One of the hottest emerging commodities on the Toronto and GTA real estate scene is the urban townhouse.

The new breed of town is sophisticated and stylish, featuring contemporary architecture and interior design by top designers, with upscale features such as rooftop terraces, 9-foot ceilings, wood floors and granite or quartz countertops. These factors, when coupled with a key location close to transit and amenities, are resounding with purchasers.

What follows is an overview of several recent such projects.

Wallace Walk, a project of 116 stacked townhouses at Bloor and Dundas sold out in four days last fall. Seventy per cent of the 68 units in the Towns at Parkside Village in Mississauga have sold since launching in late July. And in early August, the 50 homes at Park Towns Bayview and Sheppard — the first development project in the city by Montreal-based firm Broccolini — were snapped up in a few hours.

“We thought the townhouse would be one of the hottest products in the market as the supply’s not there but the demand is,” says Michael Broccolini, the company’s real estate manager. Still, the complete sellout shocked the company principals, who had been planning to build a sales centre in fall.

Margarita Orlova, who with husband Dimitriy Pavlyuk, bought one of the Park Towns, says location was the biggest selling feature — the subway and a wealth of amenities are within walking distance.

“There are good schools in the neighbourhood for our son, and Bayview Village is one of my favourite malls,” she says.

Orlova also likes the distinctive design of the single-level two-bedroom plus den town unit they bought, and that they didn’t have to spend extra as many typical upgrade features were included as standard.

Edition/Richmond, a midrise contemporary 20-unit townhouse project in the popular Queen West neighbourhood, took honours for both Lowrise Project of the Year and Best New Home Design at the BILD awards earlier this year.

The project was geared to buyers who are savvy about design, architecture, fashion and art.

“This kind of midrise townhouse is really well suited to Toronto,” says Adam Ochshorn, president of Curated Properties. “There is an entire generation of condo buyers downtown who now need more space. They are committed to the lifestyle and don’t want to move away from the neighbourhood they love. The market for this kind of hybrid building product is there.

“Not everybody wants to live with 600 or 700 people,” he says. “There is a growing niche for these small boutique projects where you have just 20 or 30 neighbours.”

Amanda Walker, vice-president of sales and marketing for Minto, notes: “There is an aggressive market of condo-savvy purchasers who are looking for something that provides a more intimate sense of house and home without losing the conveniences of urban condo living.”

In2ition Realty helped to launch Wallace Walk near the Junction neighbourhood last fall. When the project sold out in less than week, “it caught us broadside — we didn’t expect that reaction,” says In2ition president Debbie Cosic.

“But (the townhouse) is a preferred product and we’re fortunate to have six townhouses releases coming up.”

A lot of the popularity is driven by affordability, says Cosic, as townhouses are the most affordable of lowrise products and often include a backyard or terrace and double-car garage. “It makes it more feasible for a family to stay there for their first decade.”

“Not everyone is suited for condo life or owning a single-family home and the next best option is a townhouse,” observes Broccolini. The Park Towns started in the mid-$200,000s.

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The deposit structure required to buy a townhouse is less onerous than that for a condo too, points out Cosic. Typically, she says, buyers would have to come up with a 20- to 25-per-cent deposit, which would be at least $80,000 or more for a $400,000 condo. For a townhouse, they could put down a deposit of $30,000 to $40,000. While the initial purchase cost might be more, townhouse maintenance fees tend to be significantly less than those for a highrise condo.

Still, many townhouse projects come with high pricetags. The second phase of the Towns at Parkside Village in Mississauga is priced from $543,900 to $649,900. Edition/Richmond towns started from $689,900.

The contemporary townhouses that Reserve Properties incorporated into two of its midrise condo projects — five at Motif Lofts in the Ossington neighbourhood and six at Bellefair in the Beach — started in the $900,000 range.

“That is expensive compared to suburbs, but people want to be connected to the downtown,” says Reserve vice-president Shane Fenton. “We’ve seen tremendous demand for it. Buyers have an acute eye for design and style and there is a segment that wants interesting, unique towns.”

More affordable options can be found outside the downtown core, such as Minto’s Long Branch urban townhouse project coming in the fall to Etobicoke — stacked townhouses (a single-floor unit at ground level and two-storey units above) starting at $199,000, following up on its Southshore condo townhouse project, which sold 148 units in a year.

Cosic says townhouses are increasingly popular across the GTA and are taking design cues from the downtown urban towns, with a high degree of architecture and interior style and open-concept layouts that can make “1,500 square feet feel like 1,800 or 1,900.”

Aspen Ridge Homes took a risk when it launched its MOTO Towns at Kettle Lakes Club in Richmond Hill last year, marking a bold departure from traditional suburban townhouse design. The minimalist-styled townhomes featured jutting and recessed boxes of stone, stucco and wood. More than 120 of the initial 200 units released have been sold.

Modern design hadn’t previously been done on a large scale in the 905, according to Christene DeGasperis, Aspen Ridge director of marketing, but sales at Kettle Lakes indicate suburbanites are ready to embrace it.

“Contemporary design has been coming on strong for a long time,” says Curated Properties’ Ochshorn. “People have had a taste for it. If they have travelled to any major city and gone to a boutique hotel, they get sense of clean lines, high ceilings and there’s been a trend to that for awhile now.

“It’s an uncluttered feel, a contemporary environment with high ceilings and natural light and that’s the way people want to live.”