Hotbed of neotraditional development

The most intense concentration of traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) in North America is in Markham, Ontario. The suburban Toronto municipality of 150,000 residents adopted a new urbanist planning policy in the early 1990s. Four new communities are in early stages of construction as a result of these policies, and a half dozen more are in planning. The TNDs have interconnecting streets, main street commercial corridors, neighborhood squares, and a mix of uses, and they are adjacent to each other, forming a new outer ring of urban-style development. They don’t always fit together coherently, but the street and block pattern plainly differs from the preceding conventional suburban development. Not all projects represent pure New Urbanism. A wide range of home styles and types are being constructed — from garage-in-front suburban models to high-quality urban architecture. The real estate market is hot in Markham, and the town’s complete switch to neotraditional development has not slowed it down. Since the start of 1997, 700 to 800 homes have been sold in Markham’s new planning areas. Nearly all were presales, because few homes have been completed. Two new communities have homes under construction and two more will begin building units this spring. Due to the sheer variety of what is being built in the name of New Urbanism in Markham, it is unclear how well these projects will function socially and aesthetically. The two most successful projects so far, in terms of sales, have taken different implementation strategies. Angus Glen has targeted the high-end market, and the Georgian architecture is elegant and simple. Cornell is selling at lower prices — while the style is highly ornamental Victorian. Another project, Berczy, adjacent to Angus Glen, has numerous developers offering a variety of conventional and hybrid homes within a TND planning framework. In Berczy, many of the sales have been on “wide and shallow” lots, a front-loading configuration which allows garages to be pulled back from the front of the facade and de-emphasized on the streetscape. “I think people will be very confused” by this hodgepodge of products, says Lucy Stucco, whose company, Tribute Homes, is building in Berczy. The project is sizable, encompassing more than 700 acres. Berczy illustrates the difficulties of trying to patch together a coherent community from multiple land owners and developers. The fourth community under way, South Unionville, covers about 300 acres. It is steering a course between the new urbanist approach of Angus Glen and Cornell and the intense hybridization of Berczy, according to reports. Big sales at Cornell Cornell, a 2,400-acre project with perhaps the most sophisticated urban plan in Markham, has had the most impressive sales. Four hundred and fifty homes were sold in less than a year. Cornell began by offering relatively low prices — ranging from $77,000 to $140,000 (all figures are given in U.S. dollars, calculated in February, 1998. To convert to Canadian dollars, multiply by 1.42). Homes prices have risen to $90,000 to $210,000, still at the lower end of the price spectrum in Markham. The increase has been related to both market demand and construction costs, says Larry Law of Law Development Group, the developer. About 200 homes are under construction in Cornell, and occupancy is expected to begin in late March, Law says. He is building a village center in the first neighborhood which is scheduled to open this summer. Building a commercial center in the first phase is highly unusual for a TND — but then Cornell is gaining rooftops at a rapid clip. Located on a neighborhood green, the center will have a bank, a sales center for for the development and a community recreation center. Law expects to attract retail stores as well, but reports no firm lease commitments. Andres Duany, whose firm Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) & Company designed Cornell, has criticized the gingerbread homes being built by Law and his two builders as “too laden with architectural gestures.” Nevertheless, Law is faithfully following the DPZ plan, which Duany has proclaimed is the firm’s best large master plan. If Law had not purchased the property from the Province of Ontario at a price of $80 million, it is doubtful that DPZ’s plan would have been built. None of the other potential purchasers were interested in implementing it. Lengthy planning process pays off Angus Glen, a 280-acre project with the most promising architecture of all Markham projects, also has sold well. Since the fall of 1996, 260 homes have sold, ranging from $132,000 town-homes to $500,000 custom dwellings. As of early February, 125 homes were under construction, and 40 families were living in Angus Glen. Sales were rapid when Angus Glen had only Cornell for competition — the two projects are aimed at completely different markets. Activity slowed when developers began selling homes in nearby Berczy and South Unionville. “It’s only natural that buyers would be interested in checking out the wide and shallow product,” says Don McIntyre, executive vice president of Angus Glen Development Ltd. “But sales have recently picked up now that the model homes are complete.” The developer spent two and a half years preparing Angus Glen, extensively researching neotraditional developments like Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Jenkins & Associates did the initial master plan, modified by the Planning Partnership, which also created the design guidelines. “Other developers said that [neotraditional development] is too costly, that we would never make money,” McIntyre says. “There might be a price to it, but what we have offered has paid off handsomely.” The focal point of the first neighborhood is a rectangular green surrounded by townhomes and narrow-lot single homes. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, somewhat wider lots (50 to 60 feet) and custom homes will be available. Angus Glen Development has sold lots to four builders, all of whom are selling within a distinct price range and lot size. “There is no competition among them,” McIntyre explains. “We think that strategy is helpful in encouraging higher quality, because the builders are not trying to undercut each other.” A town center with a grocery store, pub, cafe and bakery, among other shops and retail outlets, is in planning, and will be located just a block from the green. The commercial center will have access to two major roads — but will turn its back on them, orienting shopfronts towards the residential neighborhoods. Consistent planning, inconsistent architecture Markham’s experiment with neotraditional planning boils down to a few key facts. Ten communities totaling 7,000 acres are in construction or planning. In addition to the TNDs that have already broken ground, the six in planning are Greensborough, Markham Centre, Wismer Com-mons, Woodbine North, Cathedral Community and Rouge North East. All feature a new urbanist pattern of streets, blocks and neighborhood focal points on modified grids. The home styles and architecture are less consistent, with both hybrid development and purer attempts at New Urbanism. The New Urbanism appears to be outselling the hybrid development — but the new urbanist projects have been on the market longer, therefore it is too early to draw conclusions. Markham’s architectural guidelines are not mandatory, which is one reason for the lack of consistency. How well each project is implemented ultimately is the decision of the developer. In communities like Berczy, where a half dozen developers are active, control is especially difficult to maintain. The town has more direct control over the street and block pattern. Such a diversity of homes, prices and architecture all in the context of a neotraditional planning framework in the same real estate market will make Markham an ideal laboratory for New Urbanism in coming years. Various new urbanist and hybrid strategies can be compared in terms of marketability, aesthetics and how well they function socially. Definitive answers probably will take years. In the meantime, expect a good deal of confusion on the part of buyers as to what constitutes the New Urbanism.