70 Upper Canada Drive Townhouses: Oaken Gate Way in St. Andrew-Windfields

Upper Canada Drive is a street of large detached houses, which is exactly why a townhouse complex on it is worth a close look. Oaken Gate Way gives you a St. Andrew-Windfields address and a family-sized home for a fraction of what the houses around it trade for. The catch is a 1978 corporation, and everything that comes with nearly 50 years of age. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse address in a detached-house neighbourhood

St. Andrew-Windfields, east of Yonge Street and north of York Mills, is one of North York’s established detached-house neighbourhoods. Most of the streets around Upper Canada Drive are lined with large single-family homes on big lots. A condominium townhouse complex here is the exception, not the rule.

That is the appeal. Buyers who want this postal code, these streets and the quiet that comes with them, but cannot or do not want to carry a detached house, have very few other options. A 56-home complex with its homes on Upper Canada Drive and Oaken Gate Way is one of them.

It also changes who you compete with when you buy, and who you sell to later. Your buyer pool is often people already living in the area, downsizers leaving a house nearby, or families who want the location first and the house type second. That tends to make demand here steady rather than speculative.

A 1978 York Condominium Corporation

YCC-379 registered in March 1978. The York Condominium Corporation prefix places it in the series used for the former North York and surrounding area before the Metropolitan Toronto and Toronto Standard numbering took over. By the late 1970s, condo townhouses were no longer an experiment in Ontario, but they were still being built to that era’s standards.

I could not find a published developer or architect for the complex, and condos.ca does not list one. For a complex of this age, that is usual. The declaration in the status certificate names the original declarant if you want the record.

Condos.ca also does not publish a size range or floor plans for the complex. Ask for the plan for any home you are considering, and measure it yourself if the price depends on the square footage. Do not assume every home in the complex shares one layout.

Many homes in a complex this age have been renovated, some more than once. Work that touches exterior walls, windows, decks or shared plumbing usually needs the board’s written approval under the declaration. Ask the seller for any alteration agreements, and have your lawyer confirm the work was approved, so an old renovation does not become your problem.

Owning the outside along with 55 neighbours

In a standard condominium townhouse complex, the corporation maintains the exterior, the private lane and the grounds, and you look after the inside. That is the trade buyers here are making: you give up the freedom of a freehold house in exchange for not managing the roof, the paving or the snow yourself.

In a 1978 complex, those exterior items have already been through at least one replacement cycle, and some are likely due again. Roofs, windows, doors, garage doors, retaining walls, internal paving and the underground services all come out of a reserve fund shared by 56 owners. The reserve fund study tells you whether the money is there.

Older complexes sometimes split responsibilities in unusual ways, for windows, decks, fences or garage doors in particular. Have your lawyer read the declaration and tell your home inspector what the corporation maintains before the inspection, so you know which defects are yours to fix.

Daily life between Yonge and Bayview

The complex sits east of Yonge Street, close to the 401. That combination is the practical draw. You get quick highway access and the shops, restaurants and services along Yonge, while coming home to a quiet residential street rather than an arterial.

The neighbourhood is mostly houses and parks rather than shops, so expect to walk or drive to Yonge for errands. Transit, schools and walkability details are in the data panel beside this review.

The bigger change in this part of the city is happening on Yonge itself, where the corridor north to Sheppard keeps adding towers. On Upper Canada Drive, the low-rise character is protected by what is around it. That is good for a townhouse owner here: you are close to the growth without living in the middle of it.

Pricing and fees: what to compare

No homes were listed for sale or lease when I checked, so there is no current asking range to quote. With 56 homes, sales are occasional, and each one says as much about the condition of that home as about the market. A renovated home and an original one on the same lane can be far apart.

The honest comparison is not with detached houses on Upper Canada Drive, which are a different product at a very different price. Compare with condo townhouse sales in the surrounding neighbourhoods and with the recent sales in this complex, as aggregates. A building sold report gives you those figures for the complex.

Condos.ca does not list what the fee covers. Ask for the current budget and confirm whether water, exterior maintenance, snow clearing and landscaping are included. Then weigh the fee against the reserve fund study. In a complex this age, a fee that seems high can be the sign of a well-funded corporation rather than an expensive one.

Building specifications

Jatin’s honest take on 70 Upper Canada Drive Townhouses

70 Upper Canada Drive Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.