166 Sherwood Avenue Condos: A Nine-Suite 1979 Building Near the Ravine

166 Sherwood Avenue is about as small as a Toronto condominium gets: nine suites in a three-storey building on a street of houses north of Eglinton. Living here is closer to sharing a house with eight neighbours than living in a condo tower, and that is both the appeal and the risk. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Nine suites on a street of houses

Sherwood Avenue is a residential street of detached and semi-detached houses, and this building was designed to fit in with them. At three storeys and nine suites, it is the size of a large house, not an apartment block. Most people who walk past would not know it is a condominium.

The building was registered in 1979 by Sherwood Properties Corporation, and I could not find other projects by that company. I also could not find the architect or any detailed history, and because suites here so rarely come up, there are few listings to draw on for detail.

That scarcity is part of the point. If you want a condo on a quiet street of houses in North Toronto, the choice is very small, and buildings like this one are most of it.

What a nine-suite corporation means for you

In a building of nine suites, you are one of nine owners. The board is likely to be three of your neighbours, and many decisions will be made at what amounts to a kitchen-table meeting. That can be efficient and friendly. It can also be difficult if owners disagree, because there is no large group to dilute the disagreement.

The bigger issue is money. When a roof, a boiler or a parking area needs replacing, the cost is split nine ways. A repair that would cost each owner a few hundred dollars in a 300-suite tower can cost each owner thousands here. That is why the reserve fund study and the reserve fund balance matter more in this building than in almost any other type.

Property management is listed as Affordable Property Management. Small buildings are sometimes self-managed or managed part-time, so ask what the management contract covers, who handles emergencies at night and how often the manager is on site.

Your lender may look harder at a building this small as well. Some lenders and insurers ask more questions about very small corporations, particularly about the reserve fund and how many suites are rented. Talk to your mortgage broker early, before you fall in love with a suite, so financing does not become the surprise at the end.

Layouts and what to look at

Condos.ca does not record a suite size range for this building, and there were no suites for sale or rent when I checked. With nine suites over three floors, there are about three suites per floor, so you can expect fairly generous apartments, likely with more than one exposure.

A building from 1979 will have had at least one round of updates in most suites, but condition varies. When a suite comes up, look at the windows, the heating and cooling arrangements, the electrical panel and the age of the kitchen and bathrooms. Ask whether the suite has its own furnace or air conditioning, since heat and hydro are not listed in the fee.

Confirm parking as well. Parking is included in the fee and visitor parking is listed, but in a small building that usually means surface or garage spaces with no room to spare. Ask which space comes with the suite and whether there is any locker or storage.

Sherwood Avenue and the park

The street’s biggest asset is Sherwood Park. According to blogTO, a large stone staircase off Sherwood Avenue leads down to the park’s off-leash area, and the park covers about 40 acres of old forest with roughly four kilometres of trail along Burke Brook. For a dog owner or anyone who walks every day, that is a rare thing to have on your street. It also gives a small building something no amount of amenity space could: a forest a few minutes from the front door.

The park connects to a wider ravine system, with Sunnybrook Park to the east and Blythwood Ravine and Lawrence Park to the west. The data panel on this page has more on nearby parks, transit and schools.

To the south, Eglinton Avenue is busier and taller than it was, with new building along the Crosstown corridor. Sherwood Avenue itself has stayed a street of houses, and the contrast with Eglinton is a big part of why people choose it.

Pricing: almost no data, so be careful

There were no suites for sale or rent here when I checked, and condos.ca does not publish an average price per square foot for the building. In a nine-suite building, a year can pass without a single sale.

That makes pricing hard. The fair value of a suite here has to be worked out from older sales in the building, from comparable small buildings and low-rise suites in North Toronto and from what a similar-sized house or semi on the street would cost. Be wary of any asking price that is not supported by a comparable.

For a buyer, the price is only half the decision. The other half is the fee and the reserve fund, because in a building this small they decide whether you will face a special cost later. If you want aggregate sale data, my building sold report is the place to start.

Building specifications

Amenities at 166 Sherwood Avenue Condos

The amenity list is short but useful: a rec room, a sauna, bike storage and barbecues permitted. In a building of nine suites, those spaces are shared by very few people, so you will rarely find them busy.

Jatin’s honest take on 166 Sherwood Avenue Condos

166 Sherwood Avenue Condos — frequently asked questions

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