The Townhouses of Hogg’s Hollow, 45–53 York Mills Rd: A House Alternative

The Townhouses of Hogg’s Hollow are for buyers who want a house-sized home in York Mills without a house’s maintenance or price. There are 81 of them, built by Urban Group in 2006, every one between about 1,800 and 2,200 square feet, all a short walk from Yonge Street. They rarely come up in numbers, and the buyers who want them usually know exactly why. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Townhouses in one of Toronto’s oldest addresses

Hoggs Hollow is the valley where Yonge Street crosses the Don River below York Mills Road. It is named for James Hogg, a Scottish settler who ran a mill there in the 1800s, and the wider York Mills area is one of the most affluent pockets in the city, with half its homes detached houses.

The hollow itself, south and east of the Yonge and York Mills intersection, is a pocket of winding streets under a heavy tree canopy, many without sidewalks. A Move Smartly neighbourhood profile from 2008 noted that townhouses along York Mills Road and multi-unit buildings on Yonge round out the housing there. This complex is one of those townhouse rows.

That is the context for this complex. Detached homes around it sell in the millions, and very little new housing has been built nearby. A condominium townhouse in this setting is a way into the neighbourhood at a fraction of a house price, with the exterior and grounds handled by the corporation.

The complex is spread across several addresses from 45 to 53 York Mills Road, under one corporation, TSCC-1805. When you compare listings or read a status certificate, check that every document refers to that corporation number.

Every suite is a big one

Condos.ca lists suites from about 1,790 to 2,187 square feet. There are no studios and no one-bedrooms here. The suites listed for sale when I checked were three-bedroom and three-plus-den plans, which tells you who this complex was built for: families and downsizers who are not willing to give up bedrooms.

Townhouse suites live differently from a condo apartment of the same size. You get multiple levels, so stairs are part of the deal. If you are buying to age in place, walk the stairs more than once and ask whether there is direct access from the garage, because that varies by suite.

Condos.ca also lists a rooftop deck among the features. In a townhouse complex that can mean private terraces on the upper suites rather than a shared deck, so confirm what a specific suite includes and whether it is exclusive-use common element, which affects who pays to repair it.

Twenty years on, condition varies a lot from suite to suite. Some owners have redone kitchens, bathrooms and stairs; others are close to original. With homes this size, the cost of updating is real money, so price the renovation in before you compare two suites on asking price alone.

Underground parking and a guard at the gate

Parking is in an underground garage, and it is included in the fee. Visitor parking is also listed. For a family with two cars, ask how many spaces the suite carries before you get attached to it; in a complex like this, the parking count is one of the first things a future buyer will ask about.

Condos.ca lists a security guard and a security system. That is unusual for a townhouse complex and is part of what drives the fee. It is also a practical comfort if you travel, which many owners in this demographic do.

The complex is tagged as allowing pets and permitting barbecues. Those are listing tags, not rules. Read the declaration and the rules for size limits, the number of animals and where barbecues are allowed before you commit.

What the fee covers, and what it doesn’t

The fee on the suites listed for sale ran from about $991 to $1,095 a month. On 1,790 to 2,187 square feet, that is roughly half a dollar a square foot, which is reasonable for a staffed complex with an underground garage.

The inclusion list is different from a typical tower. Air conditioning, water, building insurance, parking, cable TV and the common elements are in. Heat is not on the list, so expect your own heating bill on a two-thousand-square-foot home, along with hydro. Add both to the fee before you compare against an apartment where heat is included.

The cable TV inclusion is the kind of bulk contract that made sense in 2006 and may not today. Ask whether it is still in place, what it costs the corporation, and when it expires.

What the townhouses are asking

Condos.ca puts the complex average at about $657 per square foot. Because every suite is large, that average is more meaningful here than in a building with a wide range of sizes. It is also well below what a detached house in York Mills costs per foot of living space.

Three suites were listed for sale when I checked, asking between $1,388,000 and $1,840,000, with fees of roughly $991 to $1,095 a month. One suite was listed for lease.

The spread in asking prices is mostly about position and condition: which address, which level, whether it backs onto the street, and how much renovation has been done since 2006. The sales panel beside this review shows what has actually traded. For a specific suite, book a call and I will pull the comparables for that address.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Townhouses of Hogg’s Hollow

There is no gym, pool or party room on the condos.ca list, and that is the point: you are paying for security, grounds and a garage rather than shared facilities. Buyers who want a pool should look at a tower; buyers who want a quiet home with someone watching the gate are in the right place.

Jatin’s honest take on The Townhouses of Hogg’s Hollow

The Townhouses of Hogg’s Hollow — frequently asked questions

Looking at York Mills, Don Mills, Lawrence Park, Bathurst Manor and midtown-north Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.