Lake Shore Village, Long Branch: Dunpar’s 73 Georgian-Style Condo Towns

Lake Shore Village is what I show buyers who want a house-sized home in south Etobicoke without paying for a detached lot. It is a 2020 community of 73 Dunpar townhomes in Long Branch, three bedrooms each, with two-car garages and a traditional brick look that sets it apart from the flat-roofed stacked towns going up across the city. The trade-off is stairs and a monthly fee, and you should go in with both eyes open. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse community, not a stacked-town block

The first thing to understand about Lake Shore Village is the format. These are full townhouses, each with its own front door and its own garage, not stacked units where one owner lives above another. That puts it in a different category from most of the newer condo townhouse product in Toronto, where you often get two levels and a shared underground garage.

Dunpar styled the homes as English Georgian manor-style towns: brick, symmetry and a more traditional street face. Whether that look appeals is personal, but it does age better than a lot of the grey-panel modern product, and it fits in with the older housing stock of Long Branch more comfortably than a glass box would.

The community is small at 73 homes. That cuts both ways. A small corporation tends to have a calmer board and fewer moving parts, but every repair and every reserve contribution is split among fewer owners, so the quality of the reserve fund planning matters more than it would in a 400-unit tower.

Three bedrooms, two-car garages and 9’6″ main floors

Every home here is a three-bedroom plan, and Dunpar marketed them with two-car garages. In this part of Toronto that is the headline feature. Two parking spaces attached to your own home is something you almost never get in a condo, and it is a big part of why families and two-car households look here instead of at a condo apartment.

Ask how the garage is laid out before you fall for it. In townhouses of this type, a two-car garage can be side by side or tandem, one car behind the other, and the difference matters every single morning. Measure it too if you drive anything larger than a mid-size SUV.

Dunpar’s published standard finishes included 9’6″ ceilings on the main floor, engineered hardwood in the living areas and upper hallways, granite counters with a matching backsplash, undermount sinks and stainless steel appliances. That is a solid builder-grade package for 2020. Owners may have upgraded since, so judge each home on what is actually in it.

One point to resolve: sources disagree on size and height. Dunpar described the homes as three storeys of roughly 1,580 to 1,785 sq ft, while condos.ca lists four levels and 1,626 to 1,884 sq ft. The extra level may be a rooftop terrace access or a finished lower level, and the size gap may reflect different plans or measuring methods. Get the builder floor plan for the exact unit.

The stairs question

A three- or four-level townhouse is a vertical home. You park on the ground floor, live on the main floor, sleep a floor or two up, and carry groceries and laundry between them. Young families tend not to mind. Buyers in their sixties often love the space on the first visit and then change their mind on the third.

If you are buying for the long term, think honestly about how the stairs will feel in ten or fifteen years. If you are buying as a first family home, the layout is a real advantage: bedrooms are separated from the living space, and the garage level gives you room for bikes, strollers and storage that a condo apartment simply cannot match.

Living in Long Branch

Long Branch sits at the far south-west corner of Toronto, where Lake Shore Boulevard West meets the Mississauga border. The neighbourhood has a small-town main street feel along Lake Shore, with independent shops and restaurants, and the waterfront parks are close. Dunpar’s own marketing leaned on proximity to the lake and Humber Bay Park, plus Sherway Gardens and the Dixie outlet mall by car.

This is a pocket where the old housing stock is steadily being replaced or infilled, so expect construction on nearby streets from time to time. For commuters, the GO and TTC options, along with schools, parks and walkability for this address, are in the data panel on this page.

Pricing: compare it with freehold, not with condo apartments

There is only one home listed for sale here right now, so I am not quoting an asking price or fee for it. A single listing is not a market reading, and publishing it would point to one owner’s sale. If you are serious, ask me for the sold report for this community and I will walk you through the aggregates.

The right comparison for Lake Shore Village is not a condo apartment in Mimico or at Humber Bay. It is a freehold townhouse or semi in Long Branch and Alderwood. A freehold home carries no monthly fee but usually costs more, often needs more work, and rarely comes with two-car parking. A condo apartment costs less but gives you half the space and one parking spot at best.

Judge the fee against what it covers. In a townhouse condominium, it typically funds the common elements, insurance on the shared structure and the reserve fund. The specifics vary by declaration, so read the status certificate to see who pays for roofs, windows, the private roadway and snow clearing before you compare fees with any other community.

Building specifications

Amenities at Lake Shore Village

There is no gym, pool or party room here, and that is the point. The fee is not paying for shared facilities you may never use; it is paying for the grounds and the shared structure, while the space you actually live in, including your garage, is yours.

Jatin’s honest take on Lake Shore Village

Lake Shore Village — frequently asked questions

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