On The Map
401-suite Realm in Alton Village slated for 2024 occupancy
Rooting through a handbag used to unearth chewing gum. Now it’s masks and mini bottles of hand sanitizer. Even in small ways, the pandemic has shifted our daily habits. And there’s the bigger pandemic-related changes, too.
The younger generation are rethinking their relationship to the city: Statistics Canada reports a surge in youth leaving downtown for the suburbs — nearly a third of the increase in outflow has been attributed to people between the ages of 15 and 29; 82 per cent were people under 45.
They’re heading to places such as Burlington, says Tariq Adi, the president of ADI Development Group. The Burlington-based builder has more than half a dozen developments clustered in the Halton-based city, as well as projects in Milton and Mississauga. His main demographic is the under-45 group.
“With the pandemic, we sold out all of our inventory within the last year,” says Adi. “We’ve seen a massive uptick in all of our communities. It’s a function of people realizing the downtown is expensive both from a rental and ownership perspective.”
Being barred from restaurants and anything social has also motivated the move, as Adi sees it.
“Everything that made Toronto cool was no longer,” he says. “People wanted to get out and escape. They didn’t want to feel restricted and confined on top of wearing masks.”
In the suburbs, he says, “you get a sense of space. You can pull up to a supermarket and you don’t have to loop around in a three-level garage to pick up groceries,” a nuisance Adi is glad to be rid of now that he’s moved back to Halton after living downtown for five years.
“I absolutely haven’t looked back,” he says, listing Burlington’s positives: an educated workforce, an attractive downtown and lakefront; and the fact that it has the second-highest income per capita after Oakville.
“I think it’s probably the most underappreciated municipality, but people who know about it and who live here value it,” says Adi, who believes its principal problem is that “it’s got near zero supply, as far as housing goes and rentals. We’re poised to help the city grow.”
Realm, Adi’s newest project, is located at Thomas Alton Boulevard and Appleby Line in Alton Village. Slated for a 2024 occupancy, it will comprise two 16-storey highrise towers and 20 townhomes for a total of 401 suites starting at $400,000. Homes in the first phase (across both towers) range from 446 to 1,163 square feet with options of one, two and two bedrooms plus den in open-concept layouts.
The project will be centred around a landscaped park. Amenities in the leafy area include the Millcroft Golf Club, Mount Nemo Conservation Area, Fourteen Mile Creek, Tyandaga Golf Course, Hidden Lake Golf Club and Burloak Waterfront Park.
“It’s a built-up neighbourhood that has mature parks, trails and the best school district in all of Burlington and Halton,” says Adi, adding, “the cost of admission into the Alton and Millcroft neighbourhoods has exponentially grown in the last three to five years. It used to be $1.3 million for a single in that pocket. Now the townhouses are $900,000 to $1.1 million.”
With Realm, Adi wants to offer value in a design-forward environment. For that reason, CORE Architects is bringing a clean-lined, modernist esthetic to the community. The vibe is carried indoors, where a lobby by Designagency with an indoor garden, wavy low-slung furniture and a series of single-bulb light fixtures draws attention to the doubleheight ceiling.
Designagency is also finessing the suites and other public spaces in the project, including a fitness studio, a kids’ zone, a work-fromhome lounge with office pods and breakout rooms, and an outdoor basketball court and lounge on the sixth-floor terrace.
The firm has worked on striking international projects from The Bahamas to Barcelona, as well as some
of Toronto’s best-dressed spaces, including the colour-blocked artist’s loft at Drake Hotel on Queen West and the eclectic Broadview Hotel.
At Realm, the agency is bringing fun to the kids’ room, with splashy colours swooping around arched walls and extensive millwork.
The more mild-mannered suites have quietly sophisticated kitchens, waterfall islands and an airy footprint.
“The colour palette and forward design is a youthful play,” says Adi. “Everything we do is youthful. But believe it or not, we find the empty nesters and older buyers like the modern feel of the community, too.”
Suites at Realm in Burlington start at $400,000. Ranging from 446 to 1,163 square feet with options of one, two and two bedrooms plus den. For more information, visit 1.adidevelopments. com/realm-registration.