Osmington Gerofsky Development Corporation (OGDC) and WJ Properties have broken ground on the first phase of a purpose-built rental community at 9 St. Dennis Dr. in Toronto, according to a Daily Commercial News report. The 38-storey, 474-unit tower is the first of a multi-phase redevelopment at Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East, adjacent to the future Don Valley Station on the Ontario Line. The project occupies land that the Weinbaum family, operating as WJ Properties, has owned and managed for more than 60 years.
“Since the late 1960s, our family has helped shape Flemingdon Park, building homes and caring for the people who live in them,” Allan Weinbaum, owner of WJ Properties, said in a statement. “This project is about investing in the neighbourhood’s future: more rental housing, new public space, and a building that connects residents to transit and opportunities growing around them.”
The tower will include 20 per cent affordable housing, nearly an acre of new public parkland, and a fully geothermal heating and cooling system, according to the release. Construction Canada reported that the development will contribute approximately 0.3 ha (0.7 acres) of public parkland to the City of Toronto, and that the site sits directly across Don Mills Road from the future Flemingdon Park station on the Ontario Line.
Geothermal system drives energy performance
The building will run on 100 per cent geothermal energy for heating and cooling, drawn from 99 boreholes drilled hundreds of feet into the ground, the release explains. According to the project team, the system is expected to reduce energy use by 60 per cent and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent compared with a comparable code-compliant building. These performance figures position the project as a benchmark for low-carbon residential construction in Toronto.
The geothermal system also has implications for the building envelope. Because heating and cooling loads are met through ground-source exchange, the building’s glazing and insulation assemblies can be optimized for overall energy performance. Fenestration suppliers will need to coordinate closely with mechanical designers to ensure window-to-wall ratios and glass specifications align with the geothermal capacity. The system’s 99 boreholes serve as the building’s exclusive heating and cooling source, eliminating reliance on conventional HVAC systems. For glazing, this means windows and curtain wall must manage solar gain and thermal loss effectively, as the geothermal system operates most efficiently when the building’s overall energy demand is minimized. Low-E coatings, argon gas fills, and thermally broken frames will likely be specified to complement the geothermal system, though the sources do not confirm these details.
Design signals glazing and envelope scope
Architects Alliance designed the building, drawing inspiration from the site’s original morphology. Peter Clewes, principal at Architects Alliance, explained the design intent: “At 9 St. Dennis, we wanted to work with that original morphology of the area and evolve the Modernist idea of the ‘tower in the park’ for contemporary life. The building rises directly from a generous, contoured common landscape, maintaining the clarity and simplicity of the original planning idea while addressing the expectations of a new generation of residents,”
Clewes added, “That idea is expressed in the building’s composition: a slender tower, wrapped in glass and precast concrete frames, sits elegantly on a black porcelain-clad base that folds up and over a glazed double-height atrium.” The design language points to a substantial scope for curtain wall, window, and door packages, with the glass-wrapped tower and double-height atrium requiring custom glazing solutions. The site’s location directly across from the future Flemingdon Park station on the Ontario Line places the tower within a transit-oriented development context, often associated with ground-floor retail or amenity spaces featuring expansive glazing.
The contoured common landscape described by Clewes will also shape public realm interfaces, including ground-floor glazing, storefront systems, and entry doors that meet both aesthetic and thermal performance requirements.
Funding and community investment
Through the Apartment Construction Loan program, the project received $185 million in federal financing, according to Robert Oliphant, MP for Don Valley West, as reported by Construction Canada. “This groundbreaking reflects a substantial new investment in the neighbourhood,” said David Gerofsky, principal and CEO at OGDC. The federal financing through the Apartment Construction Loan Program underscores the project’s scale and its alignment with national housing objectives. For fenestration manufacturers, such financing often requires adherence to rigorous energy efficiency standards, though the sources do not specify which particular standards apply in this case.
OGDC and WJ Properties have also funded a renovation of the nearby Flemingdon Park branch of the Toronto Public Library and, since 2025, have provided 25 annual scholarships to graduating students at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in partnership with The Neighbourhood Organization, the release states. These community investments, combined with the affordable housing component, reinforce the project’s long-term role in the Flemingdon Park neighbourhood.
Implications for Canadian fenestration suppliers
The multi-phase redevelopment positions the site as a sustained source of demand for commercial glazing, curtain wall, window and door systems across Toronto. While the sources do not detail specific fenestration performance requirements, the tower’s geothermal system and stated energy and emissions reductions suggest a focus on high-performance building envelopes. Canadian suppliers will need to meet the Ontario Building Code and CSA A440 standards for fenestration products as part of any specification package. The project's scale and public profile may also attract glazing contractors capable of handling complex curtain wall geometries and large-format glass installations. As the first phase moves forward, suppliers across Canada will be watching for tender packages and specification documents.
The project’s first phase at Don Valley Station marks a significant addition to Toronto’s purpose-built rental stock, with subsequent phases expected to continue the fenestration pipeline for glazing contractors and product manufacturers across Canada. The combination of a glass-wrapped tower, a glazed atrium, and a geothermal-driven energy target creates a technically demanding assignment that will favour suppliers with experience in high-rise residential and institutional glazing.