Jane Parker Square I, Connolly St: A 50-Home Low-Rise, Parking Included

Jane Parker Square I is one of those small Toronto condominiums most buyers have never heard of, because it barely trades. Fifty low-rise condo homes on a short street off Old Weston Road, built in 2003, with ground-level living and a fee that covers parking. If you want the feel of a townhouse without buying freehold in the west end, it deserves a look. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small low-rise, not a tower

The first thing to understand about Jane Parker Square I is the format. This is not a high-rise with a lobby and elevators. It is a 50-home low-rise condominium, the kind of project built across the west end around the turn of the century, where you come home to your own door rather than a concierge desk.

There is a second phase. Jane Parker Square II sits around the corner on Wiltshire Avenue and is registered as a separate condominium corporation. That matters because the two phases have their own boards, budgets and reserve funds. A unit in one phase tells you very little about the finances of the other, so compare like with like.

With only 50 homes sharing the costs, the corporation has a small fee base. That is normal for a project like this, but it means a single large repair, such as a roof replacement or a pavement and waterproofing job, is divided among fewer owners than it would be in a tower.

Layouts and the space you actually get

Recorded suite sizes run from roughly 660 to 1,242 square feet. The top of that range is family-sized space by Toronto condo standards, and in a low-rise format it usually comes with fewer shared walls and no elevator wait.

I have not been able to confirm the exact plan mix, ceiling heights or how many levels each home spans, and I won’t guess. When you tour, count the stairs, check whether the bedrooms are on one floor, and ask where the laundry sits. Those details decide whether a low-rise home works for a young family, a downsizer or someone who works from home.

What owning here looks like day to day

The fee covers common elements, building insurance and parking. It does not list heat, hydro or water, so expect those on your own accounts. That structure is typical of low-rise condo homes, where each unit has its own systems, and it means your total monthly cost is the fee plus utilities, not the fee alone.

Condos.ca lists pets as permitted, along with barbecues, a security system and an enter-phone. As always, the declaration and rules govern. Read them before you buy if you have a large dog or plan to barbecue on a terrace, because low-rise corporations often have specific rules on both.

The location is Weston-Pellam Park, a pocket of the old City of Toronto north of the Junction, close to Old Weston Road. It is a working, mixed neighbourhood of older houses, low-rise infill and light industry rather than a polished condo strip, and it has changed steadily over the past two decades.

For daily life, that means you are buying into a residential street rather than a mixed-use podium. Groceries, transit and schools are shown in the panel on this page; I would walk the route you will use every day, at night as well as in daylight, before deciding.

How a 50-home corporation behaves

Small condominiums run differently from towers. The board is usually made up of a few owners who know each other, decisions can move quickly, and a good manager can keep costs tight. The flip side is that there is less money in the pot, fewer volunteers to sit on the board, and every owner feels a fee increase or an assessment directly.

Low-rise condo homes also raise a question tower buyers rarely face: who is responsible for what. In many corporations of this type, items such as windows, doors, decks or the space in front of your unit are exclusive-use common elements, meaning the corporation owns them but you have the use of them. Who pays to repair them is set out in the declaration. Know that split before you budget for a renovation.

Finally, a building that rarely trades often has long-term owners, and that tends to show in the upkeep. Use the tour to judge it: the condition of the shared driveway, the landscaping and the exterior finishes will tell you a lot about how the corporation has been run.

Pricing: thin data, so be careful

There were no active listings at Jane Parker Square I when I prepared this review, and in a 50-home building that is common. Turnover is low, which is good for stability but makes it hard to price a unit from this building’s own sales alone.

When there are only a handful of trades a year, I widen the comparison set to similar low-rise condo homes nearby, including Jane Parker Square II, and adjust for size, parking and condition. The sales panel on this page shows what has actually traded here. If you want the detail behind those numbers before you make an offer, my building sold report is the place to start.

Building specifications

Amenities at Jane Parker Square I

There is no gym, pool or party room here, and that is a feature as much as a limitation: you are not paying to run amenities you might never use. The trade-off is that the monthly fee buys upkeep of the shared grounds and the building envelope, not lifestyle extras.

Jatin’s honest take on Jane Parker Square I

Jane Parker Square I — frequently asked questions

Looking at Downsview, Weston, York University Heights, Rexdale and northwest Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.