Menkes Developments Ltd. and QuadReal Property Group have broken ground on the East Tower at Bravo, the latest high-rise to be launched in the quickly growing Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) just north of Toronto.
Bravo is a multi-faceted, mixed-use community with 32-, 41- and 51-storey towers connected by a podium. It will offer: 1,654 residential units ranging in size from studios to three-bedroom suites; a retail promenade at grade; a pedestrian mews; and a privately owned public space.
“This is going to be a destination that people are going to want to come to for the retail, for the social elements and for the design,” Menkes executive vice-president of high-rise Jared Menkes told RENX.
“It will be lined with best-in-class local neighbourhood retailers that everyone’s going to want to visit.”
Bravo’s amenities will include: a 24-hour concierge; a co-working space; a chef’s kitchen; a gym, including a dry sauna and meditation areas; a music lounge; an indoor children’s playroom and outdoor play area; an outdoor screening theatre; a party room; a games and cards room; and a pet spa with wash stations.
Once complete, Bravo will offer proximity to arts, shopping, sports, parks, attractions and public transit, including Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Station.
The VMC is a district which is being developed near Highways 7, 400 and 407 by a number of major firms, creating a new downtown for the City of Vaughan.
Menkes and QuadReal activity at VMC
The project is part of Menkes and QuadReal’s master-planned redevelopment of the 83-acre community known as Assembly Park in Vaughan.
The Giannone Petricone Associates and IBI Group-designed space will feature diverse housing options, retail, new schools, parkland and socially oriented public spaces when it’s fully completed in approximately 10 years.
Toronto-based Menkes is a fully integrated real estate company involved in the construction, ownership and management of office, industrial, retail and residential properties, with a primary focus in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Vancouver-based QuadReal is a global real estate investment, operating and development company that manages the real estate and mortgage programs of British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, one of Canada’s largest asset managers.
Menkes and QuadReal also partnered on the Mobilio, Festival and Grand Festival residential developments at VMC. Delivery of Festival’s four towers and approximately 2,500 units will begin late this year and continue through the second quarter of 2026.
Sales have gone well
Sales launched last summer for Bravo’s first two towers, East and West, and they are now 80 per cent sold.
“Even though we saw the market slow down in 2022, we still have had a lot of success,” Menkes said. “We like to have a nice array of product — especially the end-user product, the three-bedroom units and the family-friendly units — that we can offer to people at different stages in life.
“So we’ll always have a few units available all the way through the project.”
Sales for the third and final building in the project, the South Tower known as Encore, will launch in the next few weeks. While prices haven’t been released, Menkes said they’ll be competitive and he believes the building will be popular.
“I think South Tower is going to be one of the most distinctive towers in the VMC,” Menkes stated. “It’s the tallest of the three and was designed by Turner Fleischer.”
Occupancies at Bravo are anticipated to begin in early 2028.
Other Menkes high-rise developments
Adagio — a 26-storey, 202-unit condominium at 771 Yonge St., just north of Bloor Street in Toronto — is expected to start occupancy late this year and continue into 2025.
The Whitfield — a 39-storey, 484-unit condo at 178 Front St. E. near Sherbourne Street on the eastern edge of downtown Toronto — will have approximately the same occupancy timeline.
While Menkes estimates there will be an all-time high of about 35,000 condo units delivered in the GTA this year, he sees that momentum slowing considerably and he’s concerned about a worsening housing crisis.
“By the end of 2026, we won’t have that many buildings under construction,” Menkes said. “We will start a few more, but I think we’re going to see a big slowdown in the GTA.”
Menkes believes more government incentives are needed to spur housing construction and support the construction industry.
“If we don’t have any buildings being built starting in the next year or two, that high-paying labour force is going to go and look for other jobs or they’re going to move to other markets,” Menkes predicted.