Hanson Developments presented to the Midland Planning and Development Committee this past Wednesday. If you think that you have heard the name before, you are right. Hanson has had a Plan of Subdivision with the Town for almost 20 years. But with recent improvements to Midland's economic outlook, Hanson feels it is now time to start building.
The Hanson Lands are a large parcel that is bounded by the Wal-Mart plaza, Highway 12, Old Penetanguishene Road, and Little Lake. Over the next ten years, they are planning to build an entirely new neighbourhood of some 1,200 to 1,700 homes. The development will not be the "typical suburb", but rather a community that provides all the urban amenities while encouraging healthy living and a green environment.
I am particularly pleased because Hanson has done their homework. We have seen too many developments that start off with great fanfare but end up as an empty field with a few scattered homes. Hanson has researched both our local residents and those who may want to live in Midland. They are responding by building homes that are attractive (e.g. front porches), have low maintenance costs, and will priced in the low $200,000 range.
Hanson also intends to make its Little Lake shoreline a public area with parks and connections to our exiting trail system - this will not be an isolated neighbourhood. Hanson also indicated that one of the reasons they are deciding to invest now is the proposed Midland Bay Landing development, something they regard as a great benefit for our future.
Look for marketing activity to start in the spring of next year.
2 comments:
Is this the same type of community that is being built off of Yonge Street by Devonleigh? They have the prices listed at $214 900 (the lowest on their website) yet they also have one listed on Realtor.ca for $374 900. Quite a big difference. When you say “low $200 000 range” is that for a base model? How long has Devonleigh been building there and when was the initial planning done? Will this actually get done or are you trying to tell people that we are going to increase the size of Midland by 25% in the next ten years even though there has been no population change for the past ten years? Are there going to be jobs created by Hanson or are they using out of town contractors as is often the case? Why are people going to move to Midland if they don’t have a place to work? Just questions I think should be asked before the wagon gets hitched to the cart on this one.
Trevor -
Lots of good questions, many of which we have put to the developer. Like you, I have seen too many developments start off with great promise but little follow through. The homes are being designed with shared common elements (porches, yards, garages) so you get more house for the dollar. The company has done marketing studies in Town and in the GTA and say that they have a market. Can Midland grow? Yes it can. Can most of the work be done by local trades? Yes it can. They start the marketing next year. If you have any more questions, please give me a call at the Town at 526-4275, x2204.
Gord
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