IN AN IVY LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN - English Ivyway Townhouses' Revitalization Success Story - Summer 2021
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James Russell
Newsletters et Cetera
IN AN IVY
LEAGUE
OF THEIR
OWN
English Ivyway Above:
Alberto Alonso, Property Manager
Townhouses’ Clockwise at left:
Michael Moore, Secretary-Treasurer
Norma Tidd, Director
Revitalization Ziyang Zhang, Director
Sheila Psek, Director
Success Story (unavailable for portrait,
Natalie Brock, President)
It was their 2016 AGM and the board was carrying
exceptionally painful news when they walked into the
room packed with owners. What happened over the
next few hours is what makes this story remarkable.
CONDOVOICE SUMMER 2021 CV 17
ENGLISH IVYWAY – MTCC 0537
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF KIRK
16 CV CONDOVOICE SUMMER 2021
ENGLISH IVYWAY – MTCC 0537
MTCC 537 is a sixty-nine-townhouse and the Iroquois – long before the concept
community perched on the northern of ‘owned’ land was introduced to Canada.
TOWNHOUSES boundary of North York. The area is offi-
WENT ON SALE IN cially known as Bayview Woods – Steeles,
a residential community nestled between
The English Ivyway townhouses went on
sale in 1982 and were snapped up quickly.
1982 AND WERE Bayview to the west and Leslie to the east.
The wide, well-paved street designated by
“Many of the subsequent unit sales were
to ‘empty nesters’, anxious to downsize
SNAPPED UP the city as English Ivyway begins and ends but keen on remaining in the neighbour-
QUICKLY. “MANY OF on Bluffwood Drive. hood,” says the Board’s secretary-trea-
surer Michael Moore who adds, “Often
THE SUBSEQUENT The three-storey townhouses of the Eng-
lish Ivyway community are one, two, and
these down-sizers were members of the
Bayview Golf and Country Club,” which is
UNIT SALES three-bedroom units. About half of the located across the street from the English
WERE TO ‘EMPTY townhouses have conventional basements
and the remainder, on-grade walkout
Ivyway community.
NESTERS’, ANXIOUS lower levels. Five of the townhouses en-
joy fully enclosed backyards and all units
Former Board President Don Velanoff,
one of the original residents and long-time
TO DOWNSIZE include one-car garages. member of the Bayview Golf and Country
BUT KEEN ON The architectural firm of Raphael-Burka
Club, recalls that nearly half of the town-
house buyers were members of the Club.
REMAINING IN THE won several design awards for the English
Ivyway neighbourhood. Construction began
Even today, nearly forty-years later, at least
five members of the Club still reside in the
NEIGHBOURHOOD” in 1979 on farmland owned by John Coates community, some for the convenience
back in 1878 and earlier occupied by First of being able to walk across the street to
Nations communities – mostly the Huron reach their club and a few, simply because,
18 CV CONDOVOICE SUMMER 2021
like Don, they, “love living here.” Not sur- “Historically, selling prices in MTCC 537
prisingly, that exceptional quality of life have been more or less the same as the
has resulted in a low turn-over, “Only three TREB ‘all categories’ average for Met-
“WE HAVE A VERY
or so townhouses go on sale per year,” says ropolitan Toronto. Selling prices began
Michael. to fall in the first decade of 2000 as the
“We have a very cohesive Board,” says the
community began to slide into disrepair,”
says Michael.
COHESIVE BOARD,”
Board’s president Natalie Brock. “We may SAYS THE BOARD’S
PRESIDENT NATALIE
not totally agree with everything but we Additionally, a sixteen-year gap in com-
are on the same page.” That shared sen- prehensive Reserve Fund studies contrib-
timent and love for their community was
uppermost on the Board member’s mind’s
uted significantly to the English Ivyway’s
fiscal and physical predicament. “When
BROCK.
when they walked into the room hosting the current President & Secretary-Trea- “WE MAY NOT
TOTALLY AGREE
their 2016 AGM carrying with them the surer took office in 2015, we called in an
knowledge that the English Ivyway com- independent building engineering firm
munity they loved was in a sad, sad state. to conduct a Class 1 (from scratch) Re-
serve Fund study. In the prior 20 years,
WITH EVERYTHING
Over the years, previous Boards and man- the reserve fund contribution had always BUT WE ARE ON THE
SAME PAGE.”
