Part of the Master Plan

I was always turned off by the phrase “master planned.” It struck me as contrived, and made me think of the ticky-tacky boxes with garages stuck on the front that are still an esthetic affront in our outer ‘burbs. It’s great to see neighbourhoods spring up organically, one or two houses at a time. Businesses move in, more homes are built, and things begin to take shape. Of course, such organic building is hardly possible in a city as dense and well established as Toronto.

Master-planning, a term we haven’t heard for a while, is making a comeback, and I find myself happy to see it. With the realization that “master-planned” doesn’t have to mean “cookie cutter,” builders in the 21st century are getting it right.

There are a number of master-planned communities springing up across the GTA, each with a personality of its own. Canary District is one of the most exciting, partly because of the tie-in to the Pan Am games, but also because of the inclusion of some non-residential, non-retail stakeholders who will also make their homes there, like George Brown College, whose first residence is part of the community, and the YMCA, whose newest branch will be one of its largest.

It’s far from the only one, though. On the smaller side, Streetcar Developments’ Queen & Gladstone properties are shaping up to form a master-planned community centred on “the Row,” a nifty pedestrian- and bike-friendly boulevard with lots of plantings and benches, as well as room for a variety of retailers. Tridel just launched SQ, the first condominium in its Alexandra Park revitalization at Queen and Spadina, which will eventually see the demolition and replacement of more than 300 townhomes, the refurbishment of nearly 500 apartment units, and the addition of more than 1,500 new market condos and townhomes. Bayside, of which Tridel’s Aqualina condo launched last month, will comprise more than two million square feet of residential, office, retail and entertainment space along the water between Sherbourne and Parliament.

These communities are enormous, multi-year propositions that require a staggering degree of coordination among a diverse variety of partners. So why do it? Historically, master-planned communities perform better than mere subdivisions. According to a U.S. real estate advisory consultancy called RCLCO, sales in master-planned communities in Houston and Las Vegas grew from 15 percent of the new homes market before the recession to 25% in 2012. Another consultant, L.A.-based John Burns, says residences in master-planned communities can command a premium of 5 to 10% over homes outside such communities.

Ergo, they offer the chance to make a lot of money for all those involved. But in order to realize that potential, they have to be done right.

Master-planned communities offer buyers more bang for the buck, even compared to established neighbourhoods. Self-contained, well-maintained, with the amenities baked right in, they also come with a branded image, which takes the guesswork out of neighbourhood-shopping for many. Want to know if you’ll fit in in one of Toronto’s new master-planned communities? Just look at the ads. The marketing teams spend countless hours and thousands (and thousands) of dollars portraying exactly the image they want for the community, and it’s a good clue of how comfortable you’ll be there. Often the amenities are a clue, too.

Generally, investors in such undertakings are well-capitalized, which means they can continue to invest in the community even if the economy takes a downturn.

They also do their research, so they know what’s desirable in the long term. One of the U.S.’s biggest and best-selling recent master-planned communities, California’s Irvine Ranch, encompasses 100,000 acres for 300,000 residents. The builder, Irvine Company, gave a couple hundred potential buyers a $250 gift card in exchange for their visiting other builders’ model homes and rating what they liked and didn’t like about every room. They filmed another hundred families talking about what they liked and didn’t like about their own homes. From that, they decided that current floorplans weren’t doing it for modern buyers, and they introduced eight new models with mud rooms and more open-plan layouts.

“We created a new home for a new generation,” Irvine president Daniel Young told Urbanland magazine. The company sold more than 1,000 of the new-style homes last year, doubling their goal.

Thanks to the decline of traditional media, developers are getting creative with their marketing efforts. No longer comprised primarily of newspaper and magazine ads, these new strategies are letting builders more specifically target buyers. YouTube videos and ads on school-search websites, community events and neighbourhood walking tours are all making a grassroots impact on their bottom lines.

It’s clear today’s developers have learned from their peers’ mistakes of the past. No longer content with drab design and a lack of amenities, these new communities are providing highly desirable, multi-faceted housing in areas that often have become derelict. It’s an exciting time for Toronto, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.