Read MoreA crown corporation formed 30 years ago to develop surplus government property is set to take on its biggest challenge yet; its positioning itself to accelerate housing supply across Canada while delivering social benefits to the community. Canada Lands Company, which recently marked its 30-year anniversary at its national head office, also shared details regarding
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A crown corporation formed 30 years ago to develop surplus government property is set to take on its biggest challenge yet; its positioning itself to accelerate housing supply across Canada while delivering social benefits to the community.
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Canada Lands Company, which recently marked its 30-year anniversary at its national head office, also shared details regarding the development of the Downsview Lands in Toronto, which it is calling its most ambitious project yet, and three Ottawa-based communities: Wateridge Village, Tunney’s Pasture and Confederation Heights.
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At a briefing, Stéphan Déry, president and CEO, and James Cox, VP, real estate, central region, pulled back the curtain on how the crown corporation is uniquely positioned to address Canada’s housing crisis.
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Déry and Cox explained in detail how Canada Lands operates as a self-funded federal Crown corporation that develops surplus government property, but also to stress a new urgency, CL supports the delivery of more homes, faster and will unlock federally owned land to fast-track this development.
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This may not be as straightforward as it sounds. Many times, land released by the government is not in good shape, Déry, cites the example of one site with contaminated soil, many millions of dollars had to be spent remediating it before it would be ready for development.
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Then there’s all the other requirements for modern housing to consider, providing ample greenspace and parkland, achieving LEED certification, improving energy-efficiency, building amenities such as a community centre or a heritage site, and all while allowing for high-density, transit-oriented development now in demand in many urban centres such as Toronto.
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Providing social benefits is all-important to us, says Déry. “We understand there is a housing crisis, but we also want a place where people want to live.”
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Currently, the crown corporation has a portfolio of 23 real estate projects across the country, including several in Ottawa, and safe to say, almost everywhere, the priority has become to build affordable housing.
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At one time, the threshold for affordable housing was 10 per cent of a project, Canada Lands is upping that to 20 per cent at many of its new hone sites now under development, and Déry envisions developments where a full 30 per cent of each project could be devoted to affordable housing.
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“We are pushing the envelope, we are trying all kinds of ways to bring affordable housing into the picture, but really what we are also trying to do is enable more homes to be built faster,” he says.
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To that end, Canada Lands is working hard to getting zoning and approvals to move faster, “it’s a big issue for us and for developers, so what we now will do is start the planning while the building is still owned by the federal government, before we were not allowed to do that.” Déry says he also wants to bring builders and developers earlier into the process.
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For example, Canada Lands’ largest development to date is now underway at Downsview Lands in Toronto, to be built on a former Canadian Forces Bases which when complete will be home to an estimated 38,000 people.
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It will consist of five master-planned communities: Stanley Greene, Arbo, Downsview West, Downsview East and Allen West; each of which will surround the fully protected Downsview Park.
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Stanley Greene, consisting of 1,300 homes, is already built out. Arbo and Downsview West are 10 years out, Downsview East and Allen West are likely more 20 years away.
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Cox describes the site as “truly transformational,” in that the TTC Subway and GO Station located in the north part of the area is already in place. “Usually transit follows, here we are starting with that piece.”
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“We feel that with the five neighbourhoods, we are doing something really special, and at a scale and with designs never seen before,” says Cox. “And it will all be led by affordable housing.”
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In Ottawa, Canada Lands is spearheading the development of a few projects including Confederation Heights, Tunney Pasture and Wateridge Village.
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“Ottawa is a government town, we know that, but there is a fair amount of real estate owned by the federal government. They are reviewing their portfolio and have surplus assets, probably more in Ottawa than any other region in Canada,” says Dery.
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Each is a little bit different, Wateridge for example is a military base acquired in 2011, and now in the process of redevelopment. When it’s all said and down, it will be home to 10,000 residents, 5,000 of whom have already moved in.
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Wateridge consists of 310 acres of property, is easily accessible to public transit and will consist of a variety of housing types including single-family, townhouse and condo apartments. Five of nine planned parks have been built, “as the market shifts, we will be getting into higher-density development,” says Déry,
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Also, at Wateridge, Canada Lands is working with Ottawa Community Housing and Habitat for Humanities to build and deliver affordable housing, with a target set at a minimum of 30 per cent.
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Tunney’s Pasture will be transformed from a single-use employment centre, which welcomed approximately thousands federal employees daily, into a vibrant transit-oriented and sustainable mixed-use community
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Confederation Heights is approximately 465 acres, located roughly five kilometres south of Ottawa’s downtown core, and a master plan developed for the property details how the former government site will become a sustainable, transit-oriented, urban mixed-use community.
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Tara Dinsmore, Canada Lands’ vice-president of acquisitions and business development, says the crown corporation is working “to accelerate the process of getting from surplus government land to homes being built.”
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Both Tunney’s Pasture and Confederation Heights are representative of a development trend in general, not as much office space is needed as the government work force transitions to hybrid work. Federal government buildings now require a much smaller footprint, allowing these sites to be rezoned from office to mixed use commercial, she says.
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“What these collaborations enable us to do is get on the site early and do the (development) work that is normally done after the acquisition and therefore accelerating the process of development.”
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The Tunney site master plan is done and approved, and chunks of land will be sold off once zoned, says Dinsmore.
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As for Confederation Heights, “we are just finalizing the master plan while at the same time getting approval from the city to develop it into smaller chunks of land.”
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