agement endeavoured to keep condomin- increased by exactly 2% a year, and the
ium fees low but in doing so, maintenance Board had concerns that the Reserve
had suffered. The community’s dated infra- Fund was underfunded.” says Michael.
structure, rotting wood, cracked sidewalks
and peeling paint had not only besmirched Over the course of the 2016 AGM, the
the English Ivyway community’s once love- board, many of who were new to their
ly exterior but trampled property values. positions, laid out the current state of af-
CONDOVOICE SUMMER 2021 CV 19
fairs, even using a forty-four slide Power Now that the majority of the restoration
Point presentation to illustrate both the has been competed the board of MTCC
present condition of English Ivyway and 537, made up of Natalie, President; Michael
the Board’s well-conceived plan to restore Moore, Secretary-Treasurer and direc-
their community to its former glory. tors: Norma Tidd, Sheila Psek and Ziyang COMMUNICATION
WITH OWNERS
Zhang is looking at a variety of upcoming
Faced with the reality of their situation, projects, including roofing repairs and re-
the Board had no choice but to increase
owner’s maintenance fees by an average
furbishment of the unit’s rear facades.
AND RESIDENTS
of sixty-five dollars a month, a substantial It has been five years since the Board pre- IS STRAIGHTFOR-
WARD AND INSTAN-
amount considering that approximately sented their ‘bad news’ at the 2016 AGM
half the owners subsisted on their retire- and Michael is proud to say, “Owners have
ment income. To the Board’s surprise, their
plan to restore the English Ivyway com-
been very understanding about the need to
increase the Reserve Fund contributions, TANEOUS AS ALL
munity to its former glory was met with and they have also been very pleased with RESIDENTS OF THE
ENGLISH IVYWAY
nearly universal enthusiasm by the owners. the increase in average unit selling prices.”
The maintenance fee increase allowed the
board to expand their painting budget
The board and residents are just as pleased
with their management company, “We COMMUNITY
from sixteen thousand dollars per year have an amazing property manager. We ARE COMPUTER
AND SMART
to forty-six and their ‘other maintenance never want to lose him,” says Natalie of
work’ budget from thirty-two thousand Alberto Alonso, a ten-year veteran of
dollars per year to fifty-six. As of 2021,
more than half a million dollars has been
property management and the MTCC
537’s property manager for the past three PHONE SAVVY
spent on upgrades and repairs, including years. Alberto is equally impressed with
repaving the roadways and repairing the the Board, “They have a huge respect for
façades of each townhouse, in Natalie’s management,” says Alberto of not only the
words, “in order to restore uniformity of Board’s devotion to the physical and fiscal
appearance.” health of the English Ivyway community
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jobs and also the board’s willingness to, Individual townhouses have their own
“take into serious consideration anything gray (trash), blue (recycling) and green
that comes from management.” (organic) bins, additionally, “We (the
Board) rent a huge dumpster every Vic-
Communication with owners and residents toria Day weekend, and put it in the visi-
is straightforward and instantaneous as all tor parking lot. Residents are welcome to
residents of the English Ivyway commu- fill it up with anything that they want to
nity are computer and smart phone savvy, get rid of. This has proven to be a big suc-
which allows the board and management cess, some years we need to rent a second
to send all notices electronically. Their dumpster the following weekend to satisfy
seasonal newsletter, titled ‘Town Homes the demand. The dumpster costs us, on
at Steeplechase’, also sent electronically, average, about $500 per load, which is a
keeps residents up to date on important lot less than it would cost individual unit
health, safety and administrative an- owners to purchase excess garbage tags
nouncements. from the city,” says Michael.
The English Ivyway community is proud English ivy, or Hedera helix, to us latin
of the more than one hundred mature trees lovers, is a particularly hardy plant native
and shrubs that grace their 5.3 acre foot- to Europe and western Asia. Four years
print. So, in order to keep their diminutive ago, the townhouses edging the street
perennial and towering topiary residents of the same name received bad news but
healthy, the Board and management of the because of effective fiscal management
English Ivyway community have put in and foresight of their Board, their hardy,
place an active tree care program that not lush neighbourhood has been restored to
only hires professional arborists to monitor its former glory and from bad news has
the health of their trees and shrubs but re- sprouted good.
places the trees whenever necessary. Town-
house owners are given the option of speci- “Our community looks so much better,”
fying a particular species for replacement. says Natalie. C V
22 CV CONDOVOICE SUMMER 2021
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