Toronto Centre Townhomes, 5 Everson Dr: Stacked Towns, Utilities In

Toronto Centre Townhomes is what I show buyers who want stairs and a front door instead of a hallway and an elevator, but still want to live a short walk from Yonge and Sheppard. It is a 2002 complex of 206 stacked townhomes on Everson Drive, and its fee covers more than most townhouse complexes do. That fee is the thing you need to understand before you compare it with anything else. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Stacked townhomes, not a tower

The format is the reason to be here. Suites are stacked townhomes: each one is a two-level home, typically with living space on one floor and bedrooms on the other, and you reach it from the street or a courtyard rather than from a corridor. Recent listing descriptions describe concrete construction and an internal staircase, which is a better sound story than the wood-frame stacked towns going up in the suburbs.

With 206 suites, this is a large complex for a two-storey product. Expect a small-community feel on your own walkway and a lot of neighbours overall. There are no elevators to wait for, but there are also no elevators at all, so think hard about stairs if you are buying to stay into your seventies or if you have a stroller every day.

Everson Drive is a cluster of similar product. Everson Townhomes sits next door at 3 Everson Drive and the Carriage Homes of Avondale at 11 Everson Drive, so you will see listings from three corporations with almost identical addresses. Make sure the status certificate you are reading is for TSCC-1481 and not one of its neighbours.

A fee that includes hydro, which is rare for townhomes

Condos.ca lists heat, hydro, air conditioning, water, building insurance and parking in the fee, on top of common elements. Most townhouse complexes leave hydro and heat on your own meter, so a fee here will look high next to a stacked town in Vaughan or Scarborough. Add those utility bills back to the other building before you decide this one is expensive.

The catch with an all-in fee is that you share everyone’s usage. A neighbour who runs the air conditioning all summer is partly on your bill, and rising utility rates land on the whole corporation. Ask whether hydro is bulk-metered or whether the corporation has studied sub-metering, because that decision changes what your fee will do over the next decade.

Read the last two budgets and the utilities lines specifically. If utilities have been climbing faster than the fee, an increase is coming.

Sizes, parking and lockers

Condos.ca puts suite sizes at roughly 579 to 1,125 square feet, which is a tight range. Most of the stock is one- and two-bedroom townhomes, some with a den, and that is who this complex serves: couples, small families and people moving out of a condo tower who want a bit more separation between rooms.

Parking is in an underground garage and is listed in the fee. Recent listing descriptions mention owners renting out a second parking space and a locker, which tells me some suites carry more than one space and lockers exist, but it also tells me not every suite has the same package. Confirm on the status certificate exactly which spaces and lockers are deeded or exclusive-use for the suite you are buying.

Visitor parking, a rooftop deck, a party room and a meeting room are listed among the features. Condos.ca also lists BBQs as permitted, which matters in a townhouse complex where your terrace is your yard.

Daily life between Yonge, Sheppard and Avondale

The appeal is a townhouse address inside the Yonge and Sheppard node, with the retail, restaurants and subway that come with it. Transit and walkability details are in the panel on this page; the short version is that most errands can be done on foot.

The area is also changing around you. The City of Toronto is reviewing the North York Centre Secondary Plan through its North York at the Centre study, which covers Yonge from Highway 401 to Cummer Avenue and looks at expansion areas within about 800 metres of Sheppard-Yonge, North York Centre and Finch stations. Expect more towers and more construction nearby over the coming years, which supports the area’s amenities but also means cranes and traffic.

A low-rise complex in a high-rise node is a scarce thing. That scarcity is a real part of the value here, because new stacked townhomes this close to a subway interchange are not being built.

What the numbers say

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $644 per square foot. That is below what newer towers in the Yonge and Sheppard area typically ask per square foot, which is partly the age of the complex and partly that small two-level townhomes are valued differently from tower suites with views and amenities.

At the time of writing there was only one suite listed for sale, so I will not quote an asking range from a single listing. Supply here is thin, and when it is, the best guide is the recorded sales and leases in the panel on this page, or my building sold report.

When you compare fees, compare them per square foot and with utilities added back. A stacked town elsewhere with a lower fee and separate hydro, gas and parking can end up costing more each month than this one.

Building specifications

Amenities at Toronto Centre Townhomes

This is a townhouse package, not a tower package: no pool, gym or concierge, which is part of why the fee can cover utilities. The rooftop deck and party room are for occasional use; your own terrace and entrance do most of the work.

Jatin’s honest take on Toronto Centre Townhomes

Toronto Centre Townhomes — 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.