Developing complete communities, not just buildings
The homebuilding, land development and professional renovation industry is comprised of city builders. We are the industry that conceives, designs, builds and sells quality complete communities where people live, work and play.
Each year, we celebrate our members’ accomplishments in building complete communities as part of our BILD Awards program. The award for Best New Communities, Planned or Under Development, recognizes excellence in developing new communities and its judging criteria include making the best use of land, integrating into the existing neighbourhood, featuring a mix of uses and amenities and preserving the area’s natural resources and built heritage.
The year’s best new planned community is Rockport Group’s Weston Common, an exciting development that will bring a vibrant community cultural hub and much-needed rental housing to Toronto’s Weston neighbourhood — an area that hasn’t seen significant development in 40 years. The project features a 370-unit rental building with commercial space at the ground level, 26 affordable artist live/work units created in a repurposed existing building and enhanced outdoor public space. Artscape is a partner in the project and it will program the public space with arts, cultural and community events. The WaterWorks condo by MOD Developments, Woodcliffe Landmark Properties and Diamond Schmitt Architects, a finalist in this year’s awards, is another great example of an innovative planned community. This planned community remakes the historic Waterworks Building in Toronto into a place where both residents and the public will enjoy downtown living. The project repurposes the 1932 office building into a public food hall opening onto a city park and it will also house a YMCA and a transitional housing agency for youth. The project also features a midrise condo that includes 15 affordable suites for Artscape.
Another finalist, Urban Capital Property Group’s M City, will transform Mississauga’s downtown core with a 10-building development centred on a large public park. The new community will be plugged into a regionally integrated transit network and with its generous sidewalks and proximity to Square One, Sheridan College and the Living Arts Centre, M City will change suburban living. The community’s first building will be 60 storeys and feature amenities such as a kids’ lounge, yoga/spinning rooms, an outdoor saltwater pool and a skating rink.
The third finalist, Backyard Neighbourhood Condos by Vandyk Group of Companies, will revitalize the Stonegate area in south Etobicoke with a family-friendly community. The mixed-use development will feature a commercial building and three midrise residential condominium buildings around a central park space with a play structure and splash pad. When planning the project and consulting with the community, the developer learned that residents were concerned about the area’s existing community health centre and access to grocery shopping. Both will have a home in the new development and a new food co-op will provide not-forprofit access to local food and education programs.
These are just a few of the many great complete communities in the GTA under development by BILD members. 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.