Tiny condo developments with just four units are coming to Toronto. Will they be a hit?

From the Toronto Star:

Multiplex condos are popping up in the city’s development applications. Here’s why they’re becoming more popular for builders and buyers.

A small builder has big plans for a property on a residential street in the Junction.

If approved by the city, there will be four condo units available for sale on a plot of land where there was once a single-family home.

The proposed development, put forth by builder HMV Homes, would be similar to an earlier project they did in Pape Village, with three units in a triplex and one in a laneway suite.

The city is also reviewing an application from another builder to put four condo units — a triplex and a garden suite — on Dovercourt Road.

It seems more of these small condo developments are arriving to Toronto neighbourhoods that were once characterized by single-family homes. But the projects are complex and pricey, experts have previously said. So where is the new interest coming from?

What is a multiplex condo?

A multiplex is a type of building that has several units. More often than not, those units are rentals, but builders can apply for them to be condominiums so that each unit is sold separately. In that case, the owners of the units form a small condo corporation, and each owner has rights and responsibilities to the others that are laid out in a condo declaration. They may also pay maintenance fees.

Builders said the city’s recent Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods initiative — which led to garden suites being legalized in most residential zones and allowed duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes to be built citywide without special permissions — has made the planning and approvals process faster and simpler.

At 68 Westholme Ave. in the Junction, HMV Homes is already building a triplex and laneway suite, and the city is reviewing the application to turn the units into condos.

According to the application, all four units have three bedrooms, two of them have two bathrooms and the other two have three bathrooms. Each has its own outdoor space — the laneway suite and a basement suite each have access to separate areas of the yard, while the main floor unit has a balcony, and a two-storey unit encompassing the top two floors has a balcony and a terrace.