If you want an Etobicoke condominium you can genuinely walk to a subway platform from, your realistic options cluster around two stations at the west end of Line 2: Islington and Kipling. Everything else in the borough — including all of Humber Bay Shores — needs a bus, a streetcar or a car to reach the subway.
That single fact is worth more than most buyers realise, and it is why this pocket behaves like a different market from the waterfront a few kilometres south. This page compares what is actually there.
Why this pocket is different from the rest of Etobicoke
I write a lot about Humber Bay Shores, and I will keep doing it, because for the right buyer it is one of the best addresses in the city. But it has a structural limitation I always name: there is no subway. Walkability scores across those towers sit around 6 out of 10, and getting to a platform means a streetcar and a transfer, or a car.
The Islington and Kipling buildings invert that. Walk Scores here run 78 to 82, and the subway walking times published for the newer buildings are measured in single-digit minutes — in two cases, zero.
What you give up is equally real:
- No lake. No Martin Goodman Trail at the door, no Humber Bay Park, no water views at any price.
- A different streetscape. Bloor at Islington and Dundas at Kipling are arterial roads with tower podiums and parking, not a waterfront promenade.
- Active construction. Both station areas are being rebuilt around you, which I cover building by building below.
Neither area is better. They are different products, and buyers who tour both without understanding that end up disappointed by whichever one they choose second.
The buildings, compared
| Building | Station | Storeys | Suites | Fee rate | Built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islington Terrace 7 Mabelle Ave |
Islington — 0 min | 45 | 430 | $0.65 | 2019 / 2020 |
| Bloorvista 9 Mabelle Ave |
Islington — 1 min | 35 | 392 | $0.71 | 2021 |
| Bloor Promenade 5 Mabelle / 64 Cordova |
Islington — 0 min | 44 | 395 | Not published | 2021 / 2022 |
| Kip District Phase 1 20 Thomas Riley Rd |
Kipling — 1 min | 28 or 24 | 283 | $0.75 | 2019 |
| Kip District Phase 2 5365 Dundas St W |
Kipling — 1 min | 24 | 286 | Not published | 2023 |
| Cypress at Pinnacle 50 Thomas Riley Rd |
Kipling area — unmeasured | 25 | 295 or 288 | $0.66 | 2020–2023 |
| One Sherway ×4 205–235 Sherway Gdns Rd |
Kipling — 10 min drive | 23–33 | 276–323 each | $0.65–$0.91 | 2008–2014 |
Fee rates were read on 23 August 2026 and will change. Where two figures appear, the public sources disagree and I have not picked one — the individual building pages explain each conflict.
Reading that table properly
One Sherway is in a different category
It is the only entry here where the subway is not walkable — one source states plainly that Kipling is about a ten-minute drive. I include it because buyers searching this area always end up looking at it, and because it is otherwise excellent at what it does: highway access, the mall across the street, and four towers with genuine choice. Just do not buy it for the subway.
The fee spread inside One Sherway is the widest thing on this page
$0.65 at Tower Three against $0.91 at Tower Two. Same complex, same street. On a 900 square foot suite that is roughly $234 a month, forever. If you take one thing from this guide, make it this: compare fee rates before you compare asking prices.
Islington’s three towers are one complex with three corporations
Islington Terrace, Bloorvista and Bloor Promenade share a c-shaped podium and roughly 50,000 square feet of amenity space, but they are three separate condominium corporations with three separate fee structures and reserve funds. The addresses also overlap confusingly — one database files Islington Terrace as “5–7 Mabelle” while the developer assigns 5 Mabelle to Bloor Promenade. Always confirm the corporation number on a listing.
Kip District Phase 1 has the environmental credentials
It is the only building in this comparison with documented LEED Gold certification and electric vehicle charging — ten stations plus five roughed in, per the City of Toronto. If you drive an EV or expect to, that is a genuine differentiator that no listing will foreground.
At Islington: a 49-storey, 580-unit tower is proposed at 25 Mabelle Avenue — approved in principle by the Ontario Land Tribunal in November 2021, City application filed September 2022. It would be the tallest structure in the immediate area.
At Kipling: The Kip District is a five-tower master plan of roughly 1,300 homes. Three towers were complete as of Concert’s most recent release; Phase 3, two more towers, was still in planning.
Neither is a reason to avoid the area — density is what justifies the transit in the first place. Both are reasons to ask which way a suite faces, and to check current application status on the City of Toronto’s Application Information Centre yourself rather than trusting a summary that will go stale.
Two things the databases get wrong here, consistently
I researched every building on this page against two large public condo databases on the same day. Two patterns were so consistent they are worth warning you about generally:
- Price per square foot is not reliable in this area. The two sources disagreed on every single building, by 18% to 27%. Two databases cannot both be right about the same building on the same day. Treat aggregator price-per-square-foot as a rough orientation, never a valuation, and ask for real sold comparables instead.
- Maintenance fee inclusions are worse. On several buildings the two sources gave flatly opposite answers — one saying water is included, the other saying it is excluded. At The Kip District, the two phases by the same developer on the same block show opposite inclusion lists. I do not publish fee inclusions for any building in this area. The status certificate is the only defensible source, and Ontario law requires the corporation to provide it within 10 days for a fee capped at $100 including HST.
Who this area suits, honestly
- Strong fit: a downtown commuter who wants to keep a one-seat subway ride; a household going down to one car or none; an investor who wants demonstrable rental demand — every building here rents heavily; a buyer priced out of Bloor West Village who still wants Line 2.
