In 2017, Infrastructure Ontario completed a competitive RFP and selected Dream, Kilmer, and Tricon to develop a twelve-acre, 2,500-unit purpose-built rental community with 30% affordable apartments. The first phase of our work, Maple House, is a pioneering residential community with an egalitarian ethos: using an innovative “checkerboard” approach, market and affordable units are randomly integrated throughout the community, all units are finished to the same high standards, and all residents have access to the same amenities and services. Maple House is not solely designed for young professionals: nearly half of the building’s 770 rental homes have two- to four-bedroom layouts, providing housing options for families at both market and below-market rates.

The amenity program, spanning 40,000 square feet, includes both indoor and outdoor spaces: a state-of-the-art gym, a Nordic-designed outdoor pool with city views, co-working spaces, a music recording studio, and even a dog spa. These programmed areas are joined by multiple outdoor terraces for al fresco dining, all activated with lifestyle events that allow for community to emerge through more spontaneous encounters.

Residents moving into Maple House share our commitment to the vibrancy of street-level Toronto. We moved parking and services below grade and integrated the complex into the neighborhood, especially by extending the iconic Tank House Lane.

Acclaimed Danish architecture firm COBE designed this project to meet LEED Gold certification, underscoring our companies’ long-term commitment to design excellence and sustainability. We were proud when the Globe & Mail called Maple House “Toronto’s finest apartment buildings in a generation.”

The idea for Maple House was affirmed in 2017, when Infrastructure Ontario selected Dream, Kilmer, and Tricon to develop a first-of-its-kind rental community as part of the Provincial Affordable Lands Housing Program. The site was once a brownfield industrial zone; after deindustrialization, much of the area lay fallow because it was highly contaminated.

Canada has amongst the most acute housing crisis in the G7 – it has the highest population growth and the lowest number of dwelling units per capita, and affordable housing is a matter of national significance. In 2017, all three levels of government partnered to create a public- private partnership that would be a pioneering model for city building – Provincial lands, City tax incentives, and Federal financing to deliver a complete community that delivers affordable housing solutions at scale.

Maple House has required a collaborative and partnership approach given it is truly a first-to-market concept. Our local experience enabled us to move quickly: despite the obstacles created by the COVID–19 pandemic, we built the 3-tower 770-unit project in 53 months. There have been endless challenges we had to overcome, ranging from property tax assessments needing to be calibrated correctly, exploring opportunities to lock interest rates early in a rising market, and managing the supply chain during COVID. The success of Maple House lies in a public-private partnership invigorated by problem solving – because we all know that integrated housing such as Maple House is both the foundation to our City and enriches it.