U10⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012 ON ON1

>>NEW IN HOMES: 35 YEARS They have carved new communities out of un-likely neighbourhoods, elevated architecture anddesign, or operated their businesses in innovativeways.Tracy Hanes reports on a few of the building and

development companies — some of them relativenewcomers on the scene — that will continue toshape the future of residential development in theGTA. (Continued on U12)

Industry Innovators:The next generation

Plaza’s condo roots trace back to 1981 when founder AnthonyHeller and David Brothman started putting residential unitson top of small plazas they were building in the GTA.

They started constructing small condo buildings of up to200 suites, but realized they’d need to build larger projects toexpand their business and acquired a large chunk of LibertyVillage as well as West Harbour City.

The company has created more than 5,000 condo suites andhas established a presence in the city’s most desirable andup-and-coming neighbourhoods, including Yorkville, KingWest, Queen West, Lawrence Park, Liberty Village, St. Law-rence Market and more.

Plaza was one of the first Toronto developer-builders in

Toronto to include granite and marblecountertops, halogen lighting, under-mount sinks, porcelain tile, engineeredhardwood floors and stainless steel ap-pliances as standard features.

Current projects include Edge (inpartnership with Urbancorp) and Epicon Triangle Park. Ivory in the St. Law-rence Market area will bring a contem-porary building to the historic neigh-bourhood, with a facade of solid ivory-coloured surfaces punctuated with ran-dom carved-out niches.

PLAZA

Ivory on Adelaideis a project byPlaza that willbring acontemporarybuilding to thehistoric St.Lawrence Marketneighbourhood.

community.Bozzo personally meets with commu-

nity members to unveil plans for hisprojects and Queenscorp’s work is nowwelcomed by neighbours and politi-cians, who have sent other developers toLong Branch to see how Queenscorphas dealt with issues such as architec-ture, traffic and shadows.

To keep maintenance fees affordablein his condo buildings, Bozzo doesn’tinclude costly amenities such as swim-ming pools, squash courts or multi-me-dia lounges and stays in communicationwith condominium boards about theircosts.

Next on the Queenscorp agenda isGeorgetown Green, a development ofsingles, townhomes and semis inGeorgetown.

Queenscorp and its president, MarkBozzo, have been at the forefront of therejuvenation of the Long Branch area ofsouth Etobicoke.

For more than a decade, Bozzo’s com-pany has been constructing thoughtful-ly designed, midrise mixed-use condobuildings in the west-end neighbour-hood that evolved from a cottage play-ground for the wealthy to a commercial-industrial strip.

Past Queenscorp projects includeLakeside Village, Stonewater and SaintAgnes Square.

Queenscorp’s latest project, Water-mark, will serve as a signature buildingfor the community.

The seven-storey, 72-unit condo willsit at the historic corner of Lake ShoreBlvd. and 35th St. and boasts historic-inspired architecture and a clock towerthat will serve as a focal point for the

QUEENSCORP GROUP

Watermark, a seven-storey, 72-unit condo to be built by Queenscorp, will sit at thehistoric corner of Lake Shore Blvd. and 35th St. in Long Branch area of Etobicoke.

Cityzen put Mississauga on the global map and catapultedGTA architecture to a lofty new standard when it launched aninternational design competition in 2006 for a new tower inits Absolute City Centre development.

The winner was Chinese architect Yansong Ma of MADArchitect and the resulting condominium project by Cityzenand Fernbrook Homes was the curving 56-storey AbsoluteWorld 1 tower, dubbed the Marilyn Monroe tower for itssensuous shape, which has since been joined by a stylisticallysimilar 50-storey companion tower, Absolute World 2.

Formed in 2000 by Sam Crignano, Cityzen has established areputation for landmark buildings with distinctive designsand works with top-name talent such as Daniel Libeskind,architectsAlliance and interior design firm Munge Leung. Aswell as the Absolute towers, Cityzen has been involved inprojects such as the L-Tower, Backstage, Pier 27 and 154 FrontEast.

Cityzen’s sister construction company, Dominus, recently

was awarded the contract for the expan-sion of Brampton City Hall. It is alsobuilding a seniors’ affordable housingproject at Patricia and Bathurst withB’nai Brith as the sponsor group.

