Woodfinch Mews, 165 Cherokee Blvd: Stacked Townhouses with a Pool

Woodfinch Mews at 165 Cherokee Blvd is what I show families who need four bedrooms and cannot stretch to a freehold house in North York. These are stacked condo townhouses from 1976, spread over multiple levels, with underground parking and an indoor pool and sauna that most new townhouse projects would never build. The trade-off is a 50-year-old complex, and you need to buy it with your eyes open. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse format inside a condo corporation

The important thing to understand about Woodfinch Mews is the format. These are not apartments off a corridor. Recent listing descriptions describe stacked condo townhouses laid out over two or three levels, some with ground-floor bedrooms that open straight onto a patio and an upper level with more bedrooms and a second bathroom.

That layout is why buyers come here. A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home with real separation between floors is close to impossible to find in a newer North York condo, and when you do find one it is usually priced like a house. Here, the townhouse feel comes with condo-style shared upkeep of the grounds and common areas.

Stairs are the catch. A three-level suite means carrying groceries and laundry between floors every day, which suits young families and teenagers well and suits someone with mobility concerns poorly. Walk the stairs in the specific suite before you fall for the square footage.

One data note: condos.ca lists the complex as a six-storey mid-rise, which does not match the stacked townhouse format described in listings. Treat that figure with caution and look at the actual block and suite you are considering.

The pool and sauna in a 1970s complex

Woodfinch Mews has an indoor pool, a sauna, a gym and a recreation room. For a townhouse complex that is unusual. Most townhouse condos built in the last twenty years give you a parkette and a mailbox, not a pool.

For a family, an indoor pool down the path is genuinely useful through a Toronto winter. For an owner, it is also a line item. Pools are among the most expensive shared assets a corporation carries, and in a complex this age the equipment, the deck and the enclosure will all have been through at least one replacement cycle or be heading toward one. That is something to read about in the reserve fund study, not something to guess at.

What 50 years means for what you buy

A 1976 complex has had decades to show how it is run. That is an advantage if the records are good, because you can see what has already been replaced and what is planned. Recent listings mention owners upgrading windows, sliding doors, balcony railings and heating and cooling equipment, which tells you suites here vary a lot in condition from one to the next.

Find out exactly which of those items belong to the owner and which belong to the corporation. In many older townhouse condos, windows, doors and the furnace are a grey area, and the declaration decides who pays. That single question changes what a given suite is really worth.

Underground parking is the other big-ticket item. Garage membranes and waterproofing in complexes of this era are costly to repair, so ask about the garage specifically when you read the reserve fund study and the board minutes.

The daily reality of Pleasant View

Cherokee Boulevard sits just east of Don Mills Road near Finch Avenue East, in a quiet, established pocket of Pleasant View. It is a residential street, not a main road, which is a big part of the appeal for families with young children.

Pleasant View is not a neighbourhood people move to for nightlife. It is a place people move to for space, quiet streets and a reasonable drive to work, and it delivers on those. If you want to walk to restaurants every night, look closer to Yonge Street instead. If you want a park, a community centre and a mall nearby for the kids, this pocket makes sense.

The practical draws are Fairview Mall for shopping, Seneca Polytechnic’s Newnham campus, the Pleasant View Community Centre and fast highway access to the 401, the 404 and the Don Valley Parkway. If you commute by car to the north end or downtown, that highway access is the reason to live here. Transit, schools and Walk Score are in the data panel on this page.

How to think about price here

At the time of writing there were two suites for sale and two for rent here, which is a thin market. I am not going to give you a range built on one or two listings, because it would not mean much and it could point to a specific owner. The TRREB data panel on this page shows the aggregate sale and lease figures.

What I can tell you is how value works in this complex. Price follows size and the number of levels and bedrooms far more than floor height or view, because this is a townhouse product. Two four-bedroom suites can be priced quite differently depending on whether the windows, doors and mechanicals have been replaced.

Ask for the current monthly fee, what it includes and the most recent reserve fund study before you compare it with anything else. I could not confirm the fee inclusions for this complex, and in older townhouse condos the difference between heat being included or not is real money each winter. For a building-level view of recent trades, my building sold report is the place to start.

Building specifications

Amenities at Woodfinch Mews

An indoor pool and sauna in a townhouse complex is rare, and for families it means a year-round place to swim without a membership. It also means a costly shared asset, so the reserve fund matters more here than in a townhouse complex with no facilities.

Jatin’s honest take on Woodfinch Mews

Woodfinch Mews — frequently asked questions

Looking at Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.