Festival Condominiums Phase 1 Rising, Phase 2 Reaches Ground Level in South VMC

Urbantoronto.ca
Feb. 10, 2023
Matias Bessai

Arguably the most remarkable story in the rapid growth of the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) area has been the constant stream of new projects since the opening of the subway extension in 2017. Over the years since, development has now spread to the southern end of the growing mixed-use hub, where the partnership of Menkes Developments and QuadReal Property Group has been particularly active.

As the development duo continues chipping away at a handful of projects in South VMC, the four-tower Festival Condominiums development is leading the way. With the IBI Group-designed project now well into construction, the first phase is rising above Highway 7 while the second phase is advancing through the stages of below grade forming.

The image above, captured late last year, offers an effective summary of the work taking place on site as the project continues. Facing south, we see two distinct halves, each at different stages; these are phases one and two, dubbed Festival and Grand Festival respectively, that will deliver the four towers pictured in the project renderings. Phase one (right) has a notable head start, but with five cranes active on the site, phase two is not far behind.

The image below pictures the site from ground level as it stood in December. We can see that work on phase one has advanced through the process of forming the two towers’ podium levels, and has moved onto the forming of the first tower floors. This moment often marks a turning point in the pace of construction, with the repeating floor-plates making for a simpler, quicker forming process.

Moving into January, UrbanToronto received an update from Menkes offering specific insights on the status of the project and the tasks to come. Beginning with phase one, Menkes confirmed that tower A, pictured on the left in the east-facing image below, is in the process of forming the 11th floor, while its neighbour, tower B, is just one floor behind. The statement also confirms that another new floor is formed every week.

Looking at the progress of phase two, pictured in the background of the above image, we can confirm from Menkes' update that the project has emerged above grade for the first time. Tower C, pictured in the upper right corner, is in the process of forming its final level of underground parking, while tower D, in the upper left corner, has seen its ground floor slab poured.

With first occupancies targeted for 2024, things will progress quickly at the site of Festival Condominiums. Even after completion however, the site will continue to evolve. A third phase, dubbed Bravo, is currently in the launching stage, and is slated to add another three towers just to the west, making Festival an intrinsic feature of the growing Assembly Park community that Menkes and QuadReal are bringing to life in the South VMC area.

UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.