One of Cityzen’s new projects will be30 Ordnance, a mixed-use communitynext to Liberty Village that will includefive residential buildings and a retailcomponent. It’s also purchased theClarion Hotel property at the corner ofSherbourne and Selby Sts.

With construction on Pier 27 well un-derway at the foot of Yonge St., and arecently acquired site on Cherry St.,Cityzen will continue to have a leadingrole in the redevelopment of Toronto’swaterfront.

The Absolutetowers, alsoknown as theMarilyn Monroebuildings inMississauga.Cityzen wasinvolved with itand otherlandmarkbuildings.

ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE/TORONTO STAR

CITYZEN DEVELOPMENT GROUP

Reserve Properties was started morethan 30 years ago by Toronto residen-tial-commercial real estate developer,Shelley Fenton. The company got a newperspective and a boost of youthful en-ergy when Fenton’s son, Shane, joinedas vice -resident six years ago.

Working together, the Fentons seekout unique sites in established Torontoneighbourhoods, where they aim to cre-ate projects with character and long-term sustainability that contribute tothe local community and streetscape.

Reserve has created several notewor-thy projects, including Bellefair KewBeach Residences, a church conversionproject that includes 23 condos and sixtownhomes; Lakehouse Beach Resi-dences; Rise, a Mondrian-style towerthat will rise at Bathurst St. and St. Clair

Ave. W.; and the funky Motif Lofts onOssington Ave.

Reserve’s latest development is 109OZ,a modern six-storey building with 85loft-style open-concept suites that is amodern take on Ossington Ave.’s hap-hazard streetscape.

Shane Fenton predicts midrise devel-opments on main avenues and mixed-used corridors will be a larger part ofToronto’s development scene and thatbuyers will seek alternative housing op-tions in neighbourhoods with whichthey have strong connections.

The Fentons’ goal is to serve that needby continuing to create urban housingthat adds energy and vibrancy to thecity’s neighbourhoods.

Reserve’s latest project is 109OZ, a six-storey planned for Ossington Ave., whichdemonstrates how it likes to create unique projects in established areas.

RESERVE PROPERTIES

INNOVATORS continued on U12

U12⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012 ON ON1

>>NEW IN HOMES: 35 YEARS

Considering the influence that developer/builder Peter Freedhas had on Toronto’s West King West neighbourhood and thecity’s condo scene, it may come as a surprise that he started asa homebuilder in the mid-1990s and moved into highrisecondo building just a decade ago.

Freed Developments bought its first site on King St. W. in2003 and built 66 Portland in a neighbourhood that at thetime was characterized by gritty industrial buildings andvacant land.

Freed was attracted by the neighbourhood’s old buildingsand proximity to downtown and, after 66 Portland was asuccess, he started to buy more sites. Freed has now builtabout 10 projects in West King West and been a leader intransforming the formerly grungy area into one of the city’scoolest places to live.

Freed projects have developed a reputation for superb de-

sign and struck a chord with style-savvybuyers. Freed’s projects reflect his pas-sion for modern architecture; workingwith talent such as Peter Clewes of ar-chitectsAlliance, Core Architects anddesigner Philippe Starck, his companywas ahead of the curve in bringing con-temporary design to the city.

Though he ventured beyond the GTAto develop the Muskoka Bay Club,Freed’s future plans rest firmly withinthe city boundaries. Freed’s newest pro-ject is Sixty Colborne and the companyhas purchased land in Yorkville and in-vested heavily in the Yonge St. andEglinton Ave. neighbourhood, whereFreed intends to focus on mixed-useprojects with distinctive design.

FREED DEVELOPMENTS

The Thompson Residences by Freed Developments will have one of North America’s longest infinitypools. The company is also building Sixty Colborne and plans to focus on distinctive mixed-use projects.

INNOVATORS continued from U10

Les Mallins was working as a charteredaccountant on Bay St. until he startedStreetcar in 2001. He’d always had aninterest in land development and anopportunity presented itself in theBeach area of Toronto. That first projectwas Academy Lane Lofts at 1852 QueenSt. E. This project was the conversion ofan 80-year-old former bowling alley in-to condo lofts.

Streetcar has grown from that 12-unitproject to working on four to six pro-jects at a time at varying stages of thedevelopment.

