VIDEO: Huge new waterfront community in Mississauga as seen from the sky

The first homes that will be part of a huge new waterfront community in Mississauga are now under construction, the developer says.

Phase one of the 177-acre mixed-use Lakeview Village development located in Mississauga’s southeast corner where the Lakeview Generating Station and its four stacks once stood is underway in what will eventually fill out to some 16,000 homes, in addition to numerous businesses, over the next decade-and-a-half or so.

Lakeview Community Partners Limited, developer of the award-winning planned community, said in an online project update this week the first homes are in the works and will soon take more complete shape.

In addition to the homes, highrises and businesses planned for the area, several parks and a destination pier plus a boardwalk lined with shops and restaurants are all included in the developing picture along the Lake Ontario shoreline in Mississauga.

Beyond that, the 64-acre Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area being developed nearby is also expected to be a big attraction.

Lakeview Village will grow to eventually include some 16,000 new homes (up, controversially, from an initial 8,050 units) as part of a community that’s expected to also bring about 9,000 long-term jobs to Mississauga.

The new community will be built out over the next 15-20 years and will also include a state-of-the-art innovation district that aims to become “the largest hub for technology, innovation and research in Canada,” according to the developer.

After striking a deal with the developer early last year that laid the foundation for getting shovels in the ground, City of Mississauga officials said at the time work could also get started on affordable housing, parkland, community benefit projects such as the landmark public pier that could stretch 600 metres out into Lake Ontario and other initiatives planned as part of the Lakeview Village community.

Both city officials and the developer have said they expect the “reimagined pier” will quickly become an “iconic destination” that will be “admired as a distinguishable landmark on Lake Ontario.”

As part of a set of agreements with the city, Lakeview Community Partners Limited said it will contribute $14 million to the cost of the pier and “other cultural amenities.”

While no official cost estimates have been provided by the city for the landmark pier, former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie said earlier it could cost as much as $100 million.

Rendering of what a new Mississauga pier might look like. (Image: Lakeview Community Partners Limited)

Among components of the agreements between the city and developer are commitments to parkland, traffic improvement, a new public school and that five per cent of the housing built will be affordable.

“This is a significant milestone. The city has been working … for almost a year to ensure the increased density assigned for Lakeview Village will be built in an appropriate way,” Mississauga Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney said in an earlier news release.