Tam O’Shanter Highlands, 228 Bonis Ave: Big Suites, Small Price per Foot

Tam O’Shanter Highlands is the building I bring up when a family tells me they want house-sized rooms in a condo without paying house prices. This 25-storey tower at 228 Bonis Avenue has no small suites at all: condos.ca starts its range at about 1,049 square feet. What you trade for that space is a 1997 building with fees that do not cover your heat. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A tower built for people leaving houses

The suite range is the whole story here. With a floor of about 1,049 square feet and a ceiling of about 2,572, Highlands was planned in the late 1990s for buyers moving out of Scarborough and North York bungalows who did not want to give up a dining room. You will not find a 500-square-foot investor one-bedroom in this building.

That has two effects I see in practice. Owners tend to stay a long time, so the lobby feels settled rather than transient. And because large suites always trade for less per square foot than small ones, the building average looks cheap next to newer towers. It is not a discount; it is arithmetic.

If you are comparing this with a new two-bedroom in Agincourt, measure rooms, not the listing total. Older plans like these usually give more to bedrooms and separate dining space and less to the open kitchen and living area that new buildings favour.

One piece of a planned Bonis Avenue enclave

Highlands is not a stand-alone tower. The north side of Bonis Avenue was built out through the 1990s as a five-phase residential development, according to City of Toronto planning documents, and a 2012 City report describes it as three condominium apartment buildings of 16 to 24 storeys plus two- to four-storey townhouses, with a 24-storey building on the Kennedy corner.

Condos.ca records 25 floors here, so the City’s description and the listing data do not line up exactly; floor counts often differ depending on whether the mezzanine and penthouse levels are numbered. Neighbours on the same street include The Greens at Tam O’Shanter at 168 Bonis, The Greens at Tam O’Shanter II at 138 Bonis and the Tam O’Shanter Casitas townhouse-style complex at 188 Bonis.

The names come from the City’s Tam O’Shanter Golf Course, an 18-hole, par-72 municipal course in the immediate area. For a buyer that means open green space nearby that no developer is going to build on, which is not something you can say about most Scarborough intersections.

What the fee covers and what it does not

Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance, parking and water in the fee. Heat, hydro and air conditioning are not listed, which for suites this size matters more than usual. A 1,400-square-foot suite costs real money to heat in February, so ask the seller for twelve months of utility bills before you compare this fee with a building where heat is bundled.

Two of the neighbouring buildings on Bonis list heat in their fees, and one also lists hydro. That makes fee comparisons on this street easy to get wrong. Put the utility bills and the fee together, then compare the totals.

The building has a party room, a recreation room, a sauna, guest suites, visitor parking, an underground garage and a security guard, according to condos.ca. Condos.ca also flags a pet restriction; I have not seen the rule itself, so read the declaration and rules in the status certificate if you have a dog.

Daily life between the golf course and the mall

The practical appeal is that errands are close. The 2012 City report describes Agincourt Mall directly south across Bonis, anchored at the time by a No Frills and a Walmart, with an LCBO, a Beer Store, a bank and a medical office building on the same lands. The Agincourt Library sits just to the west, with the Shepherd Village seniors’ campus beyond it.

That mall is not going to stay as it is. Owner North American Development Group has a long-term plan to replace it with about ten towers and more than 4,300 homes, according to blogTO, with zoning approved by Council in 2022 and the Walmart and a grocery store to be relocated within the site. The south side of Bonis, which was vacant in 2012, was also approved that year for two towers of 20 and 22 storeys and 51 stacked townhouses.

For an owner here that means years of construction to the south, followed by a much denser, more walkable neighbourhood. Higher floors with north or west views toward the golf course are the ones least affected. Check the City’s development applications map before you choose a suite.

What Tam O’Shanter Highlands costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $444 per square foot. That is low for Toronto, but remember what drives it: every suite here is large, and large suites sell for less per foot. It sits almost exactly level with The Greens at Tam O’Shanter II down the street, at about $443, and just above Tam O’Shanter Casitas at about $423.

When I checked, there was a single suite for sale and none for lease. I do not quote one listing’s price or fee, but I will say that the total monthly fee on a suite this size is a real number, and you should budget for heat on top of it. The data panel on this page shows the aggregate sales and lease figures for the last twelve months.

The value question is per bedroom, not per foot. If you need three bedrooms and a separate dining room, buildings like this are some of the least expensive ways to get them in Toronto with an elevator and underground parking. If you only need one bedroom, this is the wrong building.

Building specifications

Amenities at Tam O’Shanter Highlands

This is a social-room-and-sauna package rather than a resort-style one. Guest suites are the practical win for a building full of families: visiting relatives have somewhere to sleep without taking over your den.

Jatin’s honest take on Tam O’Shanter Highlands

Tam O’Shanter Highlands — 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.