Builders welcome fresh ideas from the community
Increasingly, builders and developers in the GTA are including input from the public when creating new communities.
While generating a positive reception for a project and helping to make municipal approvals go more smoothly, the ideas and opinions of residents who live in neighbourhoods where development is pro- posed also bring fresh ideas into the design process.
Recently, professionals from the building and development industry gathered to discuss how they had engaged with communities when planning their projects — and the inspiring ways public engagement had shaped these projects.
Shane Cooney, vice-president of development at Adi Development Group, talked about Stationwest, the company’s master-planned community in Burlington.
It will include townhouses, midrise condominiums and a high-density block. Because high-density developments have not been part of this established neighbourhood, Adi’s goal in the consultation process was to familiarize community members with this built form and get their feedback on elements of design.
Community members, city staff, councillors and members of Adi’s team gathered in groups of 10 to 12 and reviewed images of various streetscapes, landscapes, tower designs, building materials and amenities. Participants shared which images they liked and disliked — and why.
Adi will use the information in the design development process and will bring the plan back to the community to show them how their feedback was incorporated.
The Rockport Group’s Montgomery Square is another development project that benefited from extensive community engagement.
Development manager Kathryn Randle said that when Rockport bought the site in Toronto’s Yonge St. and Eglinton Ave. neighbourhood, they found a community passionate about protecting its heritage: the site of Montgomery’s Tavern, where William Lyon Mackenzie — Toronto’s first mayor in 1834 — plotted the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion with his followers. Since 1936, it had been home to an Art Deco post office building that the community had dubbed the Jewelry Box.
For seven months, Rockport met with residents about their desire to retain the post office building as a public meeting place. Rockport offered participants three design options for the proposed condo, and explained the economics behind the height they desired to build.
In the end, the community got its wishes and Rockport got the goahead to build a 27-storey rental building. People in the community have registered for updates about rental opportunities at Montgomery Square, which will open next year.
TAS Design Build’s experience in Toronto’s west end is another great example of the power of community engagement. In 2010, TAS’s plan for a 29-storey condo at Bloor and Dundas Sts. was rejected by Toronto city council and the Ontario Municipal Board after community opposition to its height and density.
TAS realized that they needed to engage the community with “authenticity and sincerity,” said Celia Smith, chief operating officer. On its next west-end project — the Duke condominiums in the Junction — TAS held public meetings, supported events like the Junction Flea Market and hired local designers to develop the Duke’s sales centre. The community embraced the project.
As these examples show, our industry is reaching out to people where they live, and helping them to build better communities. Bryan Tuckey is president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and is a land-use planner who has worked for municipal, regional and provincial governments. Find him at twitter.com/ bildgta, facebook.com/bildgta and bildblogs.ca.