Community Connections: new lakeview waterfront node

NRU

After the closure of the world’s largest coal-fired plant in 2005, a large tract of land on the east end of the Mississauga’s waterfront is set to become the city’s newest mixed-use community and reconnect it to the lake.

The Inspiration Lakeview Master Plan sets out a vision for the 99-ha site. The largest portion of the site--64 ha--was sold by Ontario Power Generation in March to Lakeview Community Partners, a consortium of developers--TACC Construction, Greenpark Group, CCI Development Group of Companies, Branthaven Homes and ARGO Land Development. The remaining 35 ha is designated in Mississauga’s official plan as the Lakeview Business Employment Area.

“It’s definitely a unique, one-of-a-kind generational development for Mississauga,” ARGO and Lakeview Community Partners president Fabio Mazzocco told NRU. “It should bring an icon to the waterfront, to the shores of Lake Ontario.”

The secondary plan, which council will consider today, sets out the policies and land use designations for the new community, which is projected to have a population of 22,000 people living in 10,500 units, and 7,000-9,000 jobs. An innovation corridor along the eastern edge of the site is intended to attract green businesses, and land has been set aside for a future post-secondary campus. The developers have agreed to convey 27-ha to Mississauga for public use, including a waterfront park.

“It’s being planned as a predominantly mid-rise community with a number of tall buildings, up-to-15 storeys outside of the waterfront area and… in the southwest corner of the site we allow heights up to 25 storeys,” says Mississauga policy planner Karen Crouse.

Creating connections to the waterfront and making it accessible for people is an important part of the plan, Urban Strategies partner Emily Reisman told NRU. Urban Strategies developed the master plan for the area, which was approved by council in 2014.

“There’ll be a real destination here for all of Mississauga residents to come and enjoy and hang out by the water and explore a new neighbourhood as opposed to just another subdivision,” she says. “Something magical happens when you’re down at the water. And so the development there needs to and will respond to that by connecting the city to water, by providing a connection to open space, by making sure it’s a vibrant, mixed-use place.”

“When the Lakeview Generating Station was demolished, the community got involved,” explains Crouse. “It was a grassroots community-driven vision to see something happen on this site other than a power plant, because at one point there was talk of taking the original plant down and replacing it with a gas-fired plant.”

Revitalizing the into a new community was a vision of former Ward 1 councillor Jim Tovey, who died in a car accident in January.

“This was his vision, to create this community on the water… turning it into a very green, sustainable community,” says Mazzocco. “It wasn’t just the green, it was also [making it] a cool place where people would come to Lakeview. It gives Lakeview a heart.”

He says that staff anticipate the development master plan will be completed early in 2019 and construction will begin in 2020. People could potentially be living in the new community by 2022.