The new condominium market is stretching into an eighth straight year of record construction and sales. Very little appears likely to slow it down, as long as interest rates remain relatively low and low-rise house prices stay exceedingly high.
It's safe to say that condominium construction is well beyond its former status as a niche product. They currently make up more than 40 per cent of the new housing market in Toronto, and are even growing to between 10 and 20 per cent of new housing construction in the 905 suburbs.
But when most of us think about condos, we think about boxed-in suites in high-rise buildings, or a little less often, cavernous bare lofts. These are not for everyone's lifestyle.
The urban townhouse has taken a little longer to distinguish itself in the condominium market, but it's now taking hold in dozens of residential pockets around established neighbourhoods. These are different from the large-scale row house communities such as those around King Street West or peppered throughout Scarborough, Etobicoke and Mississauga. Urban townhouses are more likely to be infill projects on busier streets or in neighbourhoods dominated by detached or semi-detached housing where high-rises would be quite out of place.
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One small-scale urban-townhouse development that has turned a lot of heads in downtown Toronto is Baldwin-McCaul by Greenleaf Homes. The project takes its name from the intersection on which it's located: Baldwin — with its short but trendy promenade — and McCaul streets, between Dundas and College.
With prices ranging from $749,900 for 1,608 square feet to $869,900 for 2,207 square feet, these eight slim, three-bedroom townhouses are not necessarily for first-time buyers, but aimed more at professional couples who want a bit more privacy and peace and quiet than traditional condominiums have to offer.
Greenleaf has been an active player on the suburban detached scene, but they managed to nail down a spectacular location for this inner-city foray. The site is within walking distance of the financial district, the University of Toronto and many other important places in downtown Toronto. And while these brownstone-style townhouses have private single garages in the basement, you'll be able to get by quite nicely without a car.
While urban townhouses such as those of Baldwin-McCaul often come at a hefty premium, there are more affordable projects in the early stages. The big difference is that they're likely to be of the stacked variety (meaning two units shared by one four-storey row house) and part of a larger development.
Most urban townhouse developments riff heavily on the design prestige of the Manhattan brownstone. Montevallo Developments has successfully parlayed the cachet of the brownstone into an overnight sales sensation at its Brownstones on Bloor, with all 85 stacked townhouses being snapped up within a week after launching in May.
That's pretty remarkable since the location — on Bloor Street west of Lansdowne Avenue — was considered a dodgy and noisy pocket, next to busy railway tracks and a still-active industrial corridor.
Montevallo just launched the Brownstones on Wallace, about two blocks north of the sold-out Bloor location, putting 134 stacked townhouses on the market with prices ranging from $219,900 to $295,000 for between 850 and 1,270 square feet.
The brownstone concept will fit in nicely in this west-end neighbourhood, The Junction, which is considered to be a more affordable area than the formerly working-class neighbourhoods south of Bloor that are now experiencing rapid price increases.
