More historical context.
Summit Park will outbuild Ancaster's Meadowlands
(Hamilton Spectator, Mark McNeil, April 21 2004)
It's called Summit Park but people will probably always know it as the start of Meadowlands East.
Whatever the name, the giant, sprawling $1-billion housing project on the southeast Mountain is planned to be even larger – on a residential basis – than its namesake in Ancaster.
By the time the 160 hectare-subdivision is finished more than a decade from now, its planners say more than 3,200 homes will be built.
That will create a 10,000-resident neighbourhood.
It's a project that suffered years of delays, an OMB hearing and an uncertain future because of postponements and challenges to the Red Hill Creek Expressway
But now the main developer, Multi-Area Developments, is set to start selling the first 500 units on May 1. Company president Aldo DeSantis says he already has a waiting list of 75 people interested in homes that will sell for between $215,000 to $350,000….
"This is where the growth in the city is going to be for the next 10 to 15 years," says DeSantis. His company owns 105 of the 160 hectares between Trinity Church Road, Highway 56, Rymal Road and a hydro corridor, he said.
The development company, 100 Main Street East Inc., owned by Al and Ralph Frisina, is the second largest land holder with 38 hectares, of which 12 hectares are being used for commercial development and 26 hectares for residential construction. Several smaller land holders own the rest.
"Once the Red Hill (Expressway) is finished ... I would say this whole area will take a life of its own because ... almost everywhere else in Hamilton is pretty well out of land. If not for this project, Hamilton would have only two or three years of land left (for residential development)," said DeSantis.
He says the expressway connecting upper Hamilton to the Queen Elizabeth Highway "will be the lynchpin" that will open "Summit Park to a large group of potential new homeowners through increased accessibility."
DeSantis says roads and sewers will be built this summer and fall to lay groundwork for houses that will start being built in November. A model home and a sales office have so far been constructed.
Also moving ahead with its part of the development is 100 Main Street East Inc., starting with commercial construction first.
"It will be big box kind of stores with some restaurants and hopefully movie theatres," said Al Frisina.
It's expected the nicknamed Meadowlands East will have slightly more homes but only about a third of the commercial development of its Ancaster namesake, said Frisina.
Resale houses have been selling at a record pace. And last month Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said housing starts were up by 37 per cent over the same month last year in Hamilton.
The property used for Summit Park used to be Ontario Realty Corp. lands that were sold to developers in the late 1980s.
In
May 2006, the City’s Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy (GRIDS) outlined a plan for population growth through 2031, including the conversion of 1,130 hectares (~2,800 acres) of farmland to housing be expanding the urban boundary around Elfrida (“Special Policy Area B,” the area around Upper Centennial & Rymal East). The largest urban expansion proposed under GRIDS, it was not the only one. A “special policy area” around the Hamilton International Airport has been more visible and contentious, but the Efrida SPA triggered its share of protest from local advocacy groups.
In
February 2007, Al Frisina was among those urging the City to stay the course on the city’s GRIDS plan and not bend to groups pressing to eliminate urban expansion in this area (accommodating residential growth), reasoning that GRIDS was consistent with provincial policy directives.
The province, however, disagreed, contending that the City’s SPA designations were unjustified.
The City pushed back, but the province responded by imposing 150+ changes to the City’s new rural official plan in December 2008, among them nixing the planned 2,800-acre expansion area around Elfrida.
In
January 2009, Al Frisina was listed as one of more than 15 developers with land holdings within Special Policy Area B, which developers maintained which would “create a more attractive gateway into the City of Hamilton.”
In
April 2011, council voted to take the province to the OMB over the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s
deletion of all mention of the Elfrida SPA development node from the official plan before approving said plan. (The area formerly known as the Elfrida SPA has also been linked to the
pricey politicking around the proposed AEGD boundary expansion —
linking AEGD to employment use and Elfrida to residential use.)
Since 2011, the City has earmarked
$1M for preparatory studies associated with the proposed Elfrida expansion.