Despite the state of the Toronto condo market, values remain much higher than seven years ago. As a result, Tridel and the court-appointed monitor for One Bloor West are now seeking to cancel existing presale agreements, according to filings in Ontario Superior Court.

Originally known as “The One,” the 85-storey mixed-use tower was conceived by Mizrahi Developments as the tallest residential tower in Canada and the country’s first supertall structure. It is being constructed at the prime intersection of Bloor and Yonge streets in Toronto.

The project has been the subject of several legal proceedings, including being placed under receivership in October 2023 with over $1.9 billion of outstanding debt. After a court-ordered sales process turned up no offers to buy the project outright, Tridel was chosen to bring it to completion and officially took over as project manager, construction manager and sales manager on May 1.

Despite the receivership, which has since been converted into CCAA creditor protection proceedings, construction has continued. Tridel has since rebranded the tower as One Bloor West and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the project. That analysis has resulted in two major proposed changes to maximizing recovery for the senior secured lenders, now owed over $2.1 billion as of Sept. 30.

Third reconfiguration plan

The project under its original design had 415 condo units. When the project was put on the market, the receiver and senior lenders increased the amount of units to 503. After Tridel was chosen, it believed the increase was too high and could also affect the construction schedule, so the number was reduced to 476.

After taking over the project, conducting a comprehensive analysis, and seeking input from outside consultants such as Urbanation, Tridel is now proposing units be further reduced to 411 in light of current market conditions. According to Tridel and Urbanation, large condo units have outperformed smaller units since 2022.

Sales velocity for ultra-luxury condos over $10 million has also slightly increased compared to smaller investor-type units, while sales velocity for luxury units over $4 million has decreased at a slower rate than investor-type units.

“The market for smaller investor-type condominium units has continued to face significant challenges in 2025,” the monitor (Alvarez and Marsal) said. “These smaller units are primarily purchased by investors seeking to rent them to residential tenants. Investor demand has reduced substantially in every year since 2022.

"However, because condominium developments are planned, marketed and partially sold long before construction is complete, builders continue to construct a large number of smaller condominium units. This has resulted in a significant oversupply of smaller condominium units in Toronto, further justifying the need to reduce the number of Units of this type.”

As a result, the new plan includes more luxury and ultra-luxury units, while one-bedroom units have been reduced and/or converted to units with multiple bedrooms. These adjustments change the floorplans for Levels 40 to 48, and 59 to 76. According to the monitor, interior construction of Level 40 is set to begin at the end of this month.

Cancelling condo sale agreements

The other change Tridel and the monitor are seeking is to cancel a vast majority of the existing condo sale agreements (CSAs). According to the monitor, 345 of the original 415 units were presold and a majority of those sales occurred in 2017 and 2018. Tridel and the monitor now believe that, due to amount of the time that has passed, they can achieve higher sale prices.

Tridel retained Milborne Group as a consultant to undertake a market analysis, which found the existing presale agreements yielded an average price of $1,816 per sq. ft., which it believed to be “significantly lower than what the immediate area dictates.”

Citing the results of the analysis conducted by Milborne, Urbanation, and Tridel itself, the project team is seeking to cancel 314 of the 329 remaining CSAs (some were disclaimed and some buyers have defaulted), while retaining 15 they believe to be “economically viable.” This manoeuvre, which has been utilized in many real estate insolvencies, is projected to generate an additional $200 million in revenue, according to the monitor.

Pertaining to those original presale agreements, $105 million in deposits was collected. Those buyers are now eligible to receive a refund of their deposits along with accrued interest. Additionally, those buyers will also get a 45-day period to purchase a unit again, prior to One Bloor West relaunching sales.

The hotel component

A hotel is planned to sit below the residential component on floors five through 16 of One Bloor West, which is expected to play a significant role in the success of the overall project. Originally, the hotel was to be operated by Hyatt under its luxury Andaz brand. That agreement was terminated earlier this year and the project team is searching for a new operator, expected to be a five-star luxury brand.

The hotel is expected to play a pivotal role because the project team plans to market the condo units under the luxury hotel brand. Such a strategy could result in premiums of anywhere from 20 per cent to 56 per cent, according to Tridel’s consultants. As part of this strategy, some of the units will be redesigned to align with luxury hotel standards, but the additional investment is anticipated to be covered by the price premiums, the monitor says.

The project team is in advanced discussions with a small group of luxury hotel brands and expects the new operator to be identified in the coming weeks. Presales for the condos are then expected to relaunch in mid to late 2026, according to an FAQ sent to existing purchasers, although the timing will be dependent on market conditions.

As for the overall project, the concrete structure has been completed to Level 85 and the curtainwall has been completed to Level 72. Remaining structural elements such as the structural steel, building envelope, tuned mass damper, and others are expected to be substantially completed in fall 2026.

Earlier this year, project completion was estimated to occur in early 2028. In light of the new reconfiguration plan, RENX has reached out to Tridel seeking an updated timeline, but has not received a response as of publishing.