36 Birch, Summerhill: 27 Stacked Townhomes by North Drive and Wengle

36 Birch is a Summerhill townhome project that was sold on width, not height. The homes are more than 25 feet wide, average over 2,500 square feet, and are stacked two over two, so you choose between a garden at grade or a rooftop terrace above. Which half of the building you buy into is the most important decision you will make here. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two homes stacked, not one tall one

The building is four storeys, but no one lives on four floors. Each home is a two-storey unit. The lower homes, which North Drive called Garden Townhomes, have deep front porches or back gardens. The upper homes, called Sky Residences, sit above them with private rooftop terraces about 25 feet wide.

According to the planning application, 13 homes are on the first level and 14 are on the upper levels, which are reached by elevator. The mix was 18 two-bedroom and 9 three-bedroom homes. Early buyers could customize their plans and even combine units, so not every home matches the original floor plans.

That matters at resale. A combined or heavily customized home can be wonderful, but it is harder to compare with its neighbours, so ask for the as-built drawings and the list of changes before you rely on any floor plan.

This is the core trade-off. A garden home gives you grade-level access and a yard, but someone lives above you. A sky home gives you the roof, the light and the view, but your outdoor space is a terrace and you depend on the elevator for groceries and guests.

Wide plans and a heritage-minded exterior

Width is what makes these homes feel generous. At more than 25 feet across, they are wider than a typical new-build townhouse and many older semis, which means rooms that can be furnished like a house. Main levels were specified with 10-foot ceilings.

Richard Wengle’s exterior borrows from Summerhill’s older streets: red brick and light grey stone, front porches, dormers, pillars and a standing-seam metal roof. Michael London’s interiors were more contemporary, with ribbed glass, metal and bronze details and a light palette.

The site previously held low-rise commercial and institutional buildings, so the project replaced older non-residential uses rather than houses. Landscaping by Janet Rosenberg & Studio includes a rear landscaped lane, and the north-facing lower homes have patios and green space.

Parking, storage and the underground garage

The planning application described an underground garage of 58 parking spaces for the 27 homes, along with mechanical equipment and storage. That works out to roughly two spaces per home, which is rare in a condominium this close to Yonge and St. Clair and a major selling point for families.

Confirm exactly how many spaces and lockers come with the home you are buying, whether they are owned or exclusive-use, and whether EV charging is installed or permitted. A garage of this size is also a significant shared cost, so check how the reserve fund study treats the membrane and the ramp.

Property management is listed as Forest Hill Kipling. In a 27-home corporation, the quality of the manager and the board makes a big difference to how smoothly things run, so read recent board minutes before you commit.

Ask also how the rear landscaped lane and shared gardens are maintained and who pays for them. Shared landscaping is one of those line items that seems small until a mature planting scheme needs replacing, and in a building where landscape design was a selling point, owners will expect it kept up.

Living just west of Yonge in Summerhill

The site is on Birch Avenue just west of Yonge Street, and the developer described it as a park-lined cul-de-sac. That makes it unusually quiet for a home this close to Yonge, and it means very little through traffic past your front door. Summerhill’s food shops, cafes and restaurants are a short walk, and the old North Toronto railway station, now a landmark LCBO with its 1916 clock tower, anchors the neighbourhood just to the east of Yonge.

Yorkville is close enough for an evening out, and St. Clair is to the north. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and parks. For comparison shopping, the newer Charbonnel townhomes on Avenue Road and the older 95 Summerhill Avenue townhouses across Yonge are the closest alternatives in form.

Pricing: priced against Summerhill houses

There were no homes listed for sale or for rent when I checked. North Drive launched the project in fall 2019 with prices starting at about $3.25 million, which tells you the market it was built for: buyers who might otherwise purchase a detached or semi-detached house in Summerhill or Moore Park.

With 27 homes and a 2022 registration, the resale record is thin. To value one, I would compare it with recent Summerhill and South Rosedale house sales of similar size, then adjust for the newer construction, the elevator access, the parking and the condominium fee. Garden homes and sky homes should be valued separately; buyers tend to have strong preferences one way or the other.

Sky homes with large rooftop terraces and the best outlooks will usually command a premium, but garden homes with genuine backyards are scarce in a condominium, and some buyers, especially those with dogs or young children, will pay more for grade-level access. Look at both before you form a view on value.

Ask for the current fee schedule and what it includes, since I did not find a published list. My building sold report can pull what has actually traded here and nearby, or book a call to talk it through.

Building specifications

Amenities at 36 Birch

There is no shared amenity floor here, and that is by design. Each home’s outdoor space, whether a garden or a rooftop terrace, is the amenity, and the underground garage is the practical luxury.

Jatin’s honest take on 36 Birch

36 Birch — frequently asked questions

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