Minto Group is looking to develop more townhome projects throughout the Greater Toronto Area after launching Urban Towns project in Oshawa, Ont.

Launched in late May, the two-storey condominium offering is located in the Heights of Harmony community in North Oshawa. Prices start at $399,000.

The launch offers “a realistic path” to home ownership for couples, students and graduates looking to establish roots in the Durham Region, says Minto.

“I don’t think we have a piece of land in the GTA that doesn’t have a significant share, or a large share, to be townhouses of some form or another,” said Andrew Sjorgren, Minto’s head of the GTA, in an interview with Connect. “There’s various forms of townhouses and, these days you can have the whole lifecycle of housing from first-time buyer to move-up buyer to move-down buyer. You can live your entire life very comfortably.”

Although the GTA condo market suffering through severe downturn, Minto has enjoyed a “tonne” of preselling success as an attractive price point coincided with functionality, said Sjorgren.

“Whether it’s a new homebuyer or an existing homeowner, they’re smart, they’re educated, and they know what they want, and today it is they want functionality, they want usability, and they want it at a price that’s reasonable,” he added. “By all accounts, I would say, we met that mark.”

From his perspective, the GTA residential market has shifted away from strong appetite for single-family homes to a new hunger for townhomes.

“When I first started the industry 15 years ago, it was all about single detached 30-, 36-footers, and now, the sweet spot of what the market is looking for is a townhouse, because it is that find,” he said. “That’s what we call, maybe that missing middle between a single detached house and a condo in the sky, the product of this type where they provide everything you need for a livable space with potentially more than one individual in the unit and even more than two individuals in the unit at a realistic and attainable price point.”

Minto sought to hit an affordability criteria that has not been met in the GTA for a long time. The $399,000 starting price would typically equate to 300- to 400-square foot condo, but Urban Towns buyers get much more space in return for that cost, said Sjorgren.

The Urban Towns project comprises six buildings containing about 130 units. Minto says the units are designed around the smart use of space as every layout separates living and sleeping areas across two storeys, with each home having a private front door, eliminating the need for shared elevators and higher maintenance fees common in condo living. The company says buyers can also enjoy energy efficiency and low utility costs.

“They’re back-to-back townhouses where there’s no backyard,” said Sjorgren. “Not only are they back-to-back, but they’re stacked one on top of each other. So, they’re about as dense as you can get with what would probably call ground-oriented housing. Anything denser ceases to become ground-oriented housing and becomes, effectively, an apartment building.”

Sjorgren believes the GTA has already reached a point whereby Canadian multi-residential markets will see much more demand for townhouse condos.

“I think they’re going to be very popular,” said Sjorgren.

Pictured: Minto’s future Urban Towns townhome development in Oshawa, Ont.

Rendering: Courtesy of Minto Group