Yorkdale Village Townhomes I, Wilson Ave: Decade’s 75 Stacked Towns

Yorkdale Village Townhomes I is what you buy when you want out of a tower but cannot stretch to a freehold house. These are 75 condominium townhomes on Wilson Avenue, finished in 2015, with private rooftop space and a fee that stays modest because there is no lobby, pool or elevator to run. The catch is the trade-offs that come with stacked living. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The first phase of a Wilson Avenue rebuild

Wilson Avenue west of Yorkdale was, for decades, a run of strip plazas and parking lots. In 2014 Bisnow profiled Decade Group’s plan to change that, quoting a Decade executive who also sat on the local BIA and who wanted Wilson to become a walkable shopping street. Yorkdale Village was the company’s first move, and its first phase of 75 homes sold out.

That first phase is this complex, Yorkdale Village Townhomes I. Bisnow reported a second phase of 96 homes with about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, and condos.ca lists a separate Yorkdale Village Townhomes complex next door at 855-869 Wilson Avenue and 60 Winston Park Boulevard. If you are shopping the area you will see both on the market, so make sure the documents you read belong to TSCC-2462.

The Bisnow piece names the company Decade Group, while condos.ca lists the builder as Decade Homes. They refer to the same Toronto builder, and the project fits a pattern of mid-sized infill on an arterial road rather than a large tower.

Townhome format and suite sizes

Condos.ca lists the complex as two storeys with 75 homes ranging from about 660 to 1,164 square feet, from one-bedroom-plus-den plans to two-bedrooms. At those sizes, some homes are likely stacked or one-level plans rather than full-height row houses, so ask the listing agent exactly which levels the unit occupies and whether anyone lives above or below you.

The rooftop deck is the feature buyers come for. Private outdoor space on the roof gives you something a condo balcony cannot: room for a table, a barbecue and a bit of sky, and barbecues are permitted. Not every unit in a complex like this necessarily has its own roof terrace, so confirm the outdoor space attached to the home you are viewing on the status certificate and the condominium plan.

The trade-off is stairs. Townhome living with rooftop space usually means several flights from the street to the roof, which suits younger buyers and less so anyone planning to age in place.

Low fees, and what they leave out

The fee covers common elements, building insurance and water. Heat, hydro and parking are not listed as included, so budget for your own utilities, and confirm whether parking is owned, exclusive-use or not attached to the unit at all. In stacked townhome complexes, parking is often in a shared underground garage, and the details matter.

Because there is no lobby, concierge, pool or elevator, the operating budget is lean, which is how the fees stay low. The flip side is that the big future costs are roofs, rooftop deck membranes, the garage and exterior cladding. In a 75-home complex those costs are shared among relatively few owners, so the reserve fund study is the document that tells you whether today’s low fee is sustainable.

A useful rule of thumb in townhome complexes: ask who is responsible for what. The declaration sets out whether items like your rooftop deck surface, your front door, your windows and your patio are common elements, exclusive-use common elements or part of your unit. That split decides whether a repair comes out of the reserve fund or out of your own pocket, and it varies from one complex to the next.

Living on Wilson Avenue

The daily appeal is access. Yorkdale is to the east, Allen Road and the 401 are close, and Downsview Park is to the north. The bus routes, subway access and walkability details are in the data panel on this page.

Wilson Avenue itself is still in transition. Some strip retail remains, and more redevelopment is likely as the City continues to encourage mid-rise and mixed-use building along designated Avenues like this one. That can mean better shops over time, and it can also mean construction nearby. Frontage on Wilson also means traffic noise, so the units set back on Winston Park Boulevard may be quieter.

What townhome space costs here

The average sits at about $590 per square foot. That is below most newer high-rise condos in North York, which makes sense: buyers trade amenities and elevator access for ground-oriented living and private outdoor space, and the market prices that trade-off fairly.

Two homes were listed for sale when I checked, asking about $525,000 to $575,000, with monthly fees of roughly $496 to $531. Those fees are low by Toronto standards for 700 to 1,100 square feet of living space, and they are one of the strongest reasons to look here.

The fair comparison is not a tower one-bedroom. It is a resale freehold townhouse in the same area, which will cost considerably more and come with its own roof and furnace to replace. Yorkdale Village sits in the middle: lower entry cost than freehold, lower fees than a tower, and a share of the common-element repairs. The sold-data panel shows what has actually traded.

One more point on resale. With only 75 homes, there are rarely more than a few listings at once, so pricing a purchase here means looking at the Phase II complex next door and at other condo townhomes in Downsview as well. That limited supply also tends to help sellers when the market turns.

Building specifications

Amenities at Yorkdale Village Townhomes I

There is no shared amenity building to speak of. What you get is your own outdoor space, a rooftop deck or a patio depending on the unit, and that is the point: you pay for space you use rather than a gym or party room you may not.

Jatin’s honest take on Yorkdale Village Townhomes I

Yorkdale Village Townhomes I — 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.