News

After an exasperating 17-year delay, a new neighbourhood designed by the Miami-based father of "new urbanism," Andres Duany, is finally under way — a 21st-century reincarnation of the long-disappeared Amherst and Hamilton villages settled by United Empire Loyalists in 1798 and later absorbed by the town of Cobourg.

On the fringe of the Greater Toronto Area's heated housing market, the area between Port Hope and Cobourg is the new frontier. "It's one of the next areas to blossom," says Lois Simmonds-Weaver, an Ajax real estate agent who is the first buyer in the unfolding New Amherst neighbourhood.

The new community on about 350 acres between Highway 2 and Lake Ontario was designed by Mr. Duany and partner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. It is based on new-urbanist principles with an emphasis on pedestrian-friendly residential streets, houses with front porches, rear garages, parks, a town centre and a main street.

Mr. Duany and Ms. Palter-Zuberk spawned the new-urbanist ethic in the early 1980s with the construction of Seaside, a Florida resort town that became one of the most influential and award-winning projects of the era. They have since built dozens of similar projects around the world, including several in Canada, the new downtown Markham among them.

Max LeMarchant, president of Plan Master Construction and Development Inc., one of three partners developing New Amherst, notes that the early settlers intuitively understood good community-building in the way they laid out the villages.

"We assembled the land in the late 1980s and after much planning and deliberation hired [Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.] in the mid-1990s to produce a master plan and architectural guidelines to complement Cobourg and neighbouring Port Hope's historic character," Mr. LeMarchant explains.

DPZ's plan languished for years while the partners were trapped in a protracted dispute over boundaries that arose from an amalgamation agreement between the town of Cobourg and the township of Hamilton. The contentious agreement was eventually cancelled in 1991, dumping New Amherst into development limbo. "That really jammed the gears," Mr. LeMarchant says.

Discussions with local heritage-minded residents who fiercely resisted any new development that would dilute the predominantly Georgian-style character of their town also slowed progress. Ultimately, they were persuaded that New Amherst would be an asset. A Loblaws grocery store will also be part of the new development, with Home Depot and Wal-Mart big box stores not far behind.

The boundary dispute was resolved in 1997, after much wrangling and many hearings before the Ontario Municipal Board, and the New Amherst site was absorbed into the Town of Cobourg. The partners organized a design competition and Toronto architect Phillip H. Carter was retained to produce an architectural template for home builders to follow. Mr. Carter has also designed a 36,000-square-foot mixed-use building for the town centre, with commercial and office space on the lower floors and condos on top. He is designing a clock tower that will act as a marker for the new community.

Design ideas from other architects, including some involved with DPZ's celebrated new urbanism projects in Florida, were assembled into a set of guidelines. But it wasn't until 2004 that the partners secured its development approvals and began laying out roads, sites and installing the infrastructure.

Alistair Rose, president of Stallwood Homes, a local custom home and subdivision builder, has more than 20 single-family, bungalow and townhouses slated for construction, ranging from a 1,200-square-foot detached house on a 45-foot lot for $220,000 to a five-bedroom house on a 55-foot lot selling for $480,000. He notes that of the 11 models, five are set on 55-foot lots, with other models on 45-, 50- and 60-foot lots.

Mr. Rose suggests the lot sizes are generous at those prices, certainly by Toronto standards, with garages attached to the rear of the houses, rather than detached, in typical new urbanist fashion. Private courtyards are set into the sides of the brick, stone or clapboard houses, which are 15 to 20 feet apart, rather than usual 6 feet.

The first phase of 50 homes should be completed this year, says Mr. LeMarchant, who expects to build 75 to 80 units a year over the next 10 years, although in the end there may be as many as 1,200 housing units in the project.

Ms. Simmons-Weaver, who has been an active in Durham Region for the past 25 years, bought an 1,800-square-foot bungalow for $279,000, after deliberating for half an hour. "I liked the whole concept, the layout, the sun room, attached double car garage and 50-foot size of the lot across from a park. I'll continue to work out an office in Ajax, which she says is about a 40-minute drive away.

Buyers Wayne and Wendy Hare are new urbanist fans, having owned a townhouse in DPZ-designed Oak Park in Oakville for the past eight years. Mr. Hare is especially familiar with the houses, as he is a customer service manager in home builder Tribute Communities' Oakville office.

The Hares are empty nesters, moving to New Amherst "to get away from the rat race a bit", but mainly to be closer to Mrs. Hare's aging parents, who also bought a 1,600-square-foot house in the community.

"We all liked the style of the architecture, cathedral ceilings in the dining room and master bedroom, the new urbanist interaction between neighbours with the houses closer to the street. We also thought the value was fantastic," Mr. Hare says.

The Hares bought a 1,400-square-foot bungalow for $239,000.

Major new housing developments have also taken root in nearby Port Hope,, where an historic downtown is also drawing interest. The first phase of Penryn Village, named after the owner of an historic local estate, is under construction on 200 acres, developed jointly by Monarch Corp. and assisted living developer specialists AON Inc. of Peterborough.

Michael LaPlante, Monarch's project manager, says they intend to build about 850 units over a 10-year period. The first units will be attached bungalows with optional lofts and two to four bedrooms on 35 and 40-foot lots and detached bungalows on 50-foot lots. There will be some two-storey models on a golf course with Lake Ontario views, and a model on a 65-foot lot along the lakeshore, priced from $290,000 to the high $400,000s.

Penryn Village will have a 15-acre environmentally protected private park around a creek, with walking trails in a boreal forest, wetlands and wildlife. Mr. LaPlante says the project is attracting people from the GTA, Kingston and Peterborough who like golf course communities.

Special to The Globe and Mail