Windfield Terrace, 1210 Don Mills Rd: Outdoor Pool and All-In Fees

Windfield Terrace is the more affordable of the two Bramalea mid-rises near the Shops at Don Mills, and in my view it is the one buyers overlook. It is a five-storey, 161-suite building from 1989 with an outdoor pool, squash courts and a fee that includes nearly every utility. It sells for noticeably less per square foot than its neighbour on The Donway West. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A long, low building with a twin

At five storeys and 161 suites, Windfield Terrace is wide rather than tall. It is a brick mid-rise of the type Bramalea built in the late 1980s for buyers leaving houses, and it reads more like a large apartment block set in gardens than a tower.

It has a sibling next door. Windfield Terrace II at 1200 Don Mills Road is a separate building with its own condo corporation, so you are buying into one corporation’s finances and rules, not both. When you compare listings, check which address you are looking at.

Listing descriptions emphasise the grounds: maintained gardens around an outdoor pool. In a low building, most suites look out over that landscaping or the street, so exposure makes a real difference to how a suite lives and how it resells.

Suites from 530 to 1,701 square feet

Condos.ca lists suites from about 530 to 1,701 square feet. The range runs from one-bedrooms to large two-bedroom-plus-den plans, so it covers both first-time buyers and downsizers.

Because the building is only five storeys, every suite is a low-floor suite. You will not get skyline views here, but you also do not depend on long elevator rides, and many owners like being close to the ground and the gardens.

Late-1980s plans tend to have enclosed kitchens, separate dining rooms and generous storage. Renovated suites can be very different from original ones, so compare condition carefully. A suite that needs a new kitchen and bathrooms should be priced to reflect it.

The wide size range also means the building attracts two quite different buyers. The one-bedrooms appeal to first-time buyers and the occasional investor, while the large plans draw downsizers who want a familiar amount of space. Price each against its own peer group, because a building-wide average blurs them together.

The fee covers almost every utility

Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, hydro, air conditioning, cable TV, building insurance, parking and water in the fee. That is about as inclusive as a Toronto condo fee gets. Electricity, heating and cooling are all shared, so your monthly costs barely change between January and July.

That bundle is why the fees look high next to newer buildings. Before you compare, add a realistic hydro bill, heating and cooling, cable or internet and a parking charge to the newer building’s fee. On that basis, the difference is usually much smaller than the headline fee suggests.

The flip side is that you share the energy costs of every suite. When rates rise or the building’s mechanical systems age, the whole corporation pays. Look at how the fee has moved over the last few budgets and whether energy upgrades are planned.

Condos.ca flags a pet restriction. It does not say what the restriction is, so read the rules before you make an offer if you have a pet.

Daily life at Don Mills and Lawrence

Windfield Terrace sits on Don Mills Road just north of Lawrence, close to the Shops at Don Mills. For most owners, the attraction is being able to walk to groceries, restaurants, the library and banks rather than drive for every errand.

The area around it is changing. Cadillac Fairview has applied for a 31-storey, 402-suite rental tower on the Don Mills Civitan Arena site at 1030 Don Mills Road, according to UrbanToronto, with a new community centre planned about a kilometre south. Further proposals are working through the system on The Donway East and The Donway West.

That means construction nearby for several years, and more residents and services afterward. Owners who want the Don Mills of 20 years ago should be aware of it. The panel beside this review shows transit, schools and parks.

For a low-rise like this one, nearby towers matter mainly for traffic and construction rather than views. I would ask the management office whether the board has commented on any of the nearby applications, and read the minutes for anything that touches the building’s driveway or grounds.

Where it sits on price

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $599 per square foot. That is well below the Tapestry, Bramalea’s smaller building on The Donway West, at about $748, even though the two share a builder, an era and a manager.

Part of the gap is scale. With 161 suites and a five-storey format, Windfield Terrace is less exclusive than the Tapestry, and its amenities are oriented to an outdoor pool rather than an indoor one. Part is simply that more suites come up for sale here.

Only one suite was listed for sale when I checked, so there is no meaningful asking range to report. With so few listings, recent sales are the only reliable guide, and you should look at both this building and Windfield Terrace II next door. Give extra weight to sales of suites in similar condition, since renovation moves price more than floor level does here.

For a buyer who wants the Bramalea format near the Shops at Don Mills and can live with high but all-inclusive fees, this is the value option of the pair. Ask me for the sold report to see what similar suites have actually sold for.

Building specifications

Amenities at Windfield Terrace

The outdoor pool and gardens make summer the building’s best season, and the squash and racquetball courts are something almost no newer condo offers. Listing descriptions also mention a whirlpool, which I would confirm on a tour along with the condition of the courts.

Jatin’s honest take on Windfield Terrace

Windfield Terrace — 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.