Fusion Homes’ block plan for the Guelph Innovation District (GID) in the city of about 140,000 people located west of Toronto has been endorsed by the local council, setting the stage for the long-term development’s next step.

The block plan defines where homes, workplaces, parks, cultural spaces and natural areas will be located in the 325-acre mixed-use community. It also outlines how these elements will be connected through streets, parks, trails and public transit.

Fusion senior vice-president of developments and finance Ryan Scott didn’t provide RENX with how many residences and employment opportunities GID would be home to, but past reports have said it could accommodate up to 5,000 for sale and rental housing units and thousands of jobs.

Guelph-based Fusion acquired the GID site in December 2021 for a reported $72.2 million from the Government of Ontario. 

The city is about 100 kms west of downtown Toronto.

The Guelph Innovation District site

The site is bordered by Stone Road East, Victoria Road South and Clythe Creek, with the Guelph Junction Railway running through a portion of it. It sits across from the University of Guelph and has convenient public transit access.

College Avenue, which runs through the university but stops at Victoria Road South, is expected to be extended through GID and act as its main street. It will feature a mix of residential, commercial and retail elements and will lead to a public square.

Boston-based Sasaki was appointed GID’s urban designer in mid-2023 and the project has involved extensive community feedback, including two public open houses and multiple stakeholder focus groups.

Fusion’s GID plan includes 19 acres of different types of parklands, more than 54 acres of employment land and a new school. 

Scott would like to see innovation-based firms form part of the commercial component of GID, which is located at the corner of Stone and Victoria roads. He said partnerships with the university and other companies could be part of that, and added that GID’s setting will help make it unique.

“We're surrounded by natural heritage lands and on one side we've got the arboretum at the university,” Scott said. “On the other side, you've got heritage in the old jail reformatory complex on what's called Block Four of the GID lands, which the province still owns. 

“These are great things and people are already using these lands for hiking and that kind of stuff, so how do we create a new space that connects people and doesn't lose that essence? So the idea of more connector-type parks was developed.”

Next steps

Fusion will continue to work with city staff and advance to the next stage of approvals, including an Official Plan amendment as well as zoning and draft plan of subdivision applications.

Scott would like to see all approvals in place by Q2 2026 and for grading and other earth works to begin next fall. The servicing of the first phase would begin in 2027 and home-building would follow in 2028.

“The quickest thing to get to market to start actively supplying housing to the Guelph market would be low-density,” Scott said. “There are other mixed-use and multires blocks that will be serviced in Phase I, but it will just take a little bit longer to bring online.”

The highest approved height for a building in GID is 18 storeys. 

Future GID development partnerships are possible

Fusion is GID’s sole developer now, but that could change.

“With the size of the site and with the different aspects of what it includes — sale and rental residential, commercial, employment, et cetera — there will certainly be some opportunities for partnership,” Scott said. 

“Our background is in residential. We're not employment land experts, so I could definitely see the opportunity to partner or sell off blocks when it's the right time for that. And even with purpose-built rentals, I think there will be opportunities for partnerships on those too.”

Scott envisions the entire GID community taking about 15 years to complete, but he noted that absorption rates and other market factors could alter that timeline. 

Acquisitions and other developments

Acknowledging that the housing market has slowed, Scott said Fusion is still pursuing acquisitions in southwestern Ontario but is being more selective and avoiding overextending itself.

“We continue to try to push ahead and continue on with our ambitious growth goals, but while being realistic with how many homes we're going to build in a given year given the absorption rates and the demand that's out there,” Scott said.

The company has just completed Anthem, the fourth of five condominiums in The Metalworks development in downtown Guelph along the Speed River.  

“That's been a really wonderful project to revitalize downtown,” Scott said. “We have a heritage building on that site as well that we restored, which is now home to Spring Mill Distillery. The fourth tower really opens up the river walk that we partnered with the City on in connecting into downtown.”

The fifth building still needs to go through the approvals process.

Cambridge, Kitchener and Woodstock

Fusion is also going through the approvals process to build about 160 single-family homes, townhomes and stacked townhomes at 171 Guelph Ave. in Cambridge. 

Mari at Williamsburg, comprised of 64 single-family homes at Abram Clemens Street and Anton Crescent in Kitchener, is under construction. So is the Trussler West single-family home community at 29 Nathalie St. in Kitchener.

Fusion is selling a 210-unit condo and stacked townhome project called NOMI at 628 New Dundee Rd. in Kitchener and Scott hopes to break ground on that soon. 

Fusion expects to close on the acquisition of its first development site in Woodstock by the end of October. The initial phase will include 80 lots with a mix of single-family homes, semi-detached homes and townhouses.

“We've built in London many times, and in Tillsonburg, so we're kind of familiar with the stretch of the 401 from Guelph down that way, but we’re really excited about our entry into Woodstock,” Scott said.