Former brownfield slated for green project
08/20/2007
by -- Toronto Star
www.thestar.com
Toronto, ON - The site of a former trucking terminal is slated to become an environmentally friendly neighbourhood.
Tridel's future Metrogate community in Scarborough has been selected for a LEED Neighbourhood Development Pilot Project. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
"We've been bringing LEED buildings to market; now we're bringing a LEED community," says Jim Ritchie, senior vice president, Tridel. "The entire site was formerly a brownfield, the home of a trucking terminal, and we are recycling materials from the site such as cement and asphalt."
The site is seven hectares and will eventually contain 2,100 condo units, a 1.7 acre park and some retail components. Ritchie says the community will be primarily highrises with six towers, and all the buildings, including the townhomes, will be approximately 30 per cent more efficient than standard buildings built to code.
"There will be on-site energy generation, with gas-fired generators creating electricity," explains Ritchie. "This will take the buildings off the electricity grid. In the park, we will have storm water management and rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation. We'll also be using energy efficient lighting, and will be reducing light pollution."
Other environmentally friendly features will include bicycle storage and site-wide recycling.
The first tower, Solaris I, which will have 423 suites, was launched in July and is 80 per cent sold. The second tower, Solaris II, will be released near the end of August and will have 438 suites. Both towers will be 40 stories tall and will share a large recreational building with a theatre, party room, billiards room, pool, whirlpool, and outdoor terraces.
"We're also putting in a daycare in Solaris II for people who live in the community and for those who work in the community," says Ritchie.
The towers will have a modernist look, with glass cladding and a four-storey masonry podium. Sizes in both will range from 570-square-foot, one-bedroom units to three bedroom suites at just under 1,400 square feet. Pricing will start at under $200,000 and go up to the mid-$400,000 level, and maintenance fees will be 38 cents a square foot. All utilities – electricity, heating, cooling, hot water – will be separately metered.
Metrogate will be at the corner of Kennedy Rd. and Hwy 401. Ritchie says it is attracting people from Scarborough, as "there is a demand for high-quality condos, but not a large supply there."
The site is designed to accommodate a future GO station, a TTC station and a bus station.
Ritchie says it is hard to predict but he hopes to start construction of Solaris I by March, 2008, with Solaris II following shortly thereafter. And if sales go well, he wants to see the entire Metrogate community built within seven years.
A model suite is on site in the sales facility. For more information, call 416-293-5535.
(Source: Toronto Star, August 18, 2007, www.thestar.com)
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