Merton Street Townhomes, 180 Merton St: 12 Homes on a Rezoned Site

Merton Street Townhomes is the kind of building I usually love to show: 12 Georgian-style condo townhomes behind a gate, on a street that is otherwise all mid-rise and high-rise. But this one comes with a question every buyer has to answer before anything else, because 180 Merton is part of a high-rise application that has reached a City decision report. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Start with the redevelopment application

I am putting this first because it changes everything else on this page. The City of Toronto has a combined Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment for 170 and 180 Merton Street, item TE27.12 at Toronto and East York Community Council, with a decision report recommending approval of a mixed-use development of about 531 dwelling units.

UrbanToronto tracks the same site as a 45-storey, roughly 147-metre tower by Graywood, designed by Turner Fleischer. The public material I found does not spell out exactly what happens to the existing townhomes, and a letter to Community Council says the new building integrates an existing heritage building on the site.

Condos.ca showed no townhomes for sale or rent here when I checked. I cannot tell you from public sources whether the condominium corporation has signed an agreement to sell, so that is the first thing to confirm. Ask for the status certificate, recent board and owner meeting minutes, and any notice of a proposed sale before you consider an offer.

What the enclave itself is

Set the application aside and the building is distinctive. It is a private, gated cluster of only 12 townhomes built in 2001 in a Georgian-inspired style, a formal look that is very different from the glass towers going up around it.

The builder was Grand Metropolitan Homes, and the condominium registered as MTCC-1390 on 28 August 2001. Condos.ca lists a parking garage, a security system and BBQ use among its features. I could not find suite sizes, ceiling heights or an architect’s name, so treat any listing claims on those points as something to verify against the floor plans.

Condo townhomes in midtown are rare. Most buyers who want stairs, a front door and a small outdoor space here end up choosing between a freehold house well over their budget and a condo apartment. Small enclaves like this fill that gap, which is why they tend to hold value.

Fees, management and a small owner group

The fee covers common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not listed as included, which is normal for townhomes, where each home typically has its own furnace and meter. Budget for those on top of the monthly fee.

Summa Properties is listed as the manager. With just 12 owners, every decision, from repairs to a sale proposal, rests on a very small group. That can be efficient, but it also means one large repair is split 12 ways. The reserve fund study tells you how well that has been planned.

Townhome condos also split responsibility differently from apartment towers. The declaration decides who pays for roofs, windows, front doors, patios and the systems inside each home, and the answer is not the same in every corporation. Read that section before you assume the fee covers the outside of your home.

Insurance is the other thing to look at. The corporation’s policy covers the common elements and the standard unit, but you will want your own policy for improvements and contents, and in a small corporation a high deductible on a shared claim can fall partly on you.

At 25 years old, the roofs, windows, the garage membrane and the shared driveway or gate systems are all at ages where replacement planning should be visible in the reserve fund. If the corporation is considering a sale, ask whether planned work has been deferred.

Merton Street around you

Merton runs east from Yonge just north of Mount Pleasant Cemetery, with the Davisville Village shops and restaurants on Yonge at the west end. The cemetery and the Kay Gardner Beltline trail give the street unusual access to green space for midtown. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and the Walk Score.

The street has been transformed since 2001. What were low office buildings and houses are now condos and rentals, and more applications keep coming. This enclave is one of the last low-rise pieces of that strip, and the application on its own address is a direct example of the pressure on every remaining low site nearby.

Pricing: no active listings and a land question

There were no active listings here when I checked, and with only 12 homes, sales are rare. I cannot give you a responsible asking range or a per-square-foot figure for this building, so I will not invent one.

In normal conditions, a midtown condo townhome is priced against two things: nearby freehold houses, and large condo apartments on a per-square-foot basis. Here there is a third factor. If the land is under contract or likely to be, a townhome’s value may be tied to the terms of a site sale rather than the resale market, and you need the documents to understand that.

If you are weighing a purchase, I would start with the status certificate and minutes, then look at recent sold data on the panel on this page. If you want a broader read, ask me for a building sold report covering condo townhomes across midtown.

Building specifications

Amenities at Merton Street Townhomes

There is no shared gym or party room; the appeal is privacy, a gate and a townhome format with parking. For everything else, residents rely on Yonge Street, the cemetery and the Beltline.

Jatin’s honest take on Merton Street Townhomes

Merton Street Townhomes — frequently asked questions

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