1250 King Street West Townhouses: 31 Parkdale Towns From 1982

1250 King Street West is the kind of building most buyers drive past without noticing: 31 two-storey brick townhouses tucked off King Street near Dufferin, with no lobby, no gym and no tower. What it offers instead is a front door of your own, two floors of living and a monthly fee that covers more than you would expect. It also has quirks that come with a 1982 build, and I want you to know them before you fall for the skylights. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse, not a condo apartment

The whole complex is two storeys and 31 suites spread over two addresses, 1250 and 1252 King Street West. Every home is a two-level townhouse, so you get an open main floor for living and cooking and the bedrooms upstairs, with no shared hallway or elevator between you and the street.

That format is the reason to buy here. In South Parkdale, most of what comes up under $1 million is either a converted apartment in an older house or a suite in a high-rise. A condo townhouse with ensuite laundry and its own entrance is a different product, and at 31 suites there is not much of it.

The trade-off is that there is almost no building around you. The amenity list is BBQs permitted, a parking garage and visitor parking. If you want a concierge to sign for packages or a gym downstairs, this is the wrong address.

The layouts: two-plus-den and one bathroom

Public data gives suite sizes of roughly 700 to 975 square feet. The plans that have come to market recently fall in the 900 to 999 square foot band and are laid out as two bedrooms plus a den on the upper floor, with one bathroom. The den is enclosed in at least one plan and has been marketed as a third bedroom or a home office.

One bathroom for a two-plus-den townhouse is the detail I would flag to families and to roommates. It is typical of early-1980s townhouse design, and adding a powder room is not a simple job in a condo, because plumbing changes usually need the board’s approval.

On the positive side, listings describe oversized windows, skylights on the upper floor and arch-top windows on the exterior, and at least one suite has a private patio of about 355 square feet. Some outlooks are onto mature trees, which is rare a block from King Street.

Heating, parking and the fee

Listings describe baseboard heating. In a building of this age that usually means electric baseboards, which means your heating cost shows up on your hydro bill rather than in your fee. Ask the seller for 12 months of hydro bills before you firm up, and ask whether a previous owner has added a heat pump or split air conditioning.

Parking is where the public record conflicts. The complex lists a parking garage and visitor parking, and two recent listings describe an underground space, but another describes its space as surface parking. One mentions a gated visitor lot. The likely explanation is a mix of space types, but confirm which kind comes with the suite you are buying, and note that no listing I reviewed mentions a locker.

The fee is reported to include parking, water and cable TV. Several listings add high-speed internet, exterior maintenance, snow removal, landscaping and garbage collection. Those last items are the real value of a condo townhouse: the roof, brick and grounds are the corporation’s problem, not yours. They are also exactly why the reserve fund matters so much here.

Daily life on this stretch of King

This is the stretch of King Street West between Dufferin and Jameson, the western end of King before it curves into Roncesvalles. Liberty Village is just east across Dufferin, Queen West and Parkdale’s main street are a short walk north, and the Gardiner is close for anyone driving out of the city.

It is a mixed block, with older apartment buildings, converted houses and small commercial uses along King, so it does not feel like a manicured townhouse enclave. King Street transit stops nearby, and the data panel on this page shows the transit, school and Walk Score detail.

What I like about the location for this kind of home is the balance. You are close enough to walk to Liberty Village groceries, coffee and gyms, and to the Queen West strip, but you come home to a small complex set back from the street. For a buyer who wants city life on the doorstep without a 30-storey tower, that is a reasonable compromise.

Pricing: thin data, so price it carefully

With only 31 suites, this complex can go a full year with no sales, and there were no active listings at the time of writing. Public sources do not publish a reliable building average per square foot, so I would not trust any automated estimate for a suite here on its own.

Turnover also tells a story. Several recent listings were taken off the market without selling, which tells me sellers and buyers have not always agreed on what these homes are worth. When that happens, the right comparables are other condo townhouses in South Parkdale and the stacked towns in Liberty Village, adjusted for the one bathroom and the age of the building, not the King West high-rises.

Fees reported across recent listings work out to roughly $0.85 to $1.00 per square foot a month. That looks high next to a new tower, but it includes parking, water, cable and, by most accounts, exterior upkeep. If you want a proper read on value, my building sold report pulls the TRREB record for the complex.

Building specifications

Amenities at 1250 King Street West Townhouses

There is no amenity package to speak of, and that is the point: you are paying for grounds, exterior and parking, not for a pool or party room you never use. If you want a gym or concierge, look at a Liberty Village tower instead.

Jatin’s honest take on 1250 King Street West Townhouses

1250 King Street West Townhouses — frequently asked questions

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