Toronto lot bought for $1.45M in 2020 now listed at $27.5M as developer markets 11-unit multiplex
A Dovercourt Road property purchased for $1.45 million in 2020 is on the market for $27.5 million, pitched as a luxury 11-unit rental condominium with completion slated for 2027.
Copy link
By Torontoer Staff
A two-storey house on Dovercourt Road that sold for $1.45 million in 2020 is now listed for $27.5 million, according to real estate data firm HouseSigma. The building remains in place and is boarded up, but the current listing markets the site as a luxury, turnkey 11-unit property with an estimated completion date of spring 2027.
The dramatic price increase reflects the property’s redevelopment potential rather than a renovation of the existing structure, say the owners and their representative. The project is being promoted as missing middle housing, aiming to add mid-rise rental stock between detached homes and tall condominium towers.
What the listing and city records show
The developer listed on the sale documents is Carlos Jardino of PCMnow/FoxyHome. Jardino told Torontoer by email that the 2020 purchase was of an old detached house and that the current asking price reflects a multi-unit redevelopment concept and the costs tied to planning, approvals, design, and construction.
City zoning maps list the site as mixed-use. The municipal website shows an application to demolish the existing house and build a fourplex, plus demolish the garage and add a two-storey laneway suite. The developer, however, is promoting an 11-unit rental condominium in the public listing.
- Current zoning: mixed use, per City of Toronto online records
- Application on file: demolish single-family home, construct fourplex and two-storey laneway suite
- Developer listing: luxury turnkey 11-unit rental condominium, estimated completion spring 2027
Developer's pitch and transaction context
Jardino described the project as part of a broader housing program his firm is pursuing. He said the decision to sell now is not a quick flip, but a choice about whether holding or selling better supports that program. He also noted recent sales his group has handled that relied on zoning and permit progress to establish value.
The current asking price reflects a multi-unit redevelopment concept and the reality that years of planning, approvals, design, and construction work, and cost change the value proposition.
Carlos Jardino, PCMnow/FoxyHome
The Dovercourt listing has been on the market since July. High asking prices for redevelopment sites are a familiar feature of Toronto’s land market: buyers pay for entitlement, design work, and the promise of future units rather than for the house that currently occupies the lot.
How the market and policy environment affect value
Investors and small developers have monitored changes in other Canadian cities as a guide. Edmonton, for example, has allowed up to eight units and three storeys on some lots without special permissions since late 2023, which led to brisk activity there and comparisons with Toronto. Local realtors and planners say the returns on multiplex builds in Toronto are harder to make work given land, construction, and financing costs and the current market downturn.
Phil Gardner, a realtor at Elevate Realty with experience in multiplexes and laneway suites, said many investors are considering multiplexes, but that turnkey product economics do not always add up for a resale investor in today’s market.
The numbers don’t make a ton of sense as a turnkey product to another investor. People aren’t quite so bullish anymore.
Phil Gardner, Elevate Realty
Gardner and other market participants point to several factors that complicate such deals: higher construction costs, tighter financing, and a rental market that in many Toronto neighbourhoods does not yet cover the cost of building new multiplexes. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation programs exist to support multiplex development, but that subsidy does not always bridge the gap between build costs and resale valuations.
Examples and recent transactions
Jardino pointed to another property his firm handled, 5 Knight Street, which was marketed as a bungalow with multiplex potential and listed at $2.65 million. According to HouseSigma and Jardino, the site sold conditionally after 118 days on the market, for about $2.45 million, with the sole condition tied to issuance of a building permit.
That sale was presented as a commercial transaction because the site would be redeveloped into seven dwelling units. Jardino characterised the per-unit land value as roughly $350,000 for future homes, which he called a market-consistent figure for urban infill of that type.
Other builders who previously focused on custom single-family homes are pivoting into multiplexes. Some are converting large houses into two- and three-unit properties, often with the potential to add a laneway or garden suite later. A smaller set of developers tear down old bungalows to build new four- or sixplexes with garden or laneway suites immediately.
What to watch next
High asking prices for redevelopment sites are partly speculative. Listing a property at a premium for its future unit count does not guarantee a sale at that price. The Dovercourt property will test buyer appetite for a larger multiplex play in a market where resale demand and financing remain subdued.
Municipal approvals, construction costs, and interest rates will shape whether similar listings translate into completed multiplexes or linger on the market as priced options on potential. For now, the Dovercourt listing stands as an example of how raw land value and development possibility can dramatically alter the market price of an otherwise ordinary Toronto house.
real estatehousingDovercourtmultiplexToronto
