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Marlin Spring Developments COO Zev Mandelbaum is the third generation of his family’s 60-year building business. His grandfather, Sandy Hofstedter, started H&R Developments, among Canada’s biggest homebuilders at its peak. His father, Mark, co-launched Lanterra Developments, a top mixed-use builder of projects like Ice Condos and Maple Leaf Square. And Zev’s assumed the mantle with gusto. Marlin Spring, which he started two years ago with brothers-in-law Benjamin Bakst and Elliot Kazarnovsky, recently launched The Mack, a 206-unit townhouse project in Vaughan “we blew out of the water.”
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Marlin Spring partnered with Dream on The Mack (above), whose success Zev attributes to the allure of Vaughan’s burgeoning city centre, anchored by a subway extension opening soon. (The site is adjacent to a GO station, too.) Marlin Spring’s packed slate includes Canvas Condos, an eight-storey, 170-unit project in Danforth Village (below) with 4k SF of at-grade retail and adjacent subway and GO stops. Early in 2017, it plans to launch West Beach Condos, a 93-suite building at Queen and Cowell with 8k SF of retail, and Tazzo Towns, a 152-unit project at McCowan and 16th Avenue in Markham.
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The growth strategy for Marlin Spring is multi-faceted, Zev tells us. “We’re looking for opportunities in all areas” of residential development, from low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise condo to multifamily rental. The company is seeking to form JVs where possible, and not just Toronto-focused. With institutional money backing it, Marlin Spring US Realty—its south-of-the-border arm—recently acquired Running Brook, a 232-unit apartment complex in Dallas. And Zev says his group is eyeing another multifamily portfolio in Big D. “We want to expand aggressively with our US side.” The family must be proud.
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