Project of the Week: Upper East Side, Where Unionville Runs Out of Room and Berczy Creek Begins

Every few years a builder gets its hands on one of the last pieces of open land on the north edge of Unionville, and every time it happens the same thing follows: a quiet rush of families who have been waiting for exactly this. This week Fieldgate Homes released the next phase of its Upper East Side community at Major Mackenzie Drive and Woodbine Avenue, and Realty Mag asked Riju Vashisht of Team Homees, who has been walking buyers through Markham's new-home sites for years, what makes this one worth a Saturday.

Why people want to live here in the first place

Unionville is one of the few places in the GTA where a brand-new subdivision sits a short drive from a main street that looks like it did in 1900. Main Street Unionville still has its wooden storefronts, the old train station, the summer festivals and the patios that fill up the moment the weather turns. Toogood Pond is where half the neighbourhood walks the dog. The Varley Art Gallery is a real gallery, not a token one. And the schools are the reason a lot of families make the move in the first place: Lincoln Alexander Public School has a reputation that carries across York Region, Unionville High School's arts program draws kids from across the city, and there is a French immersion option at Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeoys for parents who want it.

"The buyer I see most often here is a couple who did ten years in a condo downtown or in Richmond Hill, has one child and another on the way, and wants the school question answered for the next fifteen years," Vashisht said. "They are not moving to Unionville for a bigger kitchen. They are moving for the schools and the fact that the neighbourhood already feels finished."

The site itself backs onto Berczy Creek, with greenspace threaded through the plan rather than tacked on at the edge. Angus Glen Golf Club is a few minutes north, Richmond Green Sports Centre a few minutes west, Milne Dam Conservation Park to the south. Highways 404 and 407 are both close enough that the commute to a downtown office or a Mississauga one is manageable, and Unionville GO on the Stouffville line is the rail option for anyone who would rather read than drive.

The homes, and how they live

This release covers the full range of the community: 20-foot freehold townhomes, 26- and 31-foot city singles with double-car garages, and larger 38- and 45-foot detached homes. The models carry names like the Ravines, the Parkland, the Glenside, the Reefside, the Coveside and the Valeside, and the site plan is built around winding private crescents instead of the usual grid, which changes how the streets feel when you drive them.

The homes everyone will ask about are the walk-out lots. A handful of them back directly onto the greenbelt and the pond, which means a lower level with full windows and a door to the yard rather than a basement in the usual sense. "A walk-out on a ravine lot is the one feature that never stops paying you back," Vashisht said. "You get a lower level that feels like a floor, not a basement, you get the view, and twenty years from now the resale buyer wants exactly the same thing. There are never many of them in a release, and they are never the ones left at the end."

On the city singles, the 26-foot plans are the ones he points buyers to first. "A 26-foot single with a double garage is the sweet spot for a family that does not want a townhouse but is not ready for a 45-foot house and the lot that comes with it. You get the private driveway, the separation from your neighbours, and a main floor that opens from the kitchen through to the great room, which is how everyone actually lives." The 38- and 45-foot plans are for the buyer who wants the main-floor office, the formal dining room and the second-floor laundry, and who is thinking about parents moving in eventually.

Fieldgate's exteriors in this community lean traditional, which suits the setting. Brick and stone fronts, pitched rooflines, the kind of streetscape that will look right next to the older parts of Unionville rather than fighting them. The interior features and finishes are laid out in the builder's feature sheets, and the differences between models matter more than the brochures make obvious.

What is actually worth knowing

Here is the honest part. The builder's website and the marketing tell you the model names and the lot widths. What they do not tell you is which lots on the site plan are the good ones, which elevations will be standing next to each other, how the grading works on the walk-outs, where the pond sightlines actually fall, and how the release is being sequenced. That is the work Vashisht does with his buyers before they ever sit down in a sales office.

"I have walked this site plan. I know which crescents back onto the creek and which ones back onto a road. I know which lots are premium and which ones are premium in name only," he said. "If you are going to spend the next twenty years in a house, those are the things you want someone to have checked before you sign anything. The brochure is not going to tell you."

If Unionville has been on the list, this is the kind of release that does not stay open for long. Team Homees walks buyers through the plans, the lots and the timing one on one, and the easiest way to start is to message Riju on WhatsApp. More on how the team works with new-home buyers is at homees.ca, and Vashisht's own notes on the market are at rijuvashisht.com.

Disclaimer

This article is an editorial discussion for general information only. Nothing in it, including interview responses, project mentions, pricing, rebate or program details, or market commentary, is real estate, legal, financial, tax, mortgage, or investment advice. Every situation is different; consult licensed real estate, mortgage, legal, and tax professionals before making any decisions.

Prices, availability, incentives, and program details come from board reports, developer materials and third-party sources believed reliable at publication, are subject to change without notice, and are not guaranteed. E.&O.E.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers under contract with another brokerage, or properties currently listed for sale. If you are working with another REALTOR®, please disregard.

Riju Vashisht and Team Homees may act as a cooperating (buyer's) agent on certain developments mentioned and may receive remuneration from the seller or builder.

Riju Vashisht, Real Estate Salesperson, Kigo Realty Inc., Brokerage - 416-779-8800, 7115 Millcreek Dr., Mississauga, ON L5N 3R3.