Kippendavie Townhomes: A Three-Home Beach Condo and What That Means

Kippendavie Townhomes is the smallest condominium I have written about: three townhomes, registered in 2015, at 17 and 19 Kippendavie Avenue in the Beach. It gives you a newer home on one of the Beach’s quieter side streets, a short walk from the lake. It also means you share every decision with exactly two other owners, and that changes how you should buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three homes, one corporation

TSCC-2445 has three units. That is very unusual. Most condominium corporations in Toronto have dozens or hundreds of owners, and even small Beach townhouse complexes usually have 10 or more. Here, a vote of the owners is a conversation among three households.

Condos.ca does not list a property manager, which suggests the corporation may be self-managed. In a corporation this small, that is common: the owners collect the fees, arrange the insurance, hire the snow removal and keep the books themselves. It can work very well when the owners get along and keep good records. It can be difficult when one owner stops paying or the others disagree on a repair.

I could not find the builder, the architect or any public planning history for the site. With only two street addresses and three units, it was most likely a small infill project, replacing a single lot with three newer homes.

What you are actually buying

Condos.ca lists two floors, which suggests two-storey townhomes. It does not publish suite sizes, and there was nothing listed when I checked, so I cannot describe the layouts from direct evidence. Ask for the floor plan, the registered unit boundaries and any survey of the specific home.

Unit boundaries matter more here than in a tower. In a three-unit condo, the declaration decides who owns and maintains the roof, the exterior walls, the windows, the yard and any parking pad. Some small corporations put almost everything in the common elements; others make each owner responsible for their own home’s exterior, which works more like a freehold. Read the declaration with your lawyer before you firm up.

Parking is a key question on a Beach side street. Condos.ca lists no parking amenities, so confirm whether the home has a garage, a driveway, a pad or nothing at all. On these streets, an assigned off-street space can add real value, and a home without one can be harder to resell.

Ten years old, three owners

A 2015 building is young. Most major systems should have years left in them, and that is a real advantage over the 1980s townhouse complexes nearby. The Ontario new home warranty coverage for a 2015 building has largely run out, so any defects now fall on the owners.

Even in a three-unit corporation, Ontario law requires a reserve fund and a reserve fund study. Ask to see both. A small corporation can be tempted to keep its fees low and its reserve thin, and when a roof or a set of windows comes due, three owners split the whole bill. I have no information about this corporation’s finances; that is exactly why you need the documents.

Ask for the corporation’s insurance policy as well. Small self-run corporations sometimes let coverage lapse or carry a high deductible, and that becomes your problem the first time there is a leak.

Finally, ask how the corporation handles its annual paperwork. Even a three-unit corporation has to hold meetings, keep minutes, file returns with the Condominium Authority of Ontario and produce a status certificate on request. If the owners have been informal about those duties, your lawyer will want them fixed before closing.

Life on Kippendavie

The address sits on the stretch of Kippendavie Avenue south of Queen Street East, near Woodbine Avenue, and condos.ca places it toward Lake Shore Boulevard. It is a residential street, so it is noticeably quieter than anything on Queen. Kew Gardens, Woodbine Beach, Ashbridges Bay and Woodbine Park are all close, and the Queen Street shops are a short walk north. The automatic panel on this page covers transit, schools and parks.

The street has a mix of housing. The Kew at 66 Kippendavie is a four-storey boutique condo from 2014, and there is an older row of condominium townhouses at 90 Kippendavie. Those are the obvious comparisons, and they show the range: a newer building with amenities and higher fees, and an older townhouse row with more space and older systems.

Expect the Beach’s usual trade-offs, too: summer crowds, tight street parking and a longer commute downtown than from Leslieville.

How to price a home here

There is no meaningful average price per square foot for a three-unit corporation, and nothing was listed when I checked. A home here may not come up for years, and when it does, there will be no recent sale in the same building to compare it with.

The comparison I would use is newer freehold townhouses and semis in the Beach, adjusted for the condo fee, the shared ownership and whatever responsibilities the declaration gives the corporation. Recent townhouse sales at 90 Kippendavie and condo sales at The Kew are useful context but not true comparables. My building sold report can pull the aggregate figures for the street.

Ask the seller for the monthly fee, what it covers and a year of utility bills. In a corporation this small, the fee may cover little more than insurance and the reserve, and owners pay their own utilities.

Building specifications

Jatin’s honest take on Kippendavie Townhomes

Kippendavie Townhomes — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.