350 Gerrard St E Townhouses: 14 Self-Managed Homes in Cabbagetown

350 Gerrard Street East is one of the smallest condominiums you can buy into in Cabbagetown: 14 townhomes, run by the owners themselves, with parking underground. Homes here rarely come up, and when they do they offer something no tower nearby can, a three-level house with a yard at condo-level upkeep. The size of the corporation is both the charm and the risk. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One of Toronto’s early condo townhouse complexes

YCC-261 is a very low corporation number. Condominium ownership was still fairly new in Ontario in the 1970s, and York Condominium Corporation numbers in the low hundreds belong to some of the earliest projects in the old city. This one was registered in June 1976.

Cabbagetown at the time was in the early years of its revival. Historically, Cabbagetown was the working-class district south of Gerrard. Much of that area had been cleared for Regent Park in earlier decades, and the name had moved north to the Victorian streets above Gerrard, which young professionals had been buying and restoring since the 1960s. Small infill townhouse complexes like this one were part of that period, and several others in the area date from the same few years.

Fourteen homes is tiny for a condominium. You will know every owner, and decisions are made around a kitchen table rather than a boardroom. That can make the complex feel more like a co-operative street than a condominium.

What the homes are like

Listing records describe three-storey townhomes with three finished levels. One recent listing showed a two-bedroom-plus-den layout with an open living area and breakfast bar on the main floor, two bedrooms and a four-piece bath upstairs with skylights and arched windows, and a lower-level family room with a wood-burning fireplace, a second bath and laundry.

That same listing described a private, fenced yard with mature trees, overlooked by the main floor and the upstairs bedrooms. Outdoor space you can actually garden in is rare at this price point downtown, and it is one of the main reasons people buy here.

Homes in a 50-year-old complex vary a lot with renovations. Do not assume every home matches the best listing you have seen. Get the floor plan and measured size, and look at what has been updated: kitchen, baths, windows, furnace and air conditioning.

The garage, self-management and the heritage district

The complex has an underground parking garage, and listings describe a space with room for storage and a shared bike room. In a neighbourhood where street parking is limited and permit-based, a garage space is worth a lot.

It is also the most expensive thing the corporation owns. Garage roofs, membranes and drainage are where older townhouse corporations most often face large bills. With only 14 owners, any major repair is split very few ways. Ask when the garage was last repaired and what the reserve fund study says about it.

A self-managed corporation has no management company fee, which keeps costs down, but the owners do the work: collecting fees, paying bills, hiring contractors, arranging insurance and keeping records. In a 14-home complex that often falls on two or three people. Ask who they are, how long they have done it, and what happens when they move on.

The Cabbagetown South Heritage Conservation District runs north from Gerrard Street East, and its plan sets guidelines for exterior work such as windows, doors and additions on properties inside it, with wood windows preferred over vinyl on main facades. Ask whether this complex falls inside the district before you plan exterior changes, and budget for the possibility that window replacements need to follow heritage guidance.

None of this is a reason to walk away. It is a reason to ask more questions here than you would in a professionally run tower.

Gerrard and Sackville, day to day

Riverdale Farm, the Cabbagetown streets and the Parliament Street shops are a short walk north and west, and Regent Park’s park and aquatic centre are just south. The Don Valley trails and Riverdale Park are to the east, and Allan Gardens is to the west along Gerrard.

Gerrard is a busy street with a streetcar line, so expect some traffic noise on the street side. The panel on this page covers transit. Regent Park to the south is still being rebuilt, so expect construction nearby for some years.

Pricing a home that rarely sells

With 14 homes, there may be only one or two sales here in a year, and sometimes none. At the time of writing there was nothing for sale or for rent, and there is no reliable building-wide price per square foot.

That means you price each home on its own merits. I compare sales here over several years with other small townhouse complexes nearby, such as Owl House Lane on Wellesley and 41 Spruce Street, and with Cabbagetown semis and row houses, and then adjust for condition, parking and the yard. Because so few homes trade, a well-renovated home can set a new high for the complex, and a tired one can sell well below it; the average tells you little.

Ask what the fee includes. Townhouse corporations often leave heat, hydro and water heaters to each owner, so the fee covers the grounds, the garage, insurance and the reserve fund. A low fee is not automatically good news if the reserve is thin. For past sales in the complex, ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 350 Gerrard St East Townhouses

There are no shared amenities beyond the garage and bike room. What you get instead is your own front door, your own yard and a neighbourhood full of parks, with Riverdale Farm, Allan Gardens and the Don Valley all within a walk.

Jatin’s honest take on 350 Gerrard St East Townhouses

350 Gerrard St East Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.