Fengate and LiUNA Pension Fund Break Ground on The Benjamin, a 528-Unit Rental Tower in Toronto

TORONTO — Fengate Asset Management celebrated the groundbreaking of The Benjamin on Oct. 22, a 58-storey purpose-built rental community at 355 Adelaide Street West in Toronto's Entertainment District. The project is a LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (LPFCEC) development, undertaken in partnership with Fengate and The Hi-Rise Group.

The tower will deliver 528 rental homes, including 10 affordable units, along with ground-floor retail and a new pedestrian connection from Adelaide Street to Oxley Street. The Benjamin is expected to welcome its first residents in 2030.

The Benjamin: Project Details

Fengate described The Benjamin as a flagship project and among its first developments located in Toronto's downtown core offering premium amenities, suites and programming. The site is currently home to a six-storey building designed in the early twentieth century by architect Benjamin Brown. That heritage building will be preserved and integrated into the new development, and the project will carry forward Brown's name along with the character and craftsmanship associated with the former Garment District.

The development will offer a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites. These include a collection of soft loft units within the original Benjamin Brown building and corner-view studios designed for urban professionals. The 10 affordable units represent roughly 1.9% of the 528-home total.

Planned amenities include a coworking space, theatre, games room and pet wash. The seventh floor will have indoor and outdoor amenity space, and the 58th floor will house a fitness and wellness centre with 360-degree views of the city.

Location and Transit Access in the Entertainment District

The Benjamin sits in the centre of the Entertainment District, near restaurants, theatres and entertainment venues, including Rogers Centre, as well as Toronto's Financial District. The Spadina Avenue and King Street streetcars are at the site's doorstep, and the future Ontario Line is nearby.

The broader site assembly includes 46 Charlotte Street, 16 Oxley Street and 353–355 Adelaide Street West. The project was also referred to in earlier planning materials as the Spadina Adelaide rental project.

Comments From LiUNA and Fengate Leaders

The groundbreaking event featured comments from Chris Glover, Member of Provincial Parliament for Spadina-Fort York; Joseph Mancinelli, Chair of LPFCEC, LiUNA International Vice President and Regional Manager for Central and Eastern Canada; Jaime McKenna, President, Fengate Real Estate; and Bareket Kezwer, a community artist and muralist.

"LiUNA's legacy is deeply connected to building up communities across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, creating good union jobs and investing in the places our members call home," said Joseph Mancinelli. "The Benjamin continues that proud history and amplifies LiUNA's impact in Toronto. We are not only delivering homes, jobs and value for the economy, we are preserving an important piece of the city's architectural heritage while helping build a new community for generations to come."

"The Benjamin is a landmark site for Fengate in the heart of downtown Toronto where we remain focused on growing our impact through transformative developments," said Jaime McKenna. "We are proud to bring together expert teams who share Fengate's commitment to advancing housing in our city. Once complete, The Benjamin will honour the legacy of Benjamin Brown while creating a connected, vibrant community for the people who will call it home."

Design and Construction Team

The project team includes SG Constructors, WZMH Architects, ERA Architects, Honeycomb, Blackjet and DesignAgency, which Fengate said are balancing heritage preservation with contemporary design. The construction hoarding will feature the installation Circling, a collage by Toronto-based muralist Bareket Kezwer that blends archival photographs with contemporary imagery to explore the neighbourhood's legacy of creativity, architecture and reinvention.

Fengate's and LPFCEC's Broader Toronto Activity

Fengate reports more than $28 billion in assets under management across infrastructure, private equity and real estate strategies. Its real estate division, Fengate Real Estate, reports $9.2 billion of assets under management, including a residential pipeline of more than 25,000 units and more than 5 million square feet of industrial space in varying stages of development. LPFCEC, established in 1972, reports more than $13 billion in assets.

Fengate's 2026 development update identifies 355 Adelaide as a 528-home project. Fengate and the Hi-Rise Group are also advancing a 44-storey, 509-unit rental building at 4–10 Beamish Drive near the Kipling transit hub and a 47-storey, 420-unit condominium project at 263 Adelaide Street West. Separately, a proposed LiUNA-backed Toronto Rail Yards community between Bathurst Street and Spadina Avenue is planned to include nearly 4,000 homes, more than two acres of urban parkland, 85,000 square metres of office space, two child-care centres and approximately 4,700 square metres of retail space.

The Benjamin adds purpose-built rental inventory to a downtown submarket served by existing streetcar routes and the planned Ontario Line, with delivery targeted for 2030.

Sources

• Fengate Asset Management: https://fengate.com/article/liuna-and-fengate-break-ground-benjamin-new-58-storey-rental-community-incorporating
• GlobeNewswire: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/10/22/3386852/0/en/liuna-and-fengate-break-ground-on-the-benjamin-a-new-58-storey-rental-community-incorporating-a-heritage-benjamin-brown-building.html