Streetcar specializes in midrise build-ings. “Our interest and focus from dayone was midrise projects on the ave-

nues,” Mallins says.Its collection of west-end projects in

the Queen and Gladstone area will con-tribute eight building forms on one cityblock, flanked by a new public park, apedestrian-friendly laneway and an ur-ban grocery store that Mallins says is anexciting project for his team.

Streetcar plans to maintain its focus onmidrise projects on the avenues no mat-ter what direction the housing markettakes. Construction will start soon ontwo of Streetcar’s latest projects, the12-storey Carlaw at Carlaw Ave. andDundas St., and the Carnaby on QueenSt. W., a mixed-use project that includesa 20-storey tower with 200 lofts.

STREETCAR DEVELOPMENTS

An artist’s rendering shows the exterior of 8 Gladstone, a modern loft project byStreetcar Developments. The firm intends to keep its focus on midrise buildings.

In the more than 50 years that EdenOak has been in the residential con-struction business, the family-basedcompany has built approximately10,000 homes in the GTA and beyond.

Eden Oak’s reputation for innovativedesign is backed up by multiple BILDand Ontario Home Builders’ Associa-tion awards it has received. The compa-ny has also been a leader in embracingnew products and building techniquessuch as BluWood (a wood coating sys-tem that inhibits mould), as well as newfurnace and solar technologies.

Eden Oak has also demonstrated itsversatility in building a variety of hous-ing forms and working with sites rang-ing from large green-field to smaller in-fill sites.

“We do singles, midrise, stacked town-houses — basically everything otherthan highrise,” says Eden Oak presidentRomas Kartavicius.

The company was ahead of the in-

tensification curve in finding the bestways of maximizing land use. It looks ateach site based on its individual merits.It works collaboratively with local mu-nicipalities to achieve their goals, “whilestill putting our signature” on its pro-jects, says Kartavicius.

Land constraints have prompted EdenOak to expand its vision beyond theToronto area and to build in locationssuch as Collingwood, Waterdown,Brampton and Georgetown.

Two of its latest developments includeEstates of Credit Ridge in Brampton,where Eden Oak is building upscale sin-gle homes on 40 to 80-foot lots, and theResidences of Oak Bay Golf and Coun-try Club at Port Severn, where its resortcommunity with an 18-hole Muskokagolf course and full-service marina fea-tures a variety of housing types, frommarina villas to freehold townhouses tosingles in two-storey and bungalow de-signs.

EDEN OAK

Eden Oak is building a resort community with an 18-hole Muskoka golf course andfull-service marina at the Residences of Oak Bay Golf and Country Club. Itfeatures a variety of housing types, from marina villas to freehold townhouses tosingles in two-storey and bungalow designs.

The Remington Group, which established its reputation withthe thousands of lowrise homes it has built, as well as com-mercial and industrial buildings, is become a force on the GTAcondominium scene as well.

The family business, started more than 60 years ago by RudyBratty, established a highrise division in 2000, headed byRudy’s son Michael.

The first project at Bathurst St. and Wilson Ave. in Torontoincluded 84 rental units and 204 condos, at the early stages ofthe 416 condo boom.

As highrise living started to gain acceptance in the 905,Remington introduced condo projects in Markham, includ-ing 278 units at Kennedy Rd. and Dennison St. and is about tolaunch its fourth condo building in Downtown Markham, thelargest mixed-use development in Canada, built to LEEDcertification. Remington has been a leader in green building,demonstrating that luxury and sustainability go hand-in-hand.

The current Downtown Markham condos, Nexus North andSouth, feature a small mix of retail space with residential. In

the spring of 2013, a true mixed useproject with retail, residential and a ho-tel will be launched there, says MichaelBratty: “We feel Markham is ready toembrace that type of built form.”

Remington is involved in the revital-ization of the Islington-Queenswayneighbourhood with its IQ master-planned community, which will haveseven condo towers when completedwith a large urban park at its heart. Thefirst tower is under construction, withthe next two-building phase, Park Tow-ers, just launched.

“Remington focuses on multi-phaseprojects. We don’t build buildings in iso-lation. We look at the surrounding areaand how our buildings will interact withthe existing building, streets and infra-structure,” says Bratty.

REMINGTON GROUP

The current Downtown Markham condos, Nexus North and South, feature a small mix of retail spacewith residential. In the spring of 2013, a true mixed use project with a hotel will be launched.