The Fortress

I've lived here a year. My landlord is useless, but all units are privately owned, and the condo management company is pretty decent. I dealt mostly with DaLinda (CERA Management) and she is great. The pool is nice, the building is always clean. My only complaint is that there was a water leak on our floor and they had a locksmith open our door to let themselves in, found no water leak in our unit, yet charged our landlord the locksmith after hours fee anyways! which is kindly passed onto us. That is BS! it is a great location, near 2 shopping centers and a mall, right near a C-Train station, and 2 bus stops right out front (one going each way). I love this place, but your experience is pretty dependent on who owns your unit. There is a bike room in the basement so you don't have to haul it up to your unit all the time. The laundry room is big with lots of units but expensive ($2-3 for washer, $3 for dryer). There are 3 elevators, one is for moving in and out but costs $100 to use for moving, there is a big social room you can rent for parties (no alcohol is allowed though). 2 Tennis courts you can book, and nice little courtyard to hang around in during summer. The Balconies are covered, big, and have 3 walls.It is a nice building, and very sound proof (aside from the banging pipes that are old). As far as condos go, it isn't too bad a place, but your experience will vary. Oh, and if you don't have your parking pass displayed you WILL get a ticket by morning, so be sure it is visible. Still, far better experience living here than any place managed by Boardwalk!

Got our bikes stolen from the bike room inside the building where you need a key to get in (to the building AND the bike room). You are not allowed to store your bike in the unit and must keep it in the storage room but even with security camaras there is no response from management.Our car also got broken into twice and nothing was done. Water shutdowns happen twice a month during summer.This was in a 1 year lease.

Giving this place one star is generous. Whomever is managing the entire property is a joke.The fire alarm was pulled nearly every other day, majority of the time there was no emergency. Water for the entire building was shut off just as frequently. Sometimes, we wouldn't even get a warning, we'd just wake up and the water was shut off for the entire day. Pest control came to our unit several times unannounced, and would demand to be let in. We never had pest problems, and where unaware that anybody else did.And to top it all off, there was the time my Fiancé and I got stuck in the elevator. The door got jammed, we had to call the fire department so they could use a crowbar to force the door open and the next day the exact same elevator was open for all the residents to use. All of the elevators at one point in time for us would get jammed, but the time we had to call the fire department was the worst. Management just acknowledged our complaint, but no maintenance was done on any of the elevators until several weeks later. The pool was only open for us for 3 months out of the 15 months we lived there. When it was closed due to covid, it was understandable but it was closed for months even before that.All in all, I just wouldn't recommend living here.

I suspect The Fortress could serve as a case study of what happens when a condominium ends up with too many renters and not enough owners. The management company was incredibly slow to react even in emergency situations, there were full-building water shutdowns with the same frequency most people receive paychecks.Perhaps the most egregious example of how the Fortress is run occurred when a pipe burst one Wednesday evening, flooding at least five floors of the building. Even though people were being forced out of their homes, we heard neither heads nor tails from the company or the board. The flooding continued for at least a full day's time until we even saw repair staff on-site.It's really a shame. The building itself is phenomenal. It's got a pool, a gym, heated parkades, tennis courts, an office, a laundromat, and a party/conference hall. The location is also excellent, situated near the train line and several major shopping centers.If it were run better, it would be a great place to live. As it is, avoid it like the plague. It's not worth the headache.It's worth mentioning, of course, that it's been about a year or two since I lived there - maybe it's improved in that time.

I’ve been living here in this building for over two years, there is no security in this building, many many cars have been broken into, including my car, and when we ask the management, all they say is that they can’t do anything (just because of their incompetency). If you are reading this review and thinking about moving into this building, be informed that you would definitely have your car broken into. I would STRONGLY NOT recommend this building.

It's too bad I had to give 1 star, because this place doesn't deserve it. Terrible management, run down, barely livable conditions. Like your apartment flooding in the dead of winter? The Fortress has burst pipes ALL the time when it's cold. We had our floors torn up from a flood caused by a burst pipe, nobody ever bothered to come and fix it in our two final months living there. They did let themselves in on multiple occasions without notice or asking though. The building management offices on the main floor flooded a month after ours did, and contractors showed up immediately and repaired that damage. They couldn't care less about anyone besides themselves.They also love to send you completely illegal fines they make up. Someone on our floor was smoking marijuana, so they sent $250 fines to several units without verifying where the smell was coming from. If you don't pay, or fight to have it overturned, they evict you. The people running the show are completely corrupt and immoral, and won't lift a finger to do anything for you. Worst experience renting an apartment in my life. After inconvenience upon inconvenience, including tagging my car to be towed when it was parked in my registered spot, we finally decided to leave.Here's the kicker, when we went to book the moving elevator for our move they told us that the board had approved a new policy (after we had moved in), and it now costs $100 non-refundable, plus a $100 deposit just to move in or out. Must be paid with cheque.Go down to Rona and ask if they have a large cardboard box you can have. You're way better off living in that than in this absolute joke of an apartment building. Don't be fooled by what may be a nice suite (all privately owned), because your landlord won't be the problem here, it will be everything else. We hated this place so much that we vowed never to live in any apartment building ever again. They are crooks, and they use everything they can to screw you over and take your money.Avoid this place like the bubonic plague. That's not even slightly a joke.Don't just walk away, RUN.

I am an owner of a first floor unit at the Fortress. I lived in the building for 5 years and I’ve been a landlord of my unit for 10 years. I’ve seen four changes in management in this time.The Fortress was mismanaged for several years prior to me buying my unit. I’ve seen improvements in the management companies over the years and I’ve seen major issues being addressed slowly in my time as a resident and landlord. At the time of this writing, CEra is the property management company.My trust in the management of this building has grown over time. They truly are fixing some major issues and doing things properly. Some examples include the swimming pool, tennis courts, addition of plumbing zones to reduce the number of water shutdowns, windows and door replacement, landscaping, parking lot, fitness area and washrooms, security cameras, new elevators, and lobby updates.Response time could improve, but they do consistently get back to me in a cordial way. The issue with cockroaches was addressed properly with fumigation and periodic checks from a pest control company. There has been no sign of them in the last 18 months.The building certainly has had its challenges over the years, but I really believe it will continue to improve there.

I lived here for almost a year as an exchange student. The fire alarm was prone to be blaring at 4 am, but I never had a single problem there. The tennis court was enjoyable on summer, I worked out wonderfully at the gym on winter. Just a 10 minute walk to Dalhousie LRT.10/10, would totally recommed.PS: I am a broke Majorcan.

The building located in a very mature community, clinic, restaurants, super markets, train station are nearby. Indoor swimming pool ,gym are in the building! yes, there are some ongoing issues, but new management company has been putting effects to make a difference to the building! I would highly recommend this building to live!

This apartment complex is alright I can't say too much as I have only visited friends that live there. Units are relatively large sized. A bit of an older look to them . Can't speak to the pricing. But I can say they have a nifty walled off parking space. Which I imagine is where the name mostly comes from.