Tam O’Shanter Casitas, 188 Bonis Ave: Tridel Townhouses with a Pool

Tam O’Shanter Casitas is what I show buyers who want a townhouse but do not want to shovel a driveway or replace a roof on their own. It is a 1996 Tridel complex of 144 suites at 188 Bonis Avenue, laid out as multi-level homes over an underground garage, with an indoor pool most townhouse complexes would never carry. The catch is a fee that reflects all of that. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A townhouse complex built like a condo building

Casitas sits between the towers on the north side of Bonis Avenue, and it is the odd one out. Instead of a single elevator tower, it is a low-rise complex of large multi-level suites. Listing descriptions consistently describe the homes as Tridel-built three-storey condo townhouses, with elevator access down to a shared underground garage.

Condos.ca records the complex as two floors, which does not match those three-storey descriptions. The likely explanation is that the record counts above-grade building levels rather than the levels inside each home, but I could not confirm it. Walk the actual suite and ask which floors it covers before you rely on a floor plan.

The practical result is a hybrid. You get stairs and the separate floors of a house, a parking space under cover, and someone else responsible for the roof, the windows and the grounds. That combination is rare in Scarborough, where most townhouse condos park you on a surface lot.

Big homes, from about 1,183 square feet up

Condos.ca puts suites at roughly 1,183 to 2,358 square feet. Those are house numbers. Listing descriptions I have seen put living, dining and the kitchen on one level with bedrooms above, and some add a recreation room on its own level.

That makes Casitas a natural fit for families who need three or four bedrooms and for downsizers who want to bring their furniture with them. It is a poor fit for anyone who cannot manage stairs every day, because the home itself is not single-level even if the garage has an elevator.

Tridel built the complex, and it was one of the developer’s projects in a series of Bonis Avenue buildings in the 1990s. Tridel’s name still helps at resale in this part of Scarborough, but at about 30 years old, how the corporation has maintained the place matters far more than who built it.

An indoor pool in a townhouse complex

The amenity list is the surprise. Condos.ca lists an indoor pool, a sauna, a security guard, a security system, an enter-phone system and underground parking, and listings add an exercise room and a recreation room. Townhouse complexes almost never carry a pool, because the cost is shared among relatively few owners.

That is the trade-off to understand. With 144 suites, each owner carries a bigger share of pool, security and garage costs than in a 300-suite tower. That is a large part of why monthly fees here are high in absolute terms, even before you count the size of the homes.

Condos.ca also flags a pet restriction. I have not seen the wording, so if you have a large dog, read the rules in the status certificate before you make an offer.

Ask on your tour how the pool is used and when it was last renovated. A well-used, well-kept pool is a selling point at resale; a tired one is a capital cost waiting in the reserve fund study.

Living on Bonis Avenue

Day to day, the location is about convenience. A 2012 City of Toronto report describes Agincourt Mall directly south across Bonis, with a No Frills, a Walmart, an LCBO, a bank and a medical office building, and the Agincourt Library just to the west. The City’s Tam O’Shanter Golf Course, the 18-hole municipal course the complex is named for, is part of the same green pocket.

Change is coming to the south. The mall’s owner, North American Development Group, has zoning approved in 2022 for a phased redevelopment of about ten towers and more than 4,300 homes, according to blogTO, and the vacant south side of Bonis was approved in 2012 for two towers of 20 and 22 storeys plus stacked townhouses. A low-rise complex will feel that construction more than a tower will, so look at which way your suite faces.

Once the redevelopment is built out, it is planned to bring new parks, shops and a relocated grocery store within walking distance. For a family planning to stay ten years, the disruption comes first and the benefit later.

What Tam O’Shanter Casitas costs

Condos.ca puts the average at about $423 per square foot, the lowest of the Bonis Avenue buildings I track, a little below Tam O’Shanter Highlands at about $444 and The Greens at Tam O’Shanter II at about $443. Big homes always trade for less per foot, so read that as a size effect, not a bargain.

When I checked, only one suite was for sale and none for lease, so there is no range of asking prices I can responsibly quote. The data panel on this page has the aggregate sales and leases. Expect a monthly fee well above what a tower suite of half the size pays, and remember that heat and hydro are not listed in it.

The fair comparison is a freehold townhouse nearby. Add up what a freehold owner spends on roof, windows, snow removal and a car parked outside, then compare that with the fee here. For many buyers the condo route comes out closer than the fee alone suggests.

Building specifications

Amenities at Tam O’Shanter Casitas

An indoor pool and staffed security are what set this complex apart from almost every townhouse condo in Scarborough. If you will use the pool, it is good value; if you will not, you are still paying your share of it.

Jatin’s honest take on Tam O’Shanter Casitas

Tam O’Shanter Casitas — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.