Lexington on the Green, Weston: Stacked Towns Around a Private Park

Lexington on the Green is the Weston complex I show buyers who want more space than a tower suite but are not ready to take on a freehold house. It is a 2008 community of three-storey stacked townhouses set around a central green, with its own clubhouse and parking underground. It is also one of the cheaper ways to buy 1,000-plus square feet in this part of the city, and I will explain what that price is telling you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A courtyard community, not a condo tower

The layout is the whole point here. Instead of one building with a lobby and elevators, Lexington on the Green is a cluster of three-storey stacked townhouse blocks arranged around a shared green. When The Globe and Mail covered the launch in 2004, the comparison it reached for was the old Melrose Place courtyard, and that is a fair picture of how the site works.

The marketing at the time promised a park in the middle with a gazebo and a playground, with many suites facing onto it. I would walk the grounds before you get attached to a particular unit, because a suite that looks onto the green and one that backs onto a laneway or a neighbouring street are very different places to live, even at the same size.

Condos.ca counts 153 suites. The launch coverage said 155. A difference of two is small, but it is worth knowing that the published numbers do not line up exactly, so rely on the corporation’s own documents for anything that matters to you, such as voting or fee shares.

One level or two: how the suites are put together

Stacked townhouses mean one home sits on top of another. At launch, the sales team described ground-floor one- and two-bedroom suites on a single level, with the option to buy the level above as well for more space. In plain terms, some homes here are one-floor flats with a front door at grade, and others are two-level homes you reach by stairs.

The size data is where sources disagree. Launch materials quoted about 633 to 1,252 square feet, with the smallest plan a one-bedroom and the largest a two-bedroom-plus-den. Condos.ca records a range of about 1,006 to 1,467 square feet. That may reflect which suites have actually traded, or the combined two-level homes, but I could not confirm the reason. Get the floor plan for the suite you are looking at and do not rely on either range.

Stairs are the trade-off. If you are buying an upper two-level suite, you are climbing to your front door and then again inside, with no elevator. That suits a young family or a couple who want separation between living and sleeping space. It does not suit someone planning to age in place.

Club Lexington and the underground garage

The other feature that sets this complex apart from most townhouse sites is a separate clubhouse. At launch it was marketed as Club Lexington, with exercise space, a theatre room, a meeting room, a lounge, a party room and a courtyard café-style area. Condos.ca’s current amenity tags list a party room, media room and meeting room, which lines up with that original plan.

Parking is underground and is listed as part of the maintenance fee. That is a real advantage over older townhouse complexes where you park on a surface pad and clear your own car all winter. Condos.ca also tags visitor parking and a security guard.

A clubhouse is a shared cost. It needs heating, cleaning, insurance and eventually new equipment and finishes, all paid for by the owners. Before you buy, ask what is still open and in use, and how the board budgets for it.

Living a few blocks off Weston Road

The complex sits on Gibson Avenue and Pine Street, a few blocks east of the Weston Road main street. Weston’s shopping strip runs along Weston Road between Church Street and Wilby Crescent, with older brick storefronts and day-to-day services. The Humber River valley is on the other side of Weston Road, and the trail system there is one of the better things about living in this part of the city.

Weston also has the UP Express and GO stop at Weston station, which is the reason many commuters look here in the first place. The panel beside this review shows the exact transit details, so I will leave the distances to it.

The neighbourhood is changing. A pre-construction tracker I checked counts around 15 proposed or planned projects in Weston, most of them condominium towers. That will bring new shops and more people to the area, and it will also bring years of construction to Weston Road. For a low-rise owner here, the new towers are competition for rental tenants, not competition for the kind of home you own.

What the price per square foot is telling you

Condos.ca puts the average here at about $478 per square foot. Applied to its size range of roughly 1,006 to 1,467 square feet, that works out to something like $480,000 to $700,000, though the right number for any one suite depends on its level, its view of the green and its condition.

That is a low figure for Toronto, and it reflects a few things: Weston pricing, a 2008 building, stairs instead of elevators, and stacked rather than freehold ownership. It is not a sign that anything is wrong, but it does mean the resale buyer pool is smaller than it is for a downtown one-bedroom.

There were no active listings in the data I had, so I cannot give you a current asking range. Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, building insurance and parking. Heat, hydro and water are not on that list, so budget for them on top, and ask for the current fee schedule and a status certificate before you firm up.

Building specifications

Amenities at Lexington on the Green

The clubhouse and the central green do the work a lobby and amenity floor would do in a tower: a place for a party, a meeting or a movie without leaving the property. For families, the shared green is the bigger draw.

Jatin’s honest take on Lexington on the Green

Lexington on the Green — 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.