The Village Residences, 591 Sheppard Ave E: Liberty’s 2020 Mid-Rise

The Village Residences is one of a cluster of newer mid-rises that has turned Sheppard East between Bayview and Bessarion into a condo street. It is a 2020 Liberty Development building with nine-foot ceilings, a rooftop terrace and a fee that covers heat and cooling. The question for most buyers is not the building; it is whether the fee and price per square foot hold up against its neighbours. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A Liberty mid-rise on a changing stretch of Sheppard

Liberty Development launched The Village Residences in 2015 as a modernist mid-rise with retail at street level. The architect was Wayne Long Architect, and the interiors were by Tanner Hill Associates. Liberty is a long-standing North York builder; it also built older buildings in the area such as One Hycrest Avenue.

There is a small discrepancy on height. The 2015 launch coverage described a 10-storey building, while condos.ca lists 11 floors. A mechanical penthouse or rooftop amenity level can account for the difference, but if the floor count matters to you, the declaration settles it.

The building sits in a row of recent mid-rises east of Bayview, with Vida at 621 Sheppard and Canderel’s Bayview at The Village at 625 Sheppard as close neighbours. That matters for resale: there are a lot of similar suites within a few hundred metres, so the building competes on fee, condition and layout rather than on scarcity.

Nine-foot ceilings and compact plans

The 2015 launch material promised nine-foot ceilings, wide-plank laminate floors, granite or quartz counters with undermount sinks, tile backsplashes and stainless steel appliances. That is a solid builder-grade package for the era, and nine-foot ceilings make a 600-square-foot suite feel larger than the number suggests.

The launch range was wide, from studios of about 390 square feet up to three-bedroom-plus-den plans of about 1,335 square feet. The range condos.ca shows for actual suites is narrower, about 533 to 930 square feet, and the four suites for sale when I checked were all one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom-plus-den plans in the 600 to 999 square foot range. In other words, the building lives as a one- and two-bedroom building, whatever the brochure once said.

Plus-den plans are the norm here. Ask whether the den has a door and a window before you count it as a bedroom for resale or rental purposes.

The fee: heat and cooling in, parking out

Condos.ca lists air conditioning, building insurance, common elements, heat and water as included. That is a good inclusion list for a 2020 building, since many newer buildings meter heating and cooling to each suite. Beanfield Fibre is also available, which is useful if you work from home.

Parking is not on the inclusion list. If the suite comes with a space, there may be a separate charge, and some suites will not have one at all. Ask for the parking and locker details on title and the monthly amount for each, and add them to the fee before comparing this building with Lotus at 7 Kenaston Gardens, where parking is listed as included.

Hydro is your own bill. Ask the manager for the last three years of fee increases, which tells you more about the corporation’s planning than the current number does.

Daily life between Bayview and Bessarion

This is a transit-first location. The 2015 launch coverage pointed to the Sheppard subway stations at Bayview and Bessarion, Highway 401 and 404 access, and Oriole GO a short drive away. Bayview Village Shopping Centre covers groceries and day-to-day errands, and the East Don Parklands are close for walking and cycling.

The best recent change is the City’s Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Community Recreation Centre and Library at Sheppard and Bessarion, which held its grand opening in March 2024 with an aquatic centre, library and child care. For a building with no pool, a City pool within walking distance is a real amenity.

For drivers, the 401 and 404 are close, which makes this a practical base for anyone who commutes by car across North York or north into York Region. For everyone else, the subway and the shops at Bayview Village mean you can live here comfortably without a car, which is worth weighing if the suite you like has no parking.

The flip side of all this growth is construction. Sheppard East has had new buildings going up for most of the last decade, and that is likely to continue. Transit and school details are in the data panel on this page.

About $804 a square foot, in line with its newer neighbours

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $804 per square foot. That is close to The Chelsea at 19 Barberry Place and a little below Lotus at 7 Kenaston Gardens, about $834, and well above the 2000s-era towers on Rean Drive and Kenaston Gardens in the mid-$600s.

Fees across the four current listings average about $0.92 per square foot. That is on the higher side for the area, but remember it includes heat and cooling. Asking prices across those four suites ranged from $509,000 to $759,000 when I checked.

One more thing to account for: since parking is not on the inclusion list, a suite with parking may carry a separate monthly charge on top of the fee. Add it in before you compare total monthly costs with a building where parking is bundled.

Four listings at once, against only two rentals, tells me there is real choice for buyers right now. That gives you room to negotiate, and it means you should compare at least two suites in the building before you commit. For actual sold figures rather than asking prices, request the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Village Residences

The amenity package is modest: concierge, a gym, a party room and a rooftop terrace, and the 2015 launch material also listed a lounge and a golf simulator. Confirm what is still operating, since amenity rooms in mid-rises are sometimes repurposed after turnover.

Jatin’s honest take on The Village Residences

The Village Residences — 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.