Clairlea Gardens, 15-45 Strangford Lane: Low-Rise Condo Towns, Low Fees

Clairlea Gardens is for the buyer who wants out of the tower but cannot stretch to a freehold house. It is a low-rise community of 112 condo townhome suites on Strangford Lane, built in 2010 by Georgian Group, with fees that run well below most Scarborough high-rises. You pay your own heat, and there is no concierge, which is exactly why the fee is lower. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Condo townhomes, not a tower

Clairlea Gardens is laid out as low-rise blocks along a private lane, with four addresses from 15 to 45 Strangford Lane sharing one corporation. The format is what draws people: your own front door off the lane, no elevator wait, and neighbours you will recognise.

There is one discrepancy to flag. Condos.ca records the buildings as two storeys, but suite numbers in the 100s, 200s and 300s show up across the four addresses, which is typical of stacked townhomes where each suite sits on its own level or spans two. Ask the listing agent exactly which levels a suite occupies and how many stairs you climb to reach it.

That question matters more than it sounds. In stacked townhomes, an upper suite usually means a long internal staircase and often a rooftop or upper terrace, while a lower suite may mean fewer stairs and a patio. They suit very different buyers, and they sell to different buyers later.

Suite sizes and who they fit

Condos.ca’s size record here is thin, but the current listings sit in the 600s and 800s of square feet, as one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms. That is a compact townhome, closer in size to a mid-sized condo apartment than to a freehold town.

For a couple or a small family moving out of an apartment, the appeal is the feel of a house: a ground-level or private entry, no shared hallway and outdoor space you control. For a family that needs three bedrooms, check carefully, because the listings I can see do not go that large.

Measure your furniture against the plans. Stacked townhome layouts are often narrow and long, with the living space on one level and bedrooms on another, and stairs eat into usable square footage in a way a flat apartment does not.

A lower fee, and what it leaves out

Active listings here work out to about $0.64 per square foot in fees, with current fees in a narrow band of roughly $530 to $546 a month. That is meaningfully lower than the $0.77 to $0.87 I see across the high-rise and mid-rise buildings I have reviewed elsewhere in Scarborough.

The reason is in the inclusion list. The fee covers common elements, building insurance, parking and water, but not heat. Owners here pay their own heating and hydro, and there is no concierge or large amenity package to staff. When you compare the monthly cost with a tower, add a realistic utility bill back in.

The amenity list is short: visitor parking, an underground parking garage, a security system and BBQs permitted. A garage under a townhome community is a genuine plus in winter, but it is also one of the larger long-term repair items, so read what the reserve fund study says about the membrane and drainage.

A narrow fee band across the current listings is a good sign in one respect: it suggests the fee is allocated in a consistent way across similar suites. It does not tell you whether the fee is enough. Only the reserve fund study and the budget can answer that, and in a 2010 community entering its second decade, it is the question I would ask first.

Clairlea, and the change along Eglinton

Clairlea-Birchmount is a mature, mostly residential part of southwest Scarborough, with tree-lined residential streets and a small number of newer low-rise condo communities like this one. It is quieter than the centres to the north, and that is the point for most buyers here.

The bigger change is along Eglinton Avenue East to the north. Line 5 Eglinton began service on 8 February 2026, running about 19 kilometres east to Kennedy Station. The City’s Golden Mile Secondary Plan study covers about 113 hectares along Eglinton between Victoria Park Avenue and Birchmount Road, aimed at adding homes and mixed-use growth to what has long been a strip of plazas and big-box retail.

For an owner at Clairlea Gardens, that means more shops, services and transit options arriving over the next decade, with the construction disruption that comes with it. The data panel on this page shows the transit, schools and parks close to the lane itself.

Pricing: townhome format at a condo price

The three current listings ask $375,000 to $510,000. For a low-rise suite with its own entry and underground parking, that is an accessible entry point into townhome-style living in this part of Scarborough, where a freehold townhouse is a much larger purchase.

The comparison I would actually run is against a one- or two-bedroom in a nearby tower. You give up a concierge, an elevator and heat in the fee, and you gain a lower fee per square foot, fewer neighbours and a house-like layout. Which side wins depends on how you live.

For real traded numbers, use the 12-month data panel on this page. Sales in a 112-suite community are not frequent, so each one carries weight, and a careful look at comparable suites matters. My building sold report can help.

Building specifications

Amenities at Clairlea Gardens

There is no gym, pool or party room on the list, and that is a large part of why the fee is low. The amenities that matter here are underground parking, visitor parking for guests and the right to barbecue, which many tower buyers do not have.

Jatin’s honest take on Clairlea Gardens

Clairlea Gardens — 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.