Centennial Hill, 100 Mornelle Crt: Townhouse Space With an Indoor Pool

Centennial Hill is one of the few places in Scarborough where you can get a three-bedroom, two-storey home and an indoor pool for well under half a million dollars. It is a large 1977 complex of 208 suites on Mornelle Court, a short walk from the University of Toronto Scarborough. The fee is higher than at a plain townhouse complex, and it is worth understanding why before you write it off. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two-storey homes in a complex with a pool

Condos.ca classes Centennial Hill as a mid-rise, but the homes themselves read like townhouses. Recent listings describe two-storey suites with their own front doors, patios or balconies, and underground parking. Condos.ca records two floors across the complex, and the four-digit suite numbers starting with 1 and 2 reflect the levels.

What sets it apart from the townhouse complexes along Military Trail and Ellesmere is the amenity package. Condos.ca lists an indoor pool, a sauna, a gym, a recreation room and a security system. In a 1970s Scarborough complex, an indoor pool is rare, and it is the main reason some buyers choose this address over a cheaper townhouse nearby.

At 208 suites it is also a large corporation, which spreads the cost of those amenities and of big repairs across many owners. That scale is the reason a pool is affordable here at all.

What the floor plans look like

A recent listing described a three-bedroom, two-bathroom plan of roughly 1,200 to 1,399 square feet. The main level had a combined living and dining room with a walkout to the patio, a kitchen with a breakfast area and one bedroom, and the upper level had the primary bedroom with a three-piece ensuite, a second bedroom and the laundry room.

That is a very livable layout: a main-floor bedroom suits an older parent or a home office, and a second-floor laundry is a convenience many newer condos don’t offer. Active listings when I checked included both three-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-den plans.

Heating and cooling deserve a close look. The home I reviewed used an electric heat pump and wall-mounted air conditioning, and the heat pump was a rental. Ask what system any specific suite has, whether equipment is owned or rented, and what the buyout or monthly rental cost is, because rentals transfer with the home.

Suite numbering and orientation matter in a complex this size. Ask which way the suite faces, whether it has a patio at grade or a balcony above, and how far it is from the entrance to the underground garage and the pool. Those details shape daily life more than the floor plan does.

Why the fee is higher than a plain townhouse

Recent listings put the fee here at roughly $781 to $795 a month. On a 1,200 to 1,399 square foot home that works out to around 56 to 66 cents a square foot, which is not high for a condo apartment but is more than most Scarborough townhouse complexes charge.

Recent listings reported that the fee covers building insurance, common elements, cable, parking and water. Heat and hydro were not on that list, so budget for your own electricity bill, which matters with electric heating. Condos.ca does not publish an inclusion list, so confirm it in the status certificate.

The extra cost over a plain townhouse buys the pool, sauna, gym, recreation room and underground garage, and the staff and equipment to run them. If you would use those, the fee is fair. If you would not, a no-amenity townhouse on Military Trail may suit you better.

Living next to UTSC and the Pan Am Centre

Mornelle Court sits in the campus district of Scarborough. The University of Toronto Scarborough, Centennial College’s Morningside campus and the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at 875 Morningside Avenue are all close by, and listings describe them as within walking distance. The Pan Am Centre’s two Olympic-sized pools and fitness area are open to the community.

Highway 401 is a short drive, and the Centenary hospital is nearby. The planned Eglinton East LRT, which the City of Toronto describes as running from Kennedy Station to Malvern Town Centre via UTSC, would add rapid transit near the campus, but it is still at the planning stage with no opening date.

The campus location brings a rental market, and that cuts both ways. It supports demand from investors and student families, but it can also mean more turnover in a complex. Ask the manager what share of suites are leased and what the rules say about rentals.

Prices and fees right now

There were five homes for sale here when I checked, with asking prices from $410,000 to $475,000, and three for rent. Assuming a two-storey home of 1,200 to 1,399 square feet, that is roughly $300 to $400 a square foot, well below what condo apartments in Scarborough typically ask.

Five listings at once in a 208-suite complex is a healthy amount of choice, and it gives you room to negotiate. Look closely at what separates the top of that range from the bottom: renovated kitchens and bathrooms, owned versus rented heating equipment, and whether a suite has a patio or a balcony.

Fees across those listings sat between $781 and $795 a month. Use the sold data in the panel above to see where homes have actually traded, and compare the fee and its inclusions against the amenity-free complexes nearby.

One more point on value: a fee in the high $700s looks expensive next to a $400 townhouse fee, but it covers amenities you would otherwise pay for separately. A family that would buy a pool or gym membership anyway should compare the two complexes on total monthly cost, not on the fee alone.

Building specifications

Amenities at Centennial Hill Condominiums

An indoor pool, sauna and gym in a townhouse-style complex is genuinely unusual for Scarborough, and it is what the fee pays for. For families with children, a pool you can walk to in January is worth more than most buyers expect.

Jatin’s honest take on Centennial Hill Condominiums

Centennial Hill Condominiums — frequently asked questions

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