when the total price is in line with townhouses nearby.

At the time of writing, four homes were listed for sale with asking prices from about $590,000 to $749,000. That spread reflects condition and layout more than size, so I would compare homes on finished basement quality, kitchen and bathroom updates and the number of parking spaces rather than on square footage alone.

The automatic data panel above shows what homes here have actually sold for over the past year. Use those figures, not asking prices, as your anchor when you make an offer.

For context, the two apartment towers I cover at Corporate Drive and Lee Centre Drive average about $517 and $490 per square foot on condos.ca. Here you get a basement, stairs and a front door instead of an elevator and a concierge desk, at roughly two thirds of that rate per square foot or less.

Building specifications

Amenities at Markham Gardens

There is no pool, gym or party room on the condos.ca list, so the fee is paying for security, the garage and the grounds rather than a recreation centre. For most families here the real amenity is the basement and the parking space below it.

Jatin’s honest take on Markham Gardens

Markham Gardens — 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.