Condo #1: Building Harmony in High-Rise Living

Hi, I’m Pat Crosscombe, Founder and CEO of BoardSpace. You’re listening to my very first podcast—a series that will explore the knowledge, history, and a little bit of the magic behind condo and not-for-profit boards. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tonis Kasvand, a director on the board of the first high-rise condo corporation established in 1979.

Here is what we talked about.  

1. Introduction
2. The Horizon’s Early History
3. Tonis’ Path to the Board
4. Stabilizing After Crisis
5. Mission & Vision
6. Advice for Future Leaders
7. Countering Negative Press & Why Condos Work
8. Building Community (and a Tornado Story)
9. Closing

Listen to the podcast or read the transcript. 

I’m here at The Horizon—the first high-rise condominium corporation in Canada. For condo geeks like myself, this is a huge deal. I’m sitting down with Tonis Kasvand, a director on The Horizon’s board. Tonis has been through the good, the bad, and the ugly here. In this podcast, he shares his experience and offers words of wisdom on what has made The Horizon successful.

The Horizon’s Early History

Pat: Let’s get started. Could you share a bit of the history of this condo—what you know?

Tonis: In 1969—April 15th, I believe—this was officially incorporated as a high-rise condominium corporation. There’s a distinction: we’re the first high-rise condo corporation in Canada, although there are older townhouse condominium corporations. Today, everything’s simply called a condo corporation, but back then, the “first high-rise” status gave us bragging rights. We realized, “We’re number one at something,” and we kept the label.

Tonis’ Path to the Board

Pat: What’s your personal history with CC No. 1? You obviously weren’t on the board in the very beginning—when did you get involved?

Tonis: When I moved in, they didn’t like me much. The building felt like a retirement home at the time, and a lot of people weren’t thrilled about a young guy moving in. Youth discrimination was pretty active then. I’d get stopped in the hallways—“Who are you?”—and that went on for years. It wasn’t very welcoming. Over time, once people realized I was an owner, attitudes changed.

People eventually asked me to run. The first time I served on the board was in 2003. I remember because they made me president and then the power went out—great timing. We were hearing it could be two, three, even four days. Oddly, it turned into a community moment: with no city lights, we could see Mars. It was memorable. After about nine months, though, I had too much going on in my life. I’d stepped in because there was no leadership, did my best, and then stepped back. I actually got off the board as a birthday gift to myself.

In 2013, they called me back because the whole board essentially quit—there was a big fallout. I couldn’t let it go; I had to step in. It was a shambles. The board couldn’t cooperate on anything, and a major factor was that the property manager wasn’t doing his job. After four months of that, we fired him. We spent a few months finding a new firm and landed on Topol Management, who presented a sensible plan. They brought professional staff, showed up in suits, and actually cared. We told them we were in crisis and needed extra hand-holding. After sorting through a lot of chaos and randomly stacked papers, they figured things out.

Stabilizing After Crisis

Tonis: My leadership style thrives in chaos, so I treated it as a challenge. After about a year of tears, heartbreak, and the usual drama, things slowly came together. Within a year of having a new property manager, things were fairly normal. I said, “Great, now that it’s normalized, I’m bored—someone else please be president.” We agreed that everyone should take a turn. Another director served for a few years, then another, and then it came back to me—because we had another crisis.

I also saw the 50th anniversary coming and thought, “We can plan for that.” It gave us something positive to focus on while we cleaned up other messes.

Mission & Vision

Pat: I love your statement: “A condominium that stands the test of time. We have a strong community of volunteers who continue to modernize the facilities and bring harmony to the neighborhood.” How did you come up with it?

Tonis: When I decided to become president last year, we needed direction and a goal. Personally, my objective is to “harmonize a vertical village.” That’s how I see this place. It may sound corny, but it helps me understand what I’m doing. The board thought it was “cute,” so we worked toward a shared statement of what we’re trying to do in the building.

Pat: What are your “secrets” or what’s working to get there?

Tonis: Timing helped. I retired a while ago to care for my father—he’s doing well now—so I had less stress. Silly me, I decided to become president when I had extra time. I figured I’d try to move this place forward. The building needed leadership, help, and crisis management, and it sort of dropped in my lap.

Advice for Future Leaders

Pat: One day you’ll step back and someone will replace you. What advice would you give them?

Tonis: It’s not the end of the world when someone complains. Do your best, but don’t take it personally. People will come to your door; if they’re angry, you have to deal with them. Interestingly, we’re getting more compliments this year—dozens over the past few months. I make a point of reminding everyone, “Hey, we got a compliment.”

Pat: What changed? I always found the negativity hard. We never used to get compliments—what was the turning point?

Tonis: Listening and responding. With emails, we’d reply even if we didn’t have an answer yet. Over time, we addressed the problems and complaints. Now our superintendent is caught up on the building’s needs. He’s on-site and full-time. We’ve set expectations: keep office hours during office hours, but understand emergencies happen. We also remind residents not to bang on his door at all hours.

Countering Negative Press & Why Condos Work

Pat: The press can be rough—there was a McLean’s “condo hell” article that sticks in my mind, and there’s lots of negative coverage. How do you counter it?

Tonis: Negativity sells, unfortunately. I’d point out that one in twelve people lives in a condo. There are real benefits.

Pat: What do you love about living in a condo?

Tonis: I don’t have to shovel snow—that’s a big one. Also, community. Even though we’re a building, we’re still a village of people. I can depend on my neighbours. And it’s very quiet here.

Building Community (and a Tornado Story)

Pat: What have you done to build community?

Tonis: We host parties and coffee get-togethers—anything to keep in touch. Ironically, the tornado that passed about half a kilometer from here brought us together. We lost power for around 52 hours and went into emergency mode. The silver lining was community: people gathered here, shared information, and supported each other. Luckily, we’d serviced the generator the week before, so we had elevators, hallway lights, and water pumping—though not power to individual units. People with mobility issues could still get in and out.

Once we understood how bad things were elsewhere, I asked residents to bring down whatever drinks they had, and we had a “tornado party” Friday night—dark humour, I know, but it worked. People needed community and information. We planned a bigger party for Saturday night, and it was great.

Another practical thing: this office is on the generator, so I ran a power bar outside and people came down to charge their phones. We try to get together whenever we can, but it often takes a disaster for the whole community to show up at once.

Closing

Pat: Thank you for spending your time with us.

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Thanks for listening—see you next time on the podcast—and please send me your suggestions for a better name!