The Village at Guildwood, 3650 Kingston Rd: A Tridel Mid-Rise Review

The Village at Guildwood is the building I suggest when someone wants a Tridel name at a Scarborough price. It is a 9-storey, 262-suite mid-rise from 2006 on Kingston Road near Markham Road, with suites from studio size to more than 1,300 square feet. It sits right where the planned Eglinton East LRT would meet Kingston Road, which is worth thinking about. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A Tridel mid-rise on Kingston Road

Tridel is one of Toronto’s best-known condo developers, and most of its towers are much taller and much more expensive than this one. The Village at Guildwood is a 9-storey mid-rise, a scale that feels closer to an apartment block than a tower, with 262 suites under one corporation.

The corporation covers the addresses 3640 and 3650 Kingston Road, and most listings use 3650. Before you buy, confirm which entrance and elevator bank a suite uses, since that affects your daily walk to the garage and the lobby.

At 20 years old, the building is past the new-build stage and into its first major maintenance cycle. A good developer name helps at the start, but by now the board and the reserve fund matter more than who poured the concrete.

From compact studios to 1,300 square feet

The size range is wide, from about 400 square feet to about 1,309 square feet. That gives this one building both entry-level studios and suites large enough for a family or a downsizer leaving a house nearby, which is less common than it sounds.

Most of the current listings were one-bedroom and two-bedroom plans between about 700 and 900 square feet, with several offering a den. A two-bedroom-plus-den at that size is a practical plan for a couple who works from home.

With 262 suites over 9 floors, each floor carries roughly 29 suites, so this is a wide building with long corridors rather than a slim tower. The upside is that the top floor is never far from the ground, which some buyers prefer in an emergency or a power cut. If you want a long-range view, this isn’t the building.

For investors, the studios and one-bedrooms are the easiest suites to rent, and the bundled heat and cooling make the rent simple to price. The larger plans tend to suit owner-occupiers, and they come up less often, so if you need 1,000 square feet or more, be patient and ready.

Heat and cooling in, parking out

The fee covers common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance and water. Your suite’s hydro is on you. Parking is not on the inclusion list here, so if you need a space, confirm whether one comes with the suite and whether it carries its own monthly charge.

Across the current listings, fees ran from about $532 to $787 a month, which condos.ca puts at roughly $0.90 per square foot. That is on the higher side for Scarborough, partly because heating and cooling are bundled in. Compare the total monthly cost with buildings that bill those separately, not just the headline fee.

Ask how the fee has moved over the last five years and what the reserve fund study plans for windows, the roof, the garage and the heating and cooling plant. A fee near $0.90 is acceptable if it is funding a healthy reserve; it is a warning sign if it is climbing to catch up. The fee also scales with suite size, so on the larger plans the monthly number gets significant. Run it through your mortgage qualification before you fall for a 1,200 square foot suite.

Kingston Road at Markham Road

The building sits near the meeting point of Kingston Road, Markham Road and Eglinton Avenue East. Guildwood Village and Guild Park, with its gardens and lake views at the top of the Bluffs, are a short drive east, and the established streets of Scarborough Village surround the site.

This stretch of Kingston Road is a busy arterial with plazas rather than a walkable main street, so most residents drive for big shopping trips. Suites facing Kingston Road will hear traffic; suites on the quieter side are worth a premium if you are sensitive to noise.

What could change here is transit. The City’s planned Eglinton East LRT would run from Kennedy Station to the University of Toronto Scarborough and Malvern Town Centre, and its plan includes realigning Eglinton Avenue East where it meets Kingston Road, close to this building. It was still at the assessment stage with no opening date, so treat it as long-term upside. The panel on this page shows today’s routes.

What suites ask here

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $537 per square foot. Five suites were for sale when I checked, asking from $349,900 to $538,000.

That puts the building at the affordable end of Scarborough condos with a recognised developer name. The wide size range means asking prices vary a lot within the building, so compare on price per square foot and total monthly cost rather than headline price.

Five listings at once in a 262-suite building gives buyers choice and some negotiating room. My building sold report shows what has actually traded here, which is the best guide to a fair offer.

The main competition here is the other mid-rises and towers along Kingston Road and in Scarborough Village. When one of them asks less per foot, check its age, its builder, its fee inclusions and its reserve fund before you call it cheaper. The Tridel name, the 2006 build date and the bundled heat and cooling are what you are paying for here, and they only justify a premium if the corporation has looked after them.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Village at Guildwood

The amenity package is modest: a media room for movie nights, a party room and a meeting room, plus a security guard at the front. There is no pool listed, which keeps operating costs down, and for most owners here the real amenities are Guild Park and the Bluffs nearby.

Jatin’s honest take on The Village at Guildwood

The Village at Guildwood — frequently asked questions

Looking at Scarborough Bluffs, West Hill, Guildwood, Woburn, Malvern and Rouge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.