Dream Tower at Emerald City, 62 Forest Manor Rd: The Pool Phase

Dream Tower is the 25-storey third phase of Emerald City, the master-planned community across from Fairview Mall at Don Mills and Sheppard. It is the building I point buyers to when they want a pool and a mall at their door without paying Yonge and Sheppard prices. The fee covers heat, cooling and parking, which makes the monthly number easier to live with than it first looks. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Phase three of a planned community

Emerald City is not one building. Elad Canada planned it as a multi-tower community on the Parkway Forest lands at Don Mills and Sheppard, and UrbanToronto’s 2011 launch coverage described Dream Tower as the third tower, completing the northwest corner of the site. Later phases, including The Point and Lumina, followed under the same developer.

The developer name trips buyers up. Condos.ca lists Almadev, while the launch coverage says Elad Canada. They are the same company: Elad Canada announced that it was changing its name to Almadev. When you see either name on documents for this building, it is the same builder.

WZMH Architects designed the tower. The launch material described its form as modern curves set against landscaping around a separate amenities pavilion, and the curved balconies are what you notice from Forest Manor Road.

The amenity pavilion

The pavilion is the reason this tower stands out in the Don Mills and Sheppard pocket. The 2011 description included a fitness centre with a yoga studio, a pool and hot tub, a garden with barbecues, a party room, a dining room with a catering kitchen, a billiards lounge, a movie theatre and a large terrace.

Condos.ca currently lists a concierge, gym, indoor pool, party room and visitor parking, which matches the core of that plan. Because the launch plan put the amenities in a separate pavilion, they sit apart from the residential floors; ask how late the pool and gym stay open and how guest access works. Launch descriptions are a starting point, not a guarantee, so tour the pavilion and confirm which rooms are open and how bookings work today.

In a multi-phase community, ask whether the pavilion belongs to this corporation alone or is shared with neighbouring phases. If it is shared, there will be a shared facilities agreement setting out who pays what, and you want to read it with the status certificate.

Suites and who buys here

Condos.ca gives a suite range of about 523 to 1,265 square feet. That covers one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms, with a smaller number of larger plans, which is a typical mix for a 2015 suburban tower.

At 327 suites over 25 storeys, the floor plates are not huge, so many suites have corner or near-corner exposure. Ask which way the suite faces. In a community with several towers close together, some lower suites look straight into a neighbouring building, and that is worth seeing in person before you make an offer.

I could not find published ceiling heights or parking and locker counts. Parking is included in the fee here, so confirm in the status certificate that the space is assigned to the suite you are buying, and ask whether a locker comes with it.

Daily life at Don Mills and Sheppard

The location is the second reason people buy here. Fairview Mall is across the street, and the 2011 launch coverage described direct links to Don Mills station, the eastern terminus of Line 4 Sheppard. Walk the route yourself to see how it works in winter; the data panel on this page lists the transit options.

Drivers get quick access to the 401 and the Don Valley Parkway, which matters for anyone commuting downtown or to Markham. The trade-off is that Don Mills and Sheppard is a busy, car-oriented intersection rather than a walkable main street.

The area keeps changing. Emerald City itself added towers after this one, and the older rental blocks of Parkway Forest around it have been partly redeveloped. Expect continued construction nearby and factor that into views and noise.

Price per square foot, and what the fee covers

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $723 per square foot. That sits below most of Yonge and Sheppard, which is the usual discount for being at the end of Line 4 rather than on Line 1.

The two suites listed for sale when I checked were asking between $489,900 and $699,000. That is a small sample, so use the sold data panel on this page for a fuller picture.

Those listings work out to about $0.92 per square foot in maintenance fees. For a building with a pool, that is middle of the road, and it includes air conditioning, heat, building insurance, parking and water. Once you add separate parking and heating costs back to a building that does not include them, Dream Tower’s fee compares well.

Pools are expensive to run and eventually to rebuild. A fee in this range with a pool included is fine as long as the reserve fund is properly funded for it, so check the reserve fund study before you treat the fee as a bargain.

Compare like with like. A newer Emerald City phase may show a lower fee per square foot today, but newer buildings often start with lower fees that rise as the reserve fund catches up. A ten-year-old building with a stable fee history is easier to budget for, and you can see that history in the budgets and audited statements.

Building specifications

Amenities at Dream Tower at Emerald City

The pool and hot tub are the headline, and they are what most buyers in this price range at Don Mills and Sheppard are giving up elsewhere. The dining room and catering kitchen are useful for owners in smaller suites who host family.

Jatin’s honest take on Dream Tower at Emerald City

Dream Tower at Emerald City — frequently asked questions

Looking at Willowdale, Yonge & Sheppard, Bayview Village and North York Centre more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.