Townhomes at Metrogate, 290 Village Green Sq: Condo Towns on the Park

Townhomes at Metrogate are the low-rise answer inside a high-rise community. There are 76 condo townhomes here, completed in 2011 as part of Tridel’s Metrogate development near Kennedy and the 401, laid out around the community’s central park. If you want a family-sized home with a garage below and a park out front, without the price of a freehold, this is where I would look first in this part of Scarborough. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Part of a master plan, not a one-off townhouse block

Metrogate is one of Tridel’s signature communities. By the developer’s own account it replaced 17 acres of asphalt near Kennedy Road and Highway 401 with a mixed-use neighbourhood that took nearly 15 years to build: seven towers, more than 70 townhomes and over 2,600 homes in all, around a 1.7-acre central park.

These 76 homes are that townhome component. UrbanToronto’s coverage of Tridel’s Metrogate describes the townhome blocks as surrounding Metrogate Park, with the towers rising behind them. Condos.ca leaves the developer field blank for this corporation, so if the builder matters to you for warranty or records, confirm it through the status certificate.

Tridel says Metrogate earned LEED Neighbourhood Development Silver certification at Stage 2 for its planning. That is a rating for the community’s layout and design, not for these individual homes, but it explains why the place feels planned, with the park, paths and daycare built in from the start.

Townhome living with a garage underneath

Condos.ca records an underground parking garage for this corporation, which is the detail that separates these from many Scarborough condo towns. You park below and walk up, rather than giving up your ground floor to a garage or parking on a surface lot through the winter.

The active listing right now is a three-bedroom-plus-den, which fits what this format is for: households that have outgrown a two-bedroom apartment. Condos.ca does not publish a size range here, so ask for the floor plan, the number of levels and the square footage of each floor before you compare one home with another.

One practical note on addresses. Condos.ca groups this corporation under 290 and 330 Village Green Square, but Village Green Square carries many addresses across Metrogate, and listings sometimes give a different street number for a townhome. Before you rely on anything in this review, or on a status certificate, confirm that the home you are looking at actually belongs to TSCC-2175 and not to a neighbouring corporation with different fees and a different reserve fund.

In townhouse-style condos, how a home stacks matters as much as how big it is. Count the stairs, check where the laundry and the main bathroom sit, and see what outdoor space comes with the unit, because those decide whether a layout works for young children or for someone planning to stay into retirement.

A lean fee, and what you carry yourself

The fee includes common elements, building insurance and parking. Heat, hydro and water are not on condos.ca’s inclusion list, so in practice you pay your own utilities, as you would in a house. Ask the seller for a year of bills; for a three-bedroom home they are a real part of the monthly cost.

The short inclusion list is also why fees in townhome condos tend to sit well below tower fees. There is no concierge or amenity floor to staff here. What you are paying for is the shared structure, the grounds, insurance and, importantly, the underground garage.

That garage is the item I would look at hardest. Underground parking under a townhome community is a large shared asset, and its membrane, drainage and ventilation are expensive to repair. At 15 years old, this corporation is entering the stage where those items show up in the reserve fund study. Also read the declaration for the owner-versus-corporation split on roofs, windows and doors.

Kennedy and the 401: the everyday reality

Metrogate sits just south of Highway 401 near Kennedy Road, which makes it one of the easier places in Scarborough to get on the highway. Kennedy Commons and Scarborough Town Centre are both nearby for shopping, and the community itself has on-site daycare and the central park with playgrounds.

The park is the daily difference. Children here can play in a planned green space inside the community rather than crossing a major road to reach one, and the townhome blocks are arranged around it. Tridel has said Metrogate includes two daycare facilities and around 5,000 square feet of retail.

The trade-off is that you live inside a dense community of towers. Expect a lot of neighbours, busy visitor parking and some construction activity as the area continues to change. For transit, schools and parks from this address, use the data panel on this page.

Pricing: few resales, so use real comparables

There is one home for sale here right now, and condos.ca does not publish a building average price per square foot for this corporation. With 76 homes and owners who tend to stay, resales are occasional, and one listing on its own tells you very little about value.

The useful comparisons are the other condo townhome communities around Kennedy and Sheppard, and two-bedroom-plus-den suites in the Metrogate towers themselves. A townhome here typically gives you more space, your own entry and a lower fee than a tower suite, and you take on your own utilities in return.

For what has actually traded in the last 12 months, see the data panel above, and use my building sold report if you want comparables pulled for a specific home.

Building specifications

Amenities at Townhomes at Metrogate

The corporation itself has very little: an underground garage and BBQs permitted. The real amenity is the Metrogate community around it, with a 1.7-acre central park and daycare on site.

Jatin’s honest take on Townhomes at Metrogate

Townhomes at Metrogate — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.