Call it a modern-day tale of two cities’ housing dilemmas.

Brampton, where the Mehta family currently lives, is affordable but the gruelling drive home from work in midtown Toronto takes Ravi Mehta up to two hours.

“For the past three or four years, we’ve been looking for houses close to his workplace,” said Ravi’s wife Seema. “In Toronto, houses are very expensive — $2 million to $3 million. It was getting a little bit frustrating.”

Then they saw an ad for WE26, an enclave of 26 single-family detached homes that will be built near Warden and Eglinton Aves., in Scarborough’s Golden Mile area.

After studying plans for the four-bedroom houses at the sales centre, “we went for a drive and I thought, ‘This is going to be perfect for us’,” recalled Seema of the $1.3-million home they bought. With a much shorter drive, Ravi, a professional tennis coach, “can be safely home in 30 minutes.”

Downtown Toronto was also unaffordable for newly-engaged couple Vicky Tsiantis and Dimitri Kyriakakis. The couple, who walk to their jobs in IT, had been looking for their first home where they could raise children. But their price range allowed for only townhomes and condos in the East York and west Scarborough neighbourhoods where they’d been looking — to move closer to their families.

That’s why WE26 “really jumped out at us,” said Kyriakakis, who grew up in the area. “It feels like coming home.”

“We did the research,” said Tsiantis. “There was nothing in Toronto that compared.”

Getting in at the pre-construction stage not only gives them a “healthy timeline” of two years to prepare, added Tsiantis, it also allows them to build “a home, because there are a lot of options for customizing.”

Builder Ron Herczeg knows full well the unique nature of his new neighbourhood, WE26.

“The opportunity to buy a detached home in a new subdivision in the heart of the city is extremely rare,” said the president of Insoho Developments, pointing out that WE26’s starting price of $1 million for just over 2,000 square feet is comparable to that of a downtown condo “at half the size.”

The three-storey homes represent “a tremendous opportunity for a young family with kids,” he said.

The location “has everything going for it,” Herczeg said. Centennial College’s Ashtonbee campus is down the street from the site and the Golden Mile has become “a vibrant neighbourhood of restaurants, retail, cafes and shopping that will only get better with the LRT,” he noted.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, expected to be completed in 2021, will include a stop at Warden and Eglinton Aves., with a trip east to Yonge St. expected to take about 20 minutes.

The LRT was an additional selling point for Seema Mehta, who said it will give her more relocation options for her part-time position in the banking industry.

“I’m very excited about … the whole package,” she said, listing “better schooling” for her 11- and seven-year-old sons and outdoor recreation possibilities for the active family, which includes their golden-doodle dog, Junior.

The house they’ve bought backs onto The Meadoway, a 16-kilometre stretch of urban green space with cycling and walking trails linking downtown and Rouge Park. The transformation from hydro corridor to linear park is expected to be completed over the next several years.

The Meadoway will connect to nearby parks like Wexford, which has a small forest and baseball diamonds, and Ashtonbee Reservoir Park with sports fields and cricket pitches. A short drive south of WE26, Rosetta McClain Gardens is a stopping point for monarch butterflies.

Insoho Developments has drawn on its 40-year history of creating urban communities — many in east Toronto — to produce a list of features “for ease and elegance.”

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The top floor of the 26 new builds will be devoted to a master bedroom retreats with a sitting areas, large walk-in closets and double-sink ensuites.

Thoughtful inclusions range from a second-floor laundry room to an open-concept main-floor plan with oak hardwood throughout. Some models also have a den or home office, and all have three full bathrooms plus powder room and built-in garages. With a finished basement (a limited-time offer valued at $40,000), there’ll be five bathrooms.

CV Carola Vyhnak is a Cobourg-based writer covering home and real-estate stories. She is a contributor for the Star. Reach her at cvyhnak@gmail.com

WE26

Developer: Insoho Developments Inc.

Location: Northeast of Warden and Eglinton Aves., between Minford and Bertrand Aves., Scarborough

Architect: Turner Fleischer Architects Inc.; Interior designer: Laura Mazzuca

Houses: 26 three-storey detached homes with built-in, single-car garage

Size: Four-bedroom sizes from 2,060-2,372 sq. ft. Finished basements add about 450-580 sq.ft. Some plans include a den or home office.

Prices: Starting from $1 million to $1.325 million

Tentative occupancy: Spring 2021

Status: Pre-construction

Information: we26.ca, 416-901-0833, sales@we26.ca. Sales centre at 30 Bertrand Ave., Unit B113

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