A new Ajax townhome project received development approvals in just five weeks — a striking deviation from the typical 18 to 24 month timeline — shaving off around $20,000 per unit for future homebuyers.
The development, proposed by Marshall Homes in August of this year, will sit on the cusp of an existing subdivision in north Ajax. Located at Rossland Road West and Harkins Drive, the 81-unit, three-storey stacked townhome development would be a mere 8-minute drive from the Ajax GO Station and nearby Greenwood Conservation Area, and within close proximity to a number of dining, entertainment, and retail destinations.
Once complete, the townhomes will back onto a roughly 20-year-old subdivision, but the grassy lot that will soon house the new development has sat vacant for decades — a situation that Marshall Homes' Founder and President Craig Marshall says the Town is happy to see change.
The site was previously owned by Ajax Meadows, whose original development project came under receivership in late-April after failing to repay its lender around $4.13 million in debts.
With this new development, dubbed "Time," Marshall Homes has jacked up Ajax Meadows' 27-unit plans by 300%, now offering 81 units, while also reducing the approval process by 93%, allowing them to deliver more attainable prices starting in the low $600,000s — far below the average attached housing price of $851,733 in the area.
They've also done away with unnecessary commercial zoning requirements, providing more much-needed housing. In fact, getting the rezoning application expedited was a big factor in squashing what could have been a long and arduous timeline.
In August, Marshall had an informal meeting with Ajax's Director of Planning and Development Services Geoff Romanowski about how long it could take to get the plans approved. "He said 'you know it's going to be around 18 months, maybe two years, to get this approved,'" Marshall tells STOREYS. "But he said 'the Mayor has used strong mayor powers in the past, this is a pretty simple site, you’re not asking for something outrageous, and it makes a lot of sense, maybe we should have the Mayor take a look at it.'"
Marshall called Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier directly after his meeting with Romanowski and described his plans. "He was familiar with the site. It's been around for about 20 years," says Marshall. "We met the next day and he liked the plans, and away we went."
In the wake of the impromptu meetings, the Town advanced their pre-application consultation meetings by two weeks, and provided their feedback at that meeting, pushing Marshall to provide comments over the weekend. Collier, using his strong mayor powers, expedited the Zoning Bylaw and Official Plan Amendments applications through Council in early-September, just five weeks after the pre-consultation meeting.
"I just cant believe it, and a lot of my colleagues cant believe it either," Marshall tells STOREYS. "We’ll be closing in 2026. If we hadn’t secured this approval, it would have been 2028.”
As for why the project was able to move ahead so quickly when others languish in municipal bureaucracy for months, sometimes years, Marshall says it came down to offering the right kind of product.
"They liked the product, they thought it was perfect for the location," he says. "Obviously if you're building in a highly sensitive area it might take a bit more time, but with something like this, it’s so obvious that it’s going to happen anyways, and they know it. This could happen for a lot of sites, especially little infill sites like this at the end of an existing subdivision. There’s a lot of low hanging fruit like this on the planning side.”
Marshall says it also helped that they faced minimal pushback from the community. After a Council meeting, where a resident voiced concerns over the potential for increased traffic, Craig spoke with them and they said they were delighted that the site was finally getting developed and that Marshall Homes had gotten rid of the commercial zoning. "The only concern was traffic, which we're getting a traffic study for," says Marshall.
Besides providing more housing quicker, the substantially shortened timeline has also meant that they can offer more affordable prices for homebuyers. According to Marshall, the crunched timeline alone saved them around $5,000 per unit and $15,000 per unit was recovered in the absence of accruing interest that would have added up had the site sat undeveloped for longer. All in all, homebuyers will save around $20,000 per unit as a result of the expediency.
“We got the Rezoning and the OPA done during due diligence, had that not happened, we would have been looking at holding on for a couple years to end up seeing an appreciating property value to pay for it," says Marshall. "But we want to be in the market at today's price, and to get something going. It’s a great time to build houses.”
Marshall says this positive experience has made him want to continue to develop in Ajax and he hopes to see similar efforts made in other municipalities across the province.
“This gets more housing built and faster. This is the sort of thing we need to be doing everywhere," says Marshall. "Not only does it make me want to build more in Ajax, I think it's something we can hold up to other mayors, and hopefully, they extend the strong mayor powers to more mayors in the province."
In a press release, Collier emphasized the importance of getting more housing built faster. “Through initiatives like the 'Time' project, we are demonstrating how effective collaboration between government and private developers can lead to innovative solutions for housing shortages,” he said. “We remain committed to supporting projects that not only provide homes but also contribute to the overall well-being of our communities.”
TIME TOWNHOMES
Renderings via Time/E&OE
