Inside the GTA – A look at development in and around Toronto, April 2022

Diamond Kilmer, Habitat for Humanity GTA and CreateTO recently celebrated the start of construction on 20 affordable new townhomes located in West Toronto at 423 Old Weston Rd.

These 20 townhomes are part of the Reunion Crossing midrise project, the first by the Diamond Kilmer brand. It’s a transformative new project for the rapidly changing St. Clair neighbourhood which is set to receive a SmartTrack Station that will connect to Union Station and the GO Transit Kitchener line.

Reunion Crossing was recognized by the 2020 Brownie Awards as the Best Overall Project for its contributions to the St. Clair neighbourhood through transformation of an in-fill site. The partnership with Habitat for Humanity GTA continues as well – affordable units are included at Diamond Kilmer’s 159 Wellesley, Keelesdale and Victoria Park projects.

Ontario Line officially breaks ground

The province officially broke ground on the Ontario Line Exhibition Station recently, marking the start of construction for the new subway line that will support the delivery of better and faster transit for the Greater Toronto Area.

The province also released the initial renderings of 14 stations along the 15.6-km Ontario Line that will provide rapid transit between Exhibition/Ontario Place and the Ontario Science Centre.

The initial station renderings show early planning and design concepts for the Ontario Line stations, which will connect to more than 40 other transit routes, including GO train lines, existing TTC subway and streetcar lines, and the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit line.

Ontario’s bold transit plan for the Greater Toronto Area includes a commitment of nearly $17 billion from the province for construction. Last May, the Government of Canada announced more than $10 billion in funding for Ontario’s four priority subway projects in the GTA – the largest joint investment in transit in the region’s history – which includes the all-new Ontario Line, the three-stop Scarborough Subway Extension, the Yonge North Subway Extension and the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension. metrolinx.com

M City surpasses halfway point with 3 sold out buildings and launch of M5

Rogers Real Estate Development Ltd. and Urban Capital are debuting M City’s fifth tower, M5, as the Mississauga master-planned community surpasses 3,450 total unit sales since its launch in 2017.

The first three towers – M1, M2 and M3 – are all completely sold out, with M4, one of Canada’s most technologically advanced condominiums, closing in on the same milestone.

M5 is the fifth of eight towers planned for M City. The eight-tower, 15-acre, 4.3-million-sq.-ft. community combines spectacular architecture, abundant greenspace and modern lifestyle amenities to create one landmark neighbourhood. The site will also bring more than two acres of park land for the community, M Park, the Mary Fix multi-use trail and the future Hurontario LRT.

M5 suites are available starting from the $600,000s. mcitycondos.com

Drilling begins at Oakvillage

Minto Communities GTA and Creative Energy broke ground on one of the GTA’s first geo-exchange community energy systems for the East Oak towers located at Dundas St. E and Trafalgar Rd. by commencing the drilling process of 800-ft.-deep vertical closed-loop boreholes.

Through the partnership, the system will connect various geo-exchange fields through an ambient temperature distribution network, enabling the different buildings to share energy with one another, and to use the earth as the source of low-carbon space heating and cooling for the buildings to reduce the use of fossil fuels by up to 95 per cent.

In addition to the significant decrease in fossil fuel usage, the geo-exchange system will protect residents from rising utility and energy costs while enhancing their comfort levels. minto.com