Toronto’s Exclusive Lytton Park Finally Gets New Development

Real estate professionals are all too aware that young families are the likeliest to uproot if an opportunity to move into a desirable school catchment presents itself.

It turns out they’re in luck.

Brightstone has developed The Briar on Avenue, a seven-unit boutique luxury townhouse project in the heart of Lytton Park —which is in one of the Greater Toronto Area’s most desirable catchments.

“The Briar on Avenue’s site was chosen because we envisioned it as a gateway to Lytton Park that’s close to a host of shops, services, parks, major transit routes and, of course, some of the best schools in Canada,” Yoav Bohbot, vice president & director of acquisitions at Brightstone Developments, told CREW.

“These seven homes are completely finished and move-in ready, with some homes already occupied. It is the only luxury brand new townhome opportunity in the Lytton Park area.”

The seven units are designed by world-renowned—and Toronto-born—architect Richard Wengle, who’s designed seven unique pieces of art ranging in size from 2,498 to 2,714 square feet, and which bring a strong and classic, yet contemporary, elegance to the exclusive Lytton Park neighbourhood.

Moreover, Brightstone and Richard Wengle Architect Inc. designed The Briar on Avenue with families in mind, as well as singles and young professionals. Brightstone, as its name suggests, creates homes on sites carefully chosen for their potential to optimize natural light inside its homes’ capacious interiors.

And that created quite the canvas for Wengle.

“The design components in the homes are typical of traditional custom homes with large windows and oversized height and width to create more openness and a larger sense of space,” Wengle said.

But these aren’t typical homes, as this development’s Lytton Park locale suggests. The Briar on Avenue uses open concept design principles on the main levels, as well as high-end finishes including 11-foot ceilings, white oak hardwood flooring—and floor heating in the bathrooms and throughout the basement—built-in fireplace feature walls, and Wolf and Sub Zero appliances, which are known for being among the most upscale in the market today.

That isn’t all, Bohbot added.

“The homes at The Briar on Avenue have in-home elevators,” he said. “What we’re offering in Lytton Park doesn’t merely fit with the neighbourhood’s existing external aesthetics, it includes what residents here are used to having in their living spaces.

“Except what we’re offering goes further than what already exists here, and because The Briar on Avenue is the only collection of new homes available for sale in this neighbourhood, each unit is dressed to the nines.”

Lytton Park is an established Toronto neighbourhood—which in itself satisfies a major criterion for Brightstone when it searches for in-fill development opportunities—it also offers something the overwhelming majority of the city’s other area codes don’t.

“This neighbourhood provides families seamless access to the best schools, not just in the entire GTA, but in the entire country,” Bohbot said.

Laura Martin, a veteran mortgage broker and consultant with the Business Development Bank of Canada, says Lytton Park is so established and exclusive that new developments in the neighbourhood have become uncommon.

Martin is an industry veteran who is very familiar with Lytton Park and applauds the savvy of launching a boutique development there specifically for families. Over the years, she has seen countless families jump through hoops to get their children into Toronto’s best catchment areas. In this case, there’s brand-new product, and therefore fewer hoops to jump through, for these families.

Lytton Park boasts John Ross Robertson Junior Public School, Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute, as well as Havergal College, Upper Canada College, Bishop Stachan, and Allenby Junior Public School.

“Your postal code determines your access to quality education,” Martin said.

But there’s another reason Martin believes The Briar on Avenue is poised for success. According to RE/MAX, GTA homes sales for luxury properties over $3 million surged by 41% year-over-year, indicating the market for these homes isn’t merely alive and well—it’s thriving.

In fact, home sales in the final quarter of 2024 increased by 59% annually for homes priced over $5 million, further signifying that seven Wengle-designed family homes might not remain on the market long.

“The impact of the first and second 50-basis-point rate cuts by the Bank of Canada radiated throughout the GTA in the fourth quarter, jumpstarting demand for high-end properties both within the city and suburbs,” RE/MAX Canada President Christopher Alexander said.

“We’ve been expecting a surge in top-tier sales activity as the economic climate and corresponding pause in buying intentions prompted a build-up in pent-up demand. The fourth quarter did not disappoint.”

Martin anticipates luxury home price growth will outstrip the conventional market, the latter of which is anticipated by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board to rise by a modest 2.6% this year.

“Demand for luxury properties is high, but supply is low, which is why prices in that sub-market of the housing market should see growth this year,” Martin said, adding that growth in the luxury sector will likely be around 7% in 2025.

“Compare that to an area like East Danforth, which has very moderately priced homes, and which is projected to have growth of only 2.6% in 2025. It’s in the same city, but the outcomes are vastly different.”

The reason for that, Martin added, comes back to why Lytton Park is exclusive to begin with. It’s where upper-level professionals go to raise their families; it’s why Granite Club, the private social and athletic club, is located nearby on Bayview Avenue And the Cricket Club on Wilson; it’s why there’s a considerable concentration of golf clubs in the area.

“Buyers in the upper-echelon social class move to Lytton Park, and they don’t settle for anything less,” Martin continued. “It’s where the C-suite and director level of major financial firms, partners at law firms, high-level entrepreneurs and investment bankers go to live.”