Pemberton Group

I wish I had seen these reviews when I purchased back in 2017. It has been an absolute nightmare dealing with this company. All the negative reviews are true and we have experienced all of it. We have completed occupancy and as many predicted, the finishes are cheap but what was not expected how sloppy it was. Many residents have complained that appliances, window/door frames, cabinets were all chipped or damaged to a degree that they are refusing to replace it. Just paint touch up. In raising awareness and speaking to other builders they have privately shared that the owners of Pemberton are known to be cheapskates who are laughing all the way to the bank. Please be careful when committing to purchase based on renderings as the project rarely has the same finish as envisioned. The deficiencies in each unit were substantial and I noticed that many of the units remain unoccupied which leads me to believe that many were purchased for investment. Usually when that happens, there aren't enough owners who are residents to raise concerns and builders get away with it. They do not care about their reputation and are one of the builders that know that if they build; people will buy. Just be careful and know what you are getting into when buying a pre-con from Pemberton. During occupancy they will make your life living hell and turn a blind eye to any complaints. They will enter your unit unauthorized and try to remove things from your unit when you move in during occupancy. They have no control over the construction site where occupants are living through non stop fire alarms every single day (YES! Even on weekends) from 8am to 5pm. Their response to our complaints has been to find alternative accommodations. Some of us are paying upwards of $7k in rent to the builder. If we have extra cash to find alternative accommodations, we would not have purchased this property to begin with. Given what is already public about the family and the criminal case, it is obvious that they don't care about their reputation. All we can do is warn future prospective purchasers. BEWARE. DO NOT BUY PEMBERTON.

Pemberton group did a very poor job in constructing the building at 58 Orchard View Blvd. They bought cheap appliances which needed repair within the first two years and no parts were available on the market when we needed for the refrigerator which we later found out it was discontinued; the cover of lights in the bathroom above the sink broke and many residents in the building were looking to buy the part-cover and there was not available so we had to replace with a brand new other type of light.There were so many repairs to be done in the units on pre-delivery and quite a few repairs were not done accordingly such as covers under the dishwasher/stove; to this day one cover is still missing. The isle in the kitchen does not have sufficient space (not deep enough) to put any kind of bar stools and it does not serve the function, rather than a decoration between the kitchen and living room. They did not bother to put a very simple/small medicine cabinet in the washroom, which you can find in any rental building in the city of Toronto. They sold us a small size of a locker while we chose and paid for the largest size on pre-build status (of $3,500.00) when we signed the Purchase and sale Agreement with their agent; we still have the papers which circled the size of the locker. They delayed the delivery of the building two or three times. The fine prints on purchase agreement stated that if owners would like to rent out their units, they must work with builder's agents, who not only did not tell us when the building would be registered but they rented out units as low as $1400/month while the cost of living was way above that. Owners had to pay out of their pocket for a few years or when the tenant/s moved out to increase the rent.We were very, very disappointed and would not refer this builder to any one we know regardless of what they are doing now in Toronto & GTA.

To: Pemberton


I am a resident in SkyCIty 1 and have been residing in the building for the last 19 months. During this time we have been pretty much living in a construction zone as SkyCity 2 comes to life.
Purchasing in a building knowing that the second building was under construction started off with out being a huge concern to us because we knew we were dealing with a reputable builder and we believed everything would be handled in a timely respectable manner with as little inconveniences to the residents living in SkyCity1 as possible.

It was brought to our attention months ago that the builder is refusing to power wash the resident parking garage.
Myself as well as many other residents feel that this is simply unacceptable. The conditions in P1 are not from normal usage from residents and we should not have to spend the corporations money to clean a situation that was not created by normal living conditions.
Pemberton has had access into the residence(s) parking lot daily and over time it has become unlivable.
On several occasions the builder has taken it upon themselves to cut holes in the concrete walls without the courtesy of giving us the residents and Management the option of removing our cars and ourselves from the cloud of dust that is left in the parking garage. Our cars are not only dirty daily on the outside but the fine dust particles make way into our cars creating layers of dust that we have to inhale. Our cleaners have been seen wearing masks as they walk around P1 picking up garbage and debris. The dust also trials in on our feet when walking into the building which is a huge problem for L2 parking as these corridors are all carpeted.

