Mattamy Homes’ Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Urban Division officially broke ground on three condominium developments in late January: Westbend on Bloor Street West in Toronto; Mile & Creek in Milton; and Martha James in Burlington.

It's a reflection of Mattamy's belief there's still demand for new condos despite slowing sales over the past several months said Alison O’Neill, vice-president of sales, marketing and design studio for Mattamy’s GTA Urban Division.

“I think people have been a little bit gun-shy on actually pulling the trigger on a purchase,” she told RENX. “I think everyone's waiting for the mortgage rate announcements to settle down and waiting to see what's happening with pricing. And I think we're hopefully coming around the other side of that.”

O’Neill said Mattamy offered a more attractive deposit structure to purchasers for its two most recent launches than it may have during times when units were moving faster, and it seemed to help.

Launching three projects simultaneously, at a time when construction projects have experienced rising costs and delays due to labour and materials shortages, may seem risky. However, O’Neill said these possibilities have been factored into their scheduling and budgeting.

Westbend

The 13-storey, 174-unit Westbend is at 1660 Bloor St. W., between the Keele and Dundas West subway stations and northeast of High Park. 

Unit sizes will range from studios of 425 square feet up to approximately 1,100-square-foot three-bedroom suites. Prices started in the low $600,000s and about 70 per cent of the units have been sold since the November launch.

Amenities at the BDP Quadrangle-designed building will include a co-working space, a fitness centre, a meditation deck and a rooftop lounge. 

Work on a geothermal heating and cooling system is to begin soon, and occupancy is scheduled for July 2025.

Mile & Creek

The first phase of the six-building master-planned Mile & Creek condo community is at 760 Whitlock Ave. in Milton. It backs on to protected green space a short drive from Hwys. 401 and 407 and the Milton GO Transit station. 

Sales launched in November for the first two eight-storey buildings, which will have a combined 226 units ranging in size from 500-square-foot studios up to three-bedroom-plus-den suites of more than 1,000 square feet. Prices started in the mid-$500,000s.

The next two phases will also feature two eight-storey condos, with sales for the second phase expected to launch late this spring.

Mile & Creek will feature a three-storey amenity pavilion featuring a fitness centre, a media room, co-working space and a rooftop lounge and barbecue area that will be shared by all six buildings.

Work has begun on the geothermal heating and cooling system and the first phase is expected to be occupied in September 2024.

Martha James

Units at the 13-storey, 150-unit, Graziani + Corazza Architects-designed Martha James, located close to downtown Burlington and the shore of Lake Ontario at the intersection of Martha and James streets, went on sale last February.

Prices for the launch were around $1,100 per square foot and the building is essentially sold-out.

Units range in size from about 500 to around 1,000 square feet. Martha James will feature a ground-floor fitness centre and an outdoor terrace, co-working space and lounge on the top floor.

Occupancy is slated for April 2025.

Soleil and ClockWork

Mattamy’s GTA Urban Division previously launched two other condo projects that will be completed before Westbend, Mile & Creek and Martha James.

Three of the four six-storey buildings at Soleil Condos in Milton are sold out and only a few units remain in the fourth. Occupancy for the first two buildings will take place this summer, while the last two should be occupied before the end of the year.

The second of two buildings at ClockWork Condos at Joshua Creek in Oakville went on sale last April and its units are 80 per cent sold. The two buildings in the mixed-use community, which also includes a retail element, are under construction.

ClockWork also features geothermal heating and cooling.

Occupancy is scheduled for the autumn of 2024.

Other major projects on the way

Mattamy is North America's largest privately owned homebuilder, with more than 40 years of experience in Canada and the United States.

Its GTA Urban Division has 40 high-rise and multiresidential developments within its master-planned communities and its pipeline has grown to more than 13,700 suites across 19 communities.

“The recent success we've had on our sales launches really reaffirms our commitment to the market as well as to the multifamily market,” said O’Neill.

Mattamy’s GTA Urban Division has three other major near-term developments in the works. 

It has been chosen as QuadReal’s partner for the first phase of the redevelopment of the Cloverdale Mall site in Etobicoke. 

Mattamy acquired an ownership stake in the stand-alone 2.3-acre “Triangle Site” adjacent to the mall.

The partners will jointly develop a project that includes condos of 32 and eight storeys, a connecting podium structure and about 2,400 square feet of retail space. It will offer more than 500 units and sales should launch late this year or early in 2024.

Mattamy will oversee development, construction, sales and marketing for the Triangle Site while QuadReal will retain overall strategic direction of the district master plan for the 32-acre property.

It will also maintain long-term ownership of the mixed-use community’s retail and purpose-built rental components.

Mattamy acquired a Scarborough site called The Mile at 1891 Eglinton Ave. E. It’s going through the approvals process but the plan is to build five or six condo towers with a combined total of close to 2,000 units.

There are also plans to launch sales for a 50-storey condo with more than 500 units at 85 St. Nicholas St., just west of Yonge Street and south of Bloor Street West in Toronto, late this year or early next year.

That project is working its way through the site plan approval process.