There were good vibes on all sides as stakeholders and politicians gathered for a groundbreaking celebration for Tridel’s Harbourwalk complex on Mississauga, Ont.’s waterfront Oct. 7.
It’s the first residence to launch at Mississauga’s massive Lakeview Village development and follows a long and complicated master planning process that culminated in city approval of 8,050 housing units in 2021 – only to have two Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs) in the past year send the proponents back to the negotiating table.
The provincial Ministry of Housing ordered the city and the development team, the Lakeview Community Partners Limited (LCPL), to double the density to 16,000 units and engage in further intense consultations over the last six months on community benefits and affordable housing, supervised by a provincial development facilitator.
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish referred to the MZOs as the developers, builders and politicians marked the kickoff of building for Harbourwalk, a 455-unit residence designed by architectsAlliance and II BY IV DESIGN.
“I really want to thank our incredible Mississauga city staff, who are able to rise to any and all challenges and a provincial Minister’s Zoning Order,” said Parrish. “Anything like that that you throw our way, we can do.”
Ward One Coun. Stephen Dasko said in an interview that redevelopment of the 177-acre site, formerly the home of the coal-burning Lakeview Generating Station, was a very complex exercise, and the last-minute MZOs were merely another challenge the stakeholders and city were required to address.
MZOs: ‘an acceptance’
“A decision was made at the province,” said Dasko. “So what we do as a municipality and those that are very invested in what’s going on in the communities, you just roll your sleeves and you get on after the task at hand.
“There’s an acceptance to say, the decision’s been made by the province, and we are looking forward to building something that I think is pretty special.”
LCPL includes TACC Construction, Greenpark Group, CCI Development Group, Branthaven and Argo Development Corporation.
Besides the 16,000 units, all slated to be incorporated into medium- and high-density communities, the developers plan to allot 1.9 million square feet for office uses and employment, over 200,000 square feet for retail and restaurants, 10 to 12 acres for campus, cultural and innovation lands and significant spaces for parks, trails and recreational lands.
Lakeview Village will be home to an upgraded freshwater pier – Canada’s largest – a district energy system, and a major reconfiguration of Serson Creek.
“This is an incredibly exciting moment for all, for ourselves as builder and developer, the city, the region, the province, all come together and see advancement of this transformational project in the waterfront,” said Argo vice-president Brian Sutherland, the president of Lakeview Community Partners. “Actually having services in the ground, roads, the community starting to come together, the first homebuilder breaking ground and started construction to deliver more homes here, and have a project that has been talked about for quite some time to finally being implemented and moving forward, all parties, all stakeholders, couldn’t be more excited.”
The district energy system is being installed on a scale never before implemented in North America, Sutherland noted.
“Seeing those district energy pipes go in the ground, becoming real, starting work on the sustainability centre and the infrastructure that’s needed to ultimately be in place prior to first occupancy, is a monumental feat for everyone involved,” he said.
Asked about the MZOs, Sutherland said the order for more density reflected the province’s need for 1.5 million more homes, and a recognition that Lakeview Village offered an opportunity to help meet that objective.
“We worked through traffic, school board-related items, A to Z,” he said. “It’s a really productive process that is in place now, where we’re groundbreaking, we’re implementing, and we’re going to build Canada’s most transformative waterfront community.”
The latest agreement reached as a result of the second MZO resulted in a commitment for the developer to contribute $28 million to support the reconstruction of the Lakeview Village Pier. In addition, five per cent of all units constructed beyond 8,050 units will be affordable and a further five per cent will be for a mix of types and tenure, including shared equity mortgage or market rental.
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