Canderel Breaks Ground on Forêt™ Forest Hill in Toronto

📅 3 weeks ago

Canderel has initiated construction on the Forêt™ Forest Hill project, a three-tower community in Toronto, with financing from a consortium of five major banks, marking a significant development in the city's real estate landscape.

Canderel has officially commenced construction on the Forêt™ Forest Hill project, a master-planned community featuring three residential towers located at the intersection of Bathurst and St. Clair in Toronto. The project has secured construction financing from a consortium of five major Canadian banks, led by CIBC and including National Bank, TD, Desjardins, and Laurentian Bank. Jonathan Wener, founder and chairman of Canderel, remarked on this financing milestone, recalling the financing structure used for the Aura at College Park project that emerged in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Wener noted, "This financing milestone brings back memories of Aura at College Park, where, coming out of the 2008 recession, we advanced a highly complex project into construction with a marquee financing structure from a consortium of 10 banks. While today’s environment presents a different set of challenges, Forêt reflects a similar achievement: moving a major project forward with the confidence of leading Canadian financial institutions at a time when the industry is facing significant headwinds."
The Forêt project aims to transform a long-vacant site into a vibrant community hub, incorporating three residential towers with retail spaces at ground level. The towers are designed to be 35, 37, and 41 stories tall, collectively housing approximately 1,310 residential suites. The project team comprises BDP Quadrangle for architecture, II BY IV Design for interiors, and Site/C for landscape design. Notably, excavation for the underground infrastructure, which includes a geothermal heating and cooling system, was completed last year.
In addition to the residential towers, the redevelopment will introduce a public park, a child care center, and community spaces to the area. The condominium community will feature around 50,000 square feet of amenities, both indoor and outdoor. These amenities will include a two-storey fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a sauna, steam rooms, a juice bar, recreational spaces for children, a pet spa, private dining areas, and various entertainment venues, including a wine lounge.
The eastern tower's top nine floors will consist of boutique suites, which will have a private lobby and elevator access, along with dedicated amenity spaces and high-end finishes throughout. Typical suites are designed to reach sizes of up to 2,000 square feet, with options available for combining units. Riz Dhanji, president of RAD, which oversees sales for Forêt and other condominium developments in the city, commented, "Today’s groundbreaking signals renewed energy in Toronto’s condominium market and reflects both a strong consistent sales program and recent uptick in buyer activity. Overall, in today’s market, we are seeing buyers gravitate to well-designed and well-located projects with highly reputable developers."

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