The Chelsea, 19 Barberry Pl: 8-Storey Mid-Rise by Bayview Village

The Chelsea is a quiet eight-storey building in a part of North York that is about to get a lot less quiet. It is a 2001 Valfour mid-rise on Barberry Place, a short walk from Bayview Village, and its fee covers more than most buyers expect. Whether that is good value depends on which suite you buy and how you feel about the towers planned for the mall site. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A mid-rise in a neighbourhood of towers

Most of the condo stock around Bayview and Sheppard went up as towers in the 2000s and 2010s. The Chelsea is the exception: eight storeys and 187 suites, which means fewer neighbours per elevator and a building that feels closer to a large apartment house than a high-rise.

Valfour Developments built it in 2001. Valfour is not one of the big names you see on billboards, and I could not find much published about the firm’s other projects, so I would judge this building on its own record: the reserve fund study, the age of the major systems and how the board has handled them.

The wider area has an interesting history. Bayview Village was planned in the 1950s by the town planner Eugenio Faludi around curving streets that follow the Don Valley land, and much of the residential fabric north of Sheppard still reflects that. Barberry Place sits south of Sheppard, closer to the station and the commercial strip than to those older streets.

Suites from studio-scale to 1,400 square feet

Condos.ca lists suites from about 480 to 1,408 square feet. That is a wider range than most mid-rises of this age, running from compact one-bedrooms to large two-bedroom-plus-den plans that suit downsizers.

The two suites currently for sale are both one-bedrooms, one under 500 square feet and one in the 500s. At the other end, the larger plans are where this building earns its keep, because a 1,200-plus square foot suite in a low building near Bayview Village is not easy to find.

For downsizers coming out of a house in Bayview Village or Willowdale, that larger end of the range is the reason to look here. You keep a familiar neighbourhood, you lose the stairs and the snow shovelling, and you do not have to move into a 40-storey tower to do it. Expect fewer of those suites to come up for sale, though, because owners of the big plans tend to stay put.

In a building with only eight floors, the view matters less than the orientation. Ask which way the suite faces, whether it looks over the street or straight at a neighbouring building, and how much afternoon sun it gets.

Heat, water and parking in the fee

Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. Having heat and cooling in the fee means your monthly cost does not swing much between January and July, and hydro is the main utility left on your own bill.

On the two current listings, each with a monthly fee of about $535, the fee works out to about $1.56 per square foot. That looks high, but it is a small-suite number: a fixed portion of the fee is spread across very little floor area. On a larger suite the per-foot figure drops sharply. Compare total monthly cost, including heat, against a tower where heat is metered to you.

Condos.ca also tags the building with a pet restriction. I have not seen the wording, so read the declaration and rules in the status certificate before you bring a dog, and confirm any size or number limits.

Living next to a mall that is turning into a neighbourhood

The big change nearby is the redevelopment of Bayview Village Shopping Centre. QuadReal’s first phase on the north part of the site is under construction, with a 23-storey tower, two mid-rise buildings, a retail promenade and a new park. In January 2026 UrbanToronto reported the next proposal for the south block at Bayview and Sheppard: two towers of 44 and 52 storeys on a seven-storey podium, with more than 1,000 homes and a direct link to the subway.

For an owner here, that cuts both ways. You get more shops, a park and better access to the station within walking distance. You also get years of construction, more traffic on Bayview and Sheppard, and a large amount of new supply competing with your suite when you sell or rent.

The panel beside this review shows the nearest station, schools and Walk Score. The point I would add is that the south block is still only an application, with no approval or construction dates announced, so plan around it, not on it.

Price per square foot and what is asking now

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $804 per square foot. That is high for a 2001 mid-rise and reflects two things: small one-bedrooms, which always price higher per foot, and the premium Bayview Village commands thanks to the mall, the subway and the established streets to the north.

Two one-bedroom suites were listed for sale when I checked, asking between $415,000 and $429,900, both with fees of about $535 a month. One suite was listed for lease.

Keep the fee in the comparison. A newer tower nearby may quote a lower fee per square foot, but if heat and parking are extra there, the gap in true monthly cost is smaller than it first appears, and on some suites it disappears.

With so little on the market, comparables are thin. For a larger suite in particular I would look at sales over the past 12 to 18 months, adjusted for floor and orientation, before I would trust any per-foot figure.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Chelsea

The amenity list is modest: a party room, a media room and a meeting room, with no pool listed. For most buyers here that is a feature, because a lean amenity package keeps operating costs down in a building this size.

Jatin’s honest take on The Chelsea

The Chelsea — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.