81 Brookmill Townhouses: 60 Homes Near Bridlewood Mall, Since 1974

81 Brookmill Townhouses is a mid-sized 1970s complex I describe to buyers as a starter house with a shared roof budget. It has 60 townhouses registered in early 1974, garages, visitor parking and permission to barbecue, a short distance from Bridlewood Mall at Finch and Warden. Like every complex of this age, the price you pay is only half the decision; the corporation’s finances are the other half. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Sixty townhouses from the first condo wave

YCC-124 was registered in February 1974, seven years after Ontario legalized condominium ownership in 1967. Scarborough’s early condominiums were mostly townhouse complexes like this one, built as an affordable way into home ownership for young families in what were then new suburbs.

Sixty units puts this complex in the middle of the range. It is big enough that a roofing or paving project is not shared by only a handful of owners, and small enough that the board is made up of neighbours you will recognise. In my experience that middle size can work well, provided the reserve fund has been kept up.

Condos.ca does not list a developer, and I could not confirm one from public records. Affable Property Management is listed as manager. Ask how long they have managed the corporation and how maintenance requests and complaints are tracked.

Now more than 50 years old, the complex has already replaced its original roofs and most likely its windows, and some components are on their second or third cycle. Read the reserve fund study to see when roofs, windows, doors, cladding, fencing, paving and drainage come due next, and whether the fund is on track to pay for them.

Inside the home, ask what the owner is responsible for under the declaration, typically the furnace, air conditioner and water heater, and how old each one is. Some homes of this era used aluminum branch wiring, which insurers ask about, so find out what this unit has.

Garages, barbecues and your own front door

Condos.ca lists a parking garage, visitor parking and BBQs as permitted. Those three items describe the appeal of a complex like this: you park at home, you can cook outside, and you walk in through your own door rather than a lobby and corridor.

Confirm what the garage listing means for the unit you are looking at. In 1970s complexes it often means a garage attached to each home, which is part of your unit, but some complexes have shared structures that the corporation must maintain and eventually rebuild. The difference matters to both your daily life and the reserve fund.

Expect townhouse layouts with stairs, a kitchen and living area on one level and bedrooms above. Many owners in complexes of this age have finished their lower levels, so ask whether any finishing was done with permits and whether it changed anything the corporation is responsible for.

The Bridlewood side of L’Amoreaux

Brookmill Boulevard is in the residential streets near Finch Avenue East and Warden Avenue. For daily shopping, most owners use Bridlewood Mall at 2900 Warden, a neighbourhood mall opened in 1975 whose anchors include a Metro, a Shoppers Drug Mart, a Dollarama and an Asian supermarket. It is the kind of mall where you can get groceries, a prescription and a haircut in one stop.

The mall lands have drawn redevelopment interest for years without much being built. The City approved a redevelopment in 2010 that has not gone ahead, an 11-storey condo at the north end was shelved, and a 12-storey building with about 242 units was proposed in 2016 for the southwest corner at Finch and Bridletowne Circle. If something does proceed, expect more retail and new neighbours along Finch, not change on the low-rise streets.

The data panel on this page has the details on transit, schools and parks. Finch and Warden are both major bus corridors.

Who buys at Brookmill

Most of the buyers I see for complexes like this are first-time buyers stepping up from renting, families moving out of a one- or two-bedroom condo apartment, and households who want to stay in L’Amoreaux but cannot stretch to a detached house. The garage and the ability to barbecue are often what tip the decision.

Investors look at older Scarborough townhouses too, since family-sized rentals are in short supply. If you are buying to live in, ask the manager roughly what share of units are rented. That mix shapes who serves on the board, how quickly repairs are approved and how the common areas are kept.

What 81 Brookmill Townhouses costs

There were no active listings when I checked condos.ca, and it does not publish an average price per square foot or a fee range for this corporation. With 60 units, a handful of homes trade each year. The data panel on this page shows recent sales in aggregate.

When I price a unit here, I look at recent sales in this complex and in similar 1970s condo townhouses around Finch and Warden, then adjust for condition. Updated kitchens, bathrooms, windows and mechanical systems can explain a large gap between two homes with the same floor plan.

Condos.ca does not list fee inclusions. Heat and hydro are usually on the owner in townhouse complexes, and water varies, so confirm with the status certificate before comparing the fee with any other complex.

For sellers, a clear record of what has been updated, with dates and receipts, is worth preparing before you list. In a 1974 complex, buyers assume the worst about anything they cannot see, and documented replacements of the furnace, windows or roof-related items let them pay for work already done instead of discounting for it.

Building specifications

Amenities at 81 Brookmill Townhouses

There is no gym, pool or party room, so your fee is not paying to run shared facilities. Parking at home, visitor spaces and the right to barbecue are the amenities that actually shape daily life in a townhouse complex.

Jatin’s honest take on 81 Brookmill Townhouses

81 Brookmill Townhouses — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.