- Think harder: anyone who wants water, trails and a quieter streetscape — go and look at Mimico and Humber Bay first; anyone who may need to sell within three years, because several buildings here showed twelve-month value declines on every source I checked; anyone sensitive to living beside active construction for the next several years.
The takeaway
The Islington and Kipling station buildings are the only place in Etobicoke where you can trade a car for a subway pass without pretending. That is the reason to buy here, and it is a durable one — transit does not move. Before you choose between them, do three things: compare fee rates rather than asking prices, confirm the corporation number on any listing in the Mabelle complex, and walk the actual route to the station from the actual entrance. Then send me the unit and I will pull the real sold comparables.
Comparing two buildings near the subway?
Send me both listings. I’ll pull the actual sold comparables for each corporation, put the real monthly fee side by side in dollars rather than per square foot, and tell you what I’d want to see in each status certificate. No pitch, no obligation.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
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Frequently asked questions
Which Etobicoke condos are walking distance to a subway?
The buildings clustered around Islington and Kipling stations at the west end of Line 2: Islington Terrace, Bloorvista and Bloor Promenade at Islington, and The Kip District’s two phases at Kipling, with Cypress at Pinnacle in the same catchment though its subway walking time is not published anywhere I could verify. Everything else in Etobicoke, including all of Humber Bay Shores, needs a bus, streetcar or car to reach the subway.
Is One Sherway close to the subway?
No. One source states plainly that Kipling station is not within close walking distance from One Sherway and is about a ten-minute drive. It is a strong choice for highway access and for the mall across the street, but it should not be bought for subway proximity.
Which building near Islington or Kipling has the lowest maintenance fees?
On rates read 23 August 2026, Islington Terrace and One Sherway Tower Three were joint lowest at $0.65 per square foot, with Cypress at Pinnacle close behind at $0.66. One Sherway Tower Two was highest at $0.91. Rates change, so confirm current figures, and remember that a low rate in a very young building may reflect a developer’s first-year budget rather than the real operating cost.
Do any Etobicoke condos have EV charging?
The Kip District Phase 1 at 20 Thomas Riley Road is the one I could confirm: the City of Toronto documents ten electric vehicle charging stations plus five roughed-in spaces, alongside LEED Gold certification. EV provision at the other buildings in this area is undocumented on the sources I checked.
Why do condo price-per-square-foot figures vary so much in this area?
Because the two large public databases disagree on every building here, by 18% to 27% on the same day. The figures are built from small samples, sometimes pooled with rental data, and they move sharply on a single unusual sale. Use them for rough orientation only and ask an agent for the actual sold comparables before you price anything.
Is there construction planned near the Islington and Kipling condos?
Yes, at both. A 49-storey, 580-unit tower is proposed at 25 Mabelle Avenue beside the Islington complex, approved in principle by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2021. At Kipling, The Kip District is a five-tower master plan with Phase 3’s two towers still in planning. Check current status on the City of Toronto Application Information Centre and consider which way a suite faces.
Should I buy near Islington station or in Humber Bay Shores?
They are different products rather than better and worse. Islington and Kipling give you a walkable subway, higher Walk Scores and a genuine option to drop a car. Humber Bay gives you the lake, the Martin Goodman Trail and parkland, at the cost of a bus or streetcar connection to any subway platform. Decide which of those you will actually use in a normal week, not an imagined one.
Sources
- City of Toronto — Toronto Green Standard project profile, 20 Thomas Riley Road. LEED Gold certification, electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle parking and energy performance at The Kip District Phase 1. Accessed 23 August 2026.
- Concert Properties — More than 500 homes now complete in Toronto’s Kip District. The five-tower, roughly 1,300-home master plan, three towers complete and Phase 3 in planning. Accessed 23 August 2026.
- Storeys — 25 Mabelle Avenue tower proposal. The proposed 49-storey, 580-unit tower beside the Islington Terrace complex and its approval history. Accessed 23 August 2026.
- strata.ca — 225 Sherway Gardens Rd, One Sherway II. The explicit statement that Kipling station is not within close walking distance of One Sherway, plus fee rate and Walk Score. Accessed 23 August 2026.
- City of Toronto Application Information Centre. Free public search of active development applications by address, for checking current status around both stations. Accessed 23 August 2026.
- Condominium Act, 1998, S.O. 1998, c. 19 (Ontario). The statute governing status certificates, the 10-day delivery requirement and the prescribed maximum fee. Accessed 23 August 2026.
Related reading
- Living at Islington Terrace, 7 Mabelle Avenue
- Living at Bloorvista at Islington Terrace, 9 Mabelle Avenue
- Living at Bloor Promenade, 5 Mabelle Avenue
- Living at The Kip District, Thomas Riley Road
- Living at Cypress at Pinnacle Etobicoke
- One Sherway Condos: all four towers, compared
- Humber Bay Shores condo buildings — the complete guide
About the author — Jatin Dua, Etobicoke real estate agent
I’m a licensed Realtor with RE/MAX Quantum Realty at 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke, a few minutes from every building on this page. I work with buyers, sellers and investors across Mimico, Humber Bay Shores, New Toronto, Long Branch, Alderwood and the Stonegate–Queensway corridor. I write these building guides the way I’d brief a client at my own kitchen table: what is documented, what isn’t, and where the published numbers disagree with each other.
Questions about a specific suite? connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.