Davenport Village II, 21 Foundry Ave: 80 Larger Davlan Townhomes

Davenport Village II is the smaller, slightly later sibling on Foundry Avenue: 80 Davlan condominium townhomes, registered in 2007, with no home under about 1,000 square feet. In a neighbourhood now dominated by small tower suites, that size is what sets it apart, and it trades at a price per square foot that newer buildings nearby cannot touch. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The second phase on the old GE lands

Foundry Avenue takes its name from Canada Foundry Co., which began building a large factory complex here in the early 1900s. Canadian General Electric later ran it as the Davenport Works, then sold the site in 1981. The nearby 1903 foundry warehouse was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2008 and converted into the Foundry Lofts.

Once the land had been cleaned up, it was replanned as Davenport Village, a 7.68-hectare community of townhomes, lofts and towers. Davlan Construction Corporation built the first two condominium townhouse phases. Davenport Village I, with 132 homes on Turntable Crescent, came first in 2006. This phase followed a year later, and Davenport Village III, by the Brownstone Group of Companies, arrived in 2011.

Being part of a larger planned community has an advantage. Streets, parkland and services were designed together, and Davenport Village Park sits right on Foundry Avenue.

Bigger homes than most of the neighbourhood

Condos.ca records homes here from about 1,023 to 1,608 square feet. Compare that with the Upside Down condos on Lansdowne, where suites run from roughly 512 to 854 square feet, and you can see the gap. This is a home a family can grow into, not a first apartment.

Condos.ca lists the complex as two floors. Treat that as a database label and check the home you are viewing, including how many levels it has, whether there is a rooftop or ground-level outdoor space, and what the stated area includes.

At 80 homes, the corporation is small enough that each owner’s share of a large repair is noticeable, but large enough to have a working board and a professional manager. Condos.ca lists Duka Property Management, the same company it lists for Davenport Village I.

What the fee covers, and what it does not

The maintenance fee includes common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Having parking in the fee is worth real money in this part of the city, where tower suites often sell with no parking at all.

Heat and hydro are not listed, so they are likely on your own meters. Ask for recent bills, and ask whether the furnace, air conditioner or water heater is owned or rented. Rental contracts usually transfer to the buyer and add a monthly cost that never shows up in the fee.

Condos.ca lists a parking garage and visitor parking. Confirm where the home’s space is and whether a locker or storage area comes with it.

Building insurance in the fee covers the corporation’s policy, not your own. You will still need a unit owner’s policy for your contents, improvements and your share of the corporation’s deductible. Ask what that deductible is, because in townhouse complexes it can be large, and it sets how much coverage your own policy should carry.

The daily reality around Lansdowne and Dupont

Daily errands are much easier than they were when this phase was new. The Fuse development at Lansdowne and Dupont now has a Shoppers Drug Mart and a 24-hour grocery store at its base, and Earlscourt Park and the Joseph Piccininni Community Centre are a short walk north. Buses on Lansdowne connect to St. Clair West and to Bloor Street West. The data panel on this page shows the routes and walking times.

The rail corridors that once served the foundry still run close by, including the Barrie GO line. Visit at rush hour and listen from the bedrooms of the home you are considering. More construction is also planned on the remaining GE lands at 980 Lansdowne, which Urbaneer reported would include two towers of 29 and 36 storeys, so expect some disruption over the next few years.

How it compares with the other phases

Davenport Village II is the smallest of the two Davlan phases and has the largest minimum home size. Condos.ca lists Davenport Village I from about 912 square feet and Davenport Village III, the Brownstone phase, from about 855 to 1,145 square feet, so this phase is where you look first if you need the extra room.

Each phase is its own corporation, with its own fee, budget and reserve fund, even though condos.ca lists Duka Property Management for all three. Two homes a block apart can carry quite different future costs. Confirm the corporation number, TSCC-1901, on the listing and in the status certificate, and compare reserve fund studies if you are choosing between phases.

Price per square foot and the fee

Condos.ca put the building average at about $562 per square foot. For a townhome with parking included, that is well below what newer tower suites in the Junction Triangle and on Lansdowne tend to ask per square foot, though they are different products with different costs.

There were no homes listed for sale or lease here at the time of writing, which is common in an 80-home complex. Use the recorded sales in the data panel on this page, along with recent sales in Davenport Village I, as your comparables, and adjust for size, condition and exposure to the rail corridor.

My building sold report will pull recent sales for both Davenport Village phases so you can see how they compare.

Building specifications

Amenities at Davenport Village II

As with most townhouse complexes, there is no gym, pool or party room to pay for. What you get is parking in the fee, permission to barbecue, a pet-friendly policy according to condos.ca, and a park on your own street.

Jatin’s honest take on Davenport Village II

Davenport Village II — frequently asked questions

Looking at the Junction, Corso Italia, Hillcrest Village and west-central Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.