Downsview Park City Towns, 39 John Perkins Bull Dr: 27 Stafford Suites

Downsview Park City Towns is one of the smallest condominiums I know of in North York, and that is both its appeal and its main risk. Stafford built 27 multi-level suites here, registered in 2020, designed to feel more like a house than an apartment. With so few owners, every decision about money is shared by very few people. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small Stafford condo at the south end of Stanley Greene

City Towns sits at the south end of the Stanley Greene lands, the former Canadian Forces housing site south of Downsview Park that is now a new neighbourhood. Stafford Developments, a Toronto builder, took this end of the site and built six blocks of large freehold-style townhomes plus this one condominium building.

Stafford marketed the condominium as City Towns. UrbanToronto described it as a 4.5-storey building with 27 suites, designed by Turner Fleischer Architects. Condos.ca lists it as two floors, which is how its database often records townhouse-style buildings, so do not rely on that number when you picture the building.

The larger Stafford homes around it were sold as The James and The Cooper, three- and four-storey townhomes of more than 3,000 sq ft with private backyards. City Towns was the smaller, lower-priced way into the same streets, and it shares the same park and the same street grid.

Multi-level suites that live like small houses

The point of City Towns is the layout. UrbanToronto reported suites of 1,122 to 1,652 sq ft, arranged over more than one level so they feel like a single-family home rather than a flat on a corridor. That is a very different product from a condo apartment of the same size.

Expect bedrooms on a separate floor from the living space, and stairs inside the suite. That suits families and people who work from home, because there is real separation between rooms. It does not suit anyone who needs single-level living, so check the number of flights in the suite you are looking at.

The homes listed here are typically three-bedroom layouts. In a building of 27 suites, you will rarely have more than one or two to choose from at a time, so know your must-haves before one comes up, and be ready to move when the right one does.

Twenty-seven owners share every bill

A corporation this small behaves differently from a tower. A roof replacement, a garage repair or a legal bill is split 27 ways, not 400. If the reserve fund is healthy, that is manageable. If it is thin, one large project can mean a noticeable increase in fees or a special assessment for every owner.

Small buildings also depend on a handful of owners willing to sit on the board. Condos.ca lists FirstService Residential as the property manager, which is one of the larger management firms in the city, and that helps with routine operations. Even so, read the board minutes to see how decisions are being made and how often the board meets.

The building was registered in 2020, so it is still young. The Tarion warranty on major structural defects runs seven years from first occupancy, which leaves a few years of coverage. If anything structural is on the board’s list, the time to raise it is now, while that coverage is still in place.

Daily life by the park

The park is the reason to live here. Downsview Park has open lawns, a pond, the Hangar sports complex in a former aircraft hangar, the Scotiabank Pond rinks and Toronto FC’s training ground. For a family moving from an apartment, that changes what a weekend looks like.

Downsview Park station, on Line 1 with a connection to the GO Barrie line, is at the north end of the park, and TTC route 101 serves the park directly. The data panel on this page covers the walking times. Shopping is mostly a short drive, to Keele and Wilson or to Yorkdale.

The lands around the park are being planned for long-term redevelopment, so expect more construction nearby over the coming years, and more homes and services when it is done.

Pricing in a 27-suite building

At the time of writing there was one suite for sale and none for lease. I do not quote a single listing’s asking price or fee, and condos.ca did not publish a building price per square foot here, so there is no clean building average to anchor on.

The better comparison is with the homes around it. The Mattamy stacked towns at Downsview Park Towns, a few streets north, average about $612 per square foot on condos.ca, and they are smaller. A City Towns suite should be compared both with those and with freehold townhouses in Stanley Greene, adjusting for size, parking and the monthly fee.

On fees, think about what a building with no concierge, no pool and no gym should cost to run. The fee here should be modest for the size of the suites, and most of it should be going into the reserve fund and building insurance rather than staff. If the fee on a listing looks high for a building like this, ask why, and look at the budget in the status certificate to see where the money goes. If it looks very low, check that the reserve fund is not being underfunded to keep it there.

With 27 suites and slow turnover, each sale moves the figures a lot. Start with the recorded sales and leases in the data panel on this page. If you want me to line this building up against the nearby freehold and stacked town sales, I can do it through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Jatin’s honest take on Downsview Park City Towns

Downsview Park City Towns — frequently asked questions

Looking at Downsview, Weston, York University Heights, Rexdale and northwest Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.