Markland Wood Towns, 4345 Bloor St W: Family Space at the City’s Edge

Markland Wood Towns is where I point families who need three or four bedrooms in Toronto and keep running out of budget. These are 2004 condominium townhomes on Bloor Street West at the far western edge of the city, with an underground garage and a price per square foot that newer product nearby cannot touch. The fee is the number you need to understand before you fall in love. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Townhomes in a 1960s planned suburb

Markland Wood is the westernmost residential community on Bloor Street in Toronto, bordered by Etobicoke Creek and Mississauga, and largely wrapped by the Markland Wood Golf Club. It was developed from 1960 onward, after the land was bought from the Silverthorn family, and most of it is single-family houses finished by the late 1960s.

That is the context for this complex. Tyne Terrace Homes added 60 condominium townhomes on Bloor at Broadfield Drive in 2004, decades after the surrounding houses. It gives buyers a way into an established, golf-course neighbourhood at a price well below a detached house on the next street.

The trade-off is that this is a quiet, car-oriented part of the city. The neighbourhood has a local shopping centre and medical centre, but for most errands you will drive. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and nearby food.

Three- and four-bedroom layouts

Condos.ca lists sizes from about 1,264 to 1,506 square feet. The two homes listed for sale when I checked were a three-bedroom and a four-bedroom-plus-den, which tells you this complex is built for families rather than singles or couples.

At those sizes, a four-bedroom plan means modest rooms spread over several levels. Walk every floor, check where the laundry is, and think about stairs if you have young children or plan to stay into retirement. I could not confirm ceiling heights or the number of levels from a reliable source, so measure during a viewing.

Townhomes also change how you live day to day compared with an apartment. You get your own front door and no shared hallways or elevator waits, but you also carry groceries and laundry up and down stairs. For a family with school-age children that is usually a good trade; for someone planning to age in place, it may not be.

The complex has an underground parking garage, which is unusual for a townhouse development of this size and a real advantage in winter. Condos.ca does not list parking as a fee inclusion, so confirm how many spaces come with the home you want and whether they are deeded.

Why the fee is higher than most townhouse complexes

Across the two homes listed for sale, fees ran from about $1,260 to $1,341 a month. At the sizes listed, that is close to $1 per square foot, which is high for townhomes and closer to what you see in a condo apartment tower.

Some of that is explained by what the fee covers. Condos.ca lists water and cable TV inside the fee, along with common elements and insurance, and the complex has an underground garage to maintain, ventilate and eventually repair. Condos.ca also lists a security guard among the features; staffing is one of the most expensive lines in any condo budget, so ask what hours are covered and what it costs.

Heat and hydro are not in the fee, so you will pay your own utility bills on top. Before you write an offer, get the current budget and the reserve fund study, and look at how the fee has moved over the past five years. A steady increase is normal; a sharp jump is a question for the board.

What is changing nearby

Markland Wood does not change quickly, and most owners like it that way. The main development activity I found is at 240 Markland Drive, at Bloor and Markland, where an infill plan by Carttera would add about 234 units next to an existing 10-storey apartment building. The proposal went through an appeal that was settled in 2020 with the support of the local homeowners association, and a revised application followed.

For owners here, more households nearby can support the local shops along Bloor. It also means some construction on the Bloor corridor over the next few years. Ask current residents and check the City’s development applications map if construction timing matters to you.

About $503 a square foot for family space

Condos.ca puts Markland Wood Towns’ average at about $503 per square foot. That is one of the lower figures I see for condominium housing anywhere in Etobicoke, and it is the main reason to look here.

When I checked, the two homes listed for sale were asking from about $649,000 to $739,000,. Asking prices are not sale prices, so check the data panel above for what has actually traded.

To judge value fairly, take a typical fee of about $1,300, add your own heat and hydro, and compare the total monthly cost against a three-bedroom condo apartment elsewhere in Etobicoke. Even with a higher fee, three and four bedrooms with underground parking at this price per square foot is rare in Toronto.

The other comparison buyers make is against a freehold house in Markland Wood itself. A detached house on the surrounding streets gives you land and no fee, but it costs far more to buy, and you pay for every roof, driveway and lawn yourself. Here the corporation handles the exterior and grounds, and the fee is partly the price of not doing that work.

Building specifications

Amenities at Markland Wood Towns

There is no amenity building to speak of; what you pay for is a covered walk from your car in January and a staffed security presence. For families with young children and groceries to carry, the underground garage is worth more than a party room.

Jatin’s honest take on Markland Wood Towns

Markland Wood Towns — frequently asked questions

Looking at Humber Bay Shores, Mimico, the Queensway and central Etobicoke more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.