Massive new waterfront community in southeast Mississauga gets the green light
Published November 9, 2021 at 5:47 pm
It’s been just over 15 years since Mississauga’s iconic “Four Sisters” came tumbling down in a controlled demolition of the old Lakeview Generating Station.
Now, after City of Mississauga officials gave the conditional go-ahead last night for a huge waterfront community to be built on the land where the power station and its four stacks once stood, Lakeview residents and others throughout the city finally know what will take shape on the 177 acres of prime lakeside real estate.
Lakeview Village, a mixed-use waterfront development of 8,050 new homes that’s also expected to bring some 9,000 long-term jobs to Mississauga, will be built out over the next 15-20 years. The plan calls for five per cent of the new homes, or about 400 units, to be affordable housing.
Additionally, Lakeview Community Partners Limited (LCPL), which is developing the site, says the community will feature a state-of-the-art innovation district that aims to become “the largest hub for technology, innovation and research in Canada.”
LCPL says the ambitious project will serve as a model for sustainable mixed-use developments across the country.
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“I think we all agree this is very transformational for our city. We are building on what was brownfield, and creating something extremely cutting edge, sustainable, beautiful…with the community’s input,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie at the completion of a nearly two-hour meeting of the City’s Planning and Development Committee.
“But,” she emphasized, looking to City planning staff who negotiated the deal, “one of the priorities of this council is also affordable housing… (I’d like to know) if there’s potential for more. Is (five per cent) in line with what we’ve been receiving elsewhere across the city in other developments?”
City planner David Breveglieri said Mississauga initially asked for 10 per cent, but settled on half that number.
“We don’t have any legislative authority to require affordable housing. This is essentially the City asking if they’d be willing to provide affordable housing,” he said, adding five per cent is “slightly better than what we’re usually getting in other development applications.
“So that equates to over 400 affordable housing units, which is still quite a substantial size of affordable housing units for a community.”
Crombie agreed, noting the City doesn’t have the leverage in such negotiations to get more affordable housing included in the deal.
Andrew Whittemore, Mississauga’s planning and building commissioner, added that as Lakeview Village is built out over the next 15-20 years, the City can seek greater than five per cent affordable housing commitments.
The “Four Sisters” moments before they were demolished on a June morning in 2006.
Approval of Lakeview Village was given on condition that outstanding issues related to noise, odour and traffic capacity are addressed as the plan moves forward.
Some residents remain opposed to the development, insisting the new community—in addition to the nearby 3,000-home Brightwater development in Port Credit—will create traffic chaos on an already-busy Lakeshore Rd.
LCPL says Lakeview Village will be a “smart, future-ready city” that will be important to the economic recovery of Mississauga and areas beyond as it promises to draw and keep, in partnership with the City’s Economic Development Office, 9,000 long-term jobs in “higher-paying, knowledge-based sectors.”
When the massive development will be open for business, and move-in ready for residents, isn’t yet known.
This 1972 photo shows the iconic “Four Sisters” and the Lakeview Generating Station.
LCPL says that what it calls the Lakeview Innovation District will be centrally located within the region’s larger innovation corridor and integrated into the broader Lakeview Village community.
Furthermore, it has the potential to compete alongside the top technology hubs in the world, the developers say.
The former Lakeview Generating Station lands sat vacant for years until LCPL purchased them in 2018 and began creating a vision and master plan for the site.
The ambitious development will feature transit-connected housing, office space, retail, restaurants, trails, parks, greenspace, and cultural and recreational amenities.
The community will also be connected to the nearby 64-acre Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area, named for the late city councillor who worked to bring the project to fruition.
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