I have taken it upon myself to contact several buildings and discuss the construction process with the management offices. Everyone I spoke to relayed a similar message. I was told that the builder did their best to not disrupt residents and always tried to ensure the site was clean. That included power wash of all garages and also the cleaning of the exterior windows of the building.
We the owners demand the same respect from Pemberton !
This is our investment and our home and we should not have to endure a cleaning cost to bring the buiding back to a “new” condition.

As I mentioned our concern is that the Corporation should not have to use the building operating funds to clean the mess which was created by the Developer.

Due to lack of response from my prior emails directly to the Developer I am now forced to ask Management to assist in getting this letter to someone in hopes that the Developer will uphold their reputation.
Sincerely, SkyCity 1 owner

Pemberton constructed what they touted as their first luxury condo building in downtown Toronto at 35 Balmuto street. The heat pumps they installed for the opening in 2012 were manufactured between 2008 and 2010, so already old-new when started. They were bought when Pemberton knew that they operated on R22 refrigerant and therefore would not be available after 2020 when it is banned. The heat pump in my unit gave out after only 5 years of operation when the average life expectancy of heat pumps is 12-15 years.
Bottom line: Pemberton looks for the absolute cheapest product to install typo maximize profits, and you are left holding the baby AND THE BILLS.
i AM VERY SUSPICIOUS OF THIS COMPANY FOR BEING AT BEST DISHONEST!

In a concrete cube like a condo the inner skin is windows, paint and the floor. You would think the builder would use quality paint and flooring. The additional cost is so marginal at the time of construction. After the fact it's inconvenient and expensive. That's not my experience at Bluwater. We will be repainting our newly purchased condo and likely have to replace a complete floor due to a rushed installation and subsequent repairs.

Pemberton are currently renovating the sales centre which exists in a condo they have built around 9 years ago. The space will turn into 3 suites. I have no issue that work must be done. However, all unit owners must abide by condo rules that respect other owners and their ability to live in peace during the appropriate hours. As such, no construction work of any kind is allowed before 9AM. The site manager in charge of construction agreed to this in-person.

Clearly, much like the heir to the Muzzo family fortune (whom own Pemberton) who plead guilty to Impaired Driving killing four people - Pemberton have a sense of entitlement which makes them think the rules do not apply to them. Despite agreeing to no construction before 9AM, despite the property manager, concierge and residents notifying their trades of this fact, work has continued from 7AM every day disturbing elderly residents and people that do not share sleep patterns with your typical construction worker.

This is not an open construction site. The residents and the condo rules have not been respected. Know that if you buy with them, you cannot count on them to follow their word, or act responsibly or care about others. All they care about is themselves, damn everyone else.

Bought this brand new condo unit in Etobicoke. Project was delayed by more than 18 months. Numermous problems and the builder is rather slow to fix. Floor is not levelled. Appliances and finishes are damaged. Many of them are waiting to be fixed. Worst of yet, it will take about 9 months for it to register (so you are wasiting your money on phantom mortgage or the occupancy fee!) The price is not bad for the location and materials, but there are just so much hassle dealing with after-sales. And the defected listed on the PDI, Tarion's 30 forms are just too slow to be fixed!

Horrible customer service. Ongoing issues in my and many of my neighbours units that still have not been rectified after two years. People are paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars for their heating system that failed after 2 years. Pemberton enjoys luring clients in, but when it comes to customer service and dealing with deficiencies, they put their hands up and turn away. Not a way to conduct business Pemberton. Buyer beware!

I purchased a condo from the Pemberton Group (The Royal) a couple of years ago. I was very pleased with the quality towards customer service. I ran into very minor problems (as i'm sure most condominium owners do) and their customer service was a very big help and they had everything fixed in a timely manner. I'd buy from them again!