Forest Mansion I, 125 Omni Dr: All-Inclusive Fees by the Town Centre

Forest Mansion at 125 Omni Drive is where I look when a buyer wants a big suite near Scarborough Town Centre and hates surprise utility bills. The fee here covers heat, hydro, water and air conditioning, which is rare, and the price per square foot is among the lowest in the Town Centre cluster. The catch is that the fee looks high until you do the arithmetic. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One of the Omni South towers, and why the names get confusing

This building has more names and numbers attached to it than most, so let me untangle them. A November 1999 City of Toronto staff report describes 125 Omni Drive as the second phase of the Omni South development, marketed as Forest Mansion, in the north-east quadrant of Brimley and Ellesmere Roads. That report puts this phase at 22 storeys and 277 units, and says the first phase was a 26-storey building with 204 units plus 42 casita units.

Condos.ca groups 117 and 125 Omni Drive together as Forest Mansion I, with 23 storeys and 276 suites, and there is also a Forest Mansion II at 123 Omni Drive. The one-suite and one-storey differences are typical of how floors and suites get counted once a building registers. The phase numbering is the part to be careful with.

On the developer, condos.ca and liv.rent both credit Tridel, while the city report names the applicant as Omni South Inc. Both can be true, because large builders usually apply through a project company, but I could not confirm the link from the city documents alone. When you see a listing, check the address and the corporation number, MTCC-1363, rather than relying on the building name.

The fee that covers almost everything

The headline feature is the fee. Condos.ca lists air conditioning, heat, hydro, water, building insurance and common elements as included. Hydro in the fee is unusual for a Toronto condo, and it means your monthly cost is close to your total housing cost, apart from internet, insurance on your contents and property tax.

That is why the fee looks high. Across the current listings it works out to about $1.18 per square foot, well above the $0.70 range you see at newer towers nearby. But at those newer towers you pay hydro, and often heat and cooling, on your own meter. Add a realistic monthly hydro bill back onto the cheaper building and the gap narrows a lot.

Parking is not on the condos.ca inclusion list, even though the building has an underground garage. The 1999 city report described 403 parking spaces for this phase, including 43 visitor spaces. Confirm whether the suite you are buying comes with an owned space and a locker, and whether there is a separate charge for either.

Layouts: space is the reason to buy here

Suites run from about 652 to 1,940 sq ft, which is generous by current standards. Smaller one-bedrooms start in the 600s, and the larger plans with a den reach into the 900s and beyond. Compared with new Town Centre towers, where one-bedrooms often sit near 500 sq ft, you get noticeably more room.

The trade-off is age. A suite built in 2001 will usually have original or partly updated kitchens, bathrooms and flooring unless an owner has renovated. Price the renovation into your offer, and ask whether the building has rules about flooring underlay or contractor hours before you plan one.

Daily life at Brimley and Ellesmere

Forest Mansion sits on Omni Drive, on the south side of the Scarborough Town Centre district. Shopping, the Civic Centre and the library are close, and the 401 is a short drive north. The details on transit, schools and walkability are in the data panel on this page.

Transit here is in the middle of a rebuild. Line 3, the Scarborough RT, is closed. According to blogTO, the replacement busway from Kennedy Station runs to Lawrence East and Ellesmere stations and then uses priority lanes on Ellesmere Road to reach Scarborough Town Centre, with service starting on 30 September 2026. The Line 2 subway extension is expected around 2030.

The subway is the long-term story for the whole Town Centre cluster. It should support values, but expect construction and more towers around the mall over the next decade. Check the City of Toronto development applications map if an open view matters to you.

What Forest Mansion I costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $451 per square foot. That is well below 360 at the City Centre, which sits around $591, and it reflects both the age of the building and the size of its suites, since larger suites usually sell for less per square foot.

When I checked, seven suites were for sale and one for lease. Asking prices across the seven listings ran from $349,900 to $550,000, and monthly fees across them ran from about $717 to $1,149. Those fees average about $1.18 per square foot, but remember that they include hydro, heat, water and air conditioning.

The way I compare value here is total monthly cost, not the fee alone. Add mortgage, fee and property tax for this building, then do the same for a newer suite with its hydro and parking added in. If you want to see what suites here have actually sold for, I can pull the comparables through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Forest Mansion I

An indoor pool and sauna in a building of this size are the amenities people actually use, and they are a real saving if you would otherwise pay for a gym or swim membership. They also cost money to run and eventually replace, which is part of why the fee is what it is.

Jatin’s honest take on Forest Mansion I

Forest Mansion I — frequently asked questions

Looking at Agincourt, L’Amoreaux, Milliken, Dorset Park and Wexford in Scarborough more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.