The Exchange District in Mississauga will be a multi-phased, mixed-use development by Camrost Felcorp. (Courtesy Camrost Felcorp)

Toronto-based developer Camrost Felcorp has broken ground on the first two buildings at one of its most ambitious projects, Exchange District in Mississauga.

“We very much have focused on the creation of master-planned communities and mixed-use development sites that consist of more than one building, with the intent of creating long-lasting communities,” development vice-president Joseph Feldman said in an interview with RENX.

The firm has constructed almost 90 buildings since it was founded in 1976, encompassing approximately 13,000 residential units and more than two million square feet of commercial space.

At the Exchange District, Camrost Felcorp purchased the almost four-acre site five years ago. At the time it contained a nine-storey, 90,000-square-foot, class-B office building. Now it is replacing that with a development destined to have 1.8 million square feet of density upon completion later this decade.

“When fully realized, the Exchange District will include almost 2,000 condominium residences, retail spaces, offices, a boutique hotel, an architecturally designed public piazza, community benefits and open public spaces, all served by rapid transit, instantly creating for Mississauga the urban downtown core it deserves and has been moving towards,” founder, president and chief executive officer David Feldman said in an email exchange.

Exchange District’s components

Camrost Felcorp just broke ground on a 60-storey condominium called EX1 that will have retail at grade and be connected by a podium to EXS, a 31-storey purpose-built rental apartment building which will also include a hotel and 30,000 square feet of office space.

The developer is weeks away from breaking ground on the second phase of Exchange District, which will include a 42-storey condo called EX2, a rooftop restaurant and a grocery store.

The condo units in EX1 and EX2 are sold out.

A fourth piece will be a 72-storey residential building called EX3 that will be anchored by retail at grade and some office space. Joseph Feldman said EX3 is currently being contemplated for a condo that could launch sales by the middle of 2021.

The first three buildings are anticipated to be ready for occupancy in late 2023 and early 2024, with EX3 expected to follow in 2026.

“There’s more beyond that that’s in the pipeline,” said Joseph Feldman. “This is just what we’ve announced.”

Camrost Felcorp likes Mississauga and Toronto

An artist’s conception of Exchange District in Mississauga, by Camrost Felcorp. (Courtesy Camrost Felcorp)

Exchange District is in the vicinity of Square One Shopping Centre, about 16,000 residential units and an office node, and Camrost Felcorp’s goal is to enhance the area with its “live, work and play” development.

“It’s currently the 16th largest city in North America, with one of the fastest-growing city centres in North America,” Joseph Feldman said in explaining why his company is so high on Mississauga and is adding to its landholdings there for future developments.

“From a job perspective, it has more Fortune 500 companies headquartered there than its big brother Toronto. It continues to attract a large portion of the immigrants that are coming to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).”

Camrost Felcorp likes the GTA market overall because it has strong fundamentals, the company knows it well and it has a good understanding of the framework set up by the Ontario government’s A Place to Grow: Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

“We think we’re in the right place in the greater scheme of things,” said Joseph Feldman. “For the foreseeable future we’re going to be focusing on helping add to the supply of housing and the stock of commercial in our very own Greater Toronto Area.”

Upper East Village

Construction is now above grade for the first of three residential towers approved in 2017 for a Toronto master-planned community called Upper East Village in the neighbourhood around Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Drive, within easy access of a stop on the Eglinton Crosstown light rail transit line that’s under construction.

Construction of the second tower, a 262-unit purpose-built rental apartment, is close to going above ground.

Upper East Village also includes three-storey townhomes ranging in size from 2,000 to 2,500 square feet at prices starting at $1.8 million. Construction is underway.

A site plan approval application for a 28-storey condo will be submitted soon. It’s hoped sales will launch next year.

Upper East Village is being developed with DiamondCorp and will have 1,035 units upon completion.

Imperial Village

Camrost Felcorp purchased Deer Park United Church and an office building where Imperial Oil had its Canadian headquarters in Toronto’s Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue West neighbourhood for the Imperial Village master-planned redevelopment project in 2013.

“We completed a 229-unit, 26-storey, purpose-built rental building adjacent to that site back in 2018,” said Joseph Feldman. “The last building, behind the Deer Park Church at 129 St. Clair, is gearing up for first occupancy early in the new year.”

Seventeen three-storey townhomes on Foxbar Road, called Foxbar Town Homes, are also part of the development. Prices start at $3.7 million.

Residents have access to a variety of amenities in the 20,000-square-foot Imperial Club.

Cumberland Tower and Yorkville Private Estates

Cumberland Tower and Yorkville Private Estates are two condo projects in the same building at 155 Yorkville Ave., the former site of Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel, at the corner of Yorkille and Cumberland Street.

Floors one to 25 comprise Cumberland Tower, where the suites are sold and occupied. The 26th to 40th floors comprise the more luxurious Yorkville Private Estates, which is nearing completion.

Future Camrost Felcorp developments

Camrost Felcorp has received rezoning approval to build a 28-storey building currently contemplated as a condo for a site near Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue West.

The developer has other sites moving toward development in Toronto and Mississauga, but Joseph Feldman said it’s too early to reveal plans for them.

“It would be nice in all of our master-planned communities to continue to contribute to the purpose-built rental pool of units in the city. It’s a different mindset and a different way of building and designing buildings which we’re very comfortable with and excited to continue with in the future.

“It’s on a case-by-case basis and a site-by-site basis for us to determine what is the best way forward. We are certainly committed to both condominiums and purpose-built rentals.”

Camrost Felcorp prefers to integrate commercial elements into mixed-use residential developments where possible.

The company’s most recent purely commercial project was 135 Yorkville, an 11-storey, 50,000-square-foot building it converted into a commercial condo with office and retail space in 2017.

“It’s something we’re capable of and good at, and it’s something that we’ll continue to do,” said Joseph Feldman.