Base31’s first phase gets go ahead for 800 homes, including rental units

Administrator | Sep 18, 2025 | Comments 11

By Sharon Harrison
Councillors approved development plans for Base31’s ‘Revitalization District’ sub-division, expected to bring 800 high-density, mixed-use residential homes to the County Road 22 and Kingsley Road site – expecting to accommodate around 1,360 people.

The rental apartment building that is to form part of this first phase of development is expected to be move-in ready in 2028, and is to have 120 units – 12 of which will be considered affordable.

At Wednesday’s planning and development committee meeting, Mike Pettigrew, with the Biglieri Group Ltd., (planning consultants representing PEC Community Partners Inc.) said they were only looking for approval for the draft block plan (Revitalization District) at this meeting, which is just a portion of the overall Base31 development plans.

In a 6-4 recorded vote in favour of approving the application, councillors Chris Braney, Corey Engelsdorfer, Kate MacNaughton and Roy Pennell were opposed (absent were councillors Brad Nieman, Bill Roberts, John Hirsch and Phil St-Jean). The vote moves to council for final approval.

Under a new two-step process, details of the proposed planning application came before council at a first statutory (overview) meeting July 16, intended as information-gathering only. Wednesday’s meeting, the second part of the two-step process, came with a report and recommendation for approval of the application of draft plan of sub-division (second submission) by the planning department, for council discussion, debate and decision.

The Revitalization District (also known as Block Draft Plan, Phase 1b) is just one part of Base31’s extensive overall development plans expected to include multiple future phased villages across the entire site.

The Revitalization District is located to the east and west of County Road 22 and Kingsley Road and covers an approximate area of 63.72 hectares. This part of the development will comprise three blocks, with Block 2 consisting of the rental apartment building.

In his report to council, Stephen Willis, with Stantec Consulting Limited, explained how the lands are part of a previously approved official plan amendment and the related area concept plan which provides an implementation plan for the development of the Base31 lands and the Minister’s Zoning Order.

“An application for a draft plan of sub-division for the subject lands was submitted which proposes to create eight new separate registered blocks out of the larger land owned by PEC Community Partners Inc. (PECCPI). There is no new development anticipated or permitted through this application; this solely creates separate legal parcels of land from the larger land holdings at Base31,” said Willis.

In his presentation, Pettigrew provided an outline of the application describing what it will do now and in the future, and what it won’t do, but also what the development is and what is it trying to do.

He emphasised the draft plan approval does not just permit construction without going through a site plan approval or a letter of understanding or other building permits.

“It also doesn’t allocate any servicing just by having this approval, that has to go through a site plan agreement, and that’s important because one of the blocks (Block 2) is the first phase of the housing portion, which is the rental building which will have 10 per cent affordable units, and this approval is required in order to create that block to move that forward.”

He said the lands are governed by the MZO and they allow for a mix of uses, and the intention behind the draft plan as a block will allow for the strategic in-fill developments, like the rental building as a separate block and separate site plan.

“This draft block plan does not create any development, it creates the opportunity for future applications to come forward. On Block 2 rental building, this is not part of the application, but this is probably the most important part of moving forward for the approval at this time for the draft plan,” Pettigrew explained.

Councillor Kate MacNaughton reminded this is the last time this application comes to council as the next is site plan control, which is delegated to staff.

Councillor David Harrison asked if the plan for the rental building is for PEC Community Partners to own and manage it, to which Pettigrew said that the plan right now is to have ownership.

“It might be transferred over to a different entity at some point, but it would still be under the control of PECCPI and we don’t plan to hand it off to a third party and step away from it.”

Mayor Steve Ferguson asked how quickly the apartment can be built, and when will it be completed and occupiable, noting the urgency for affordable rental units.

Pettigrew explained that the plan is to get the plan registered in record time, noting the very strict timelines tied to the CMHC and MIL select program funding.

“The plan is to start excavating and getting a building permit so we can start in 2025 and we would have a 36-month construction period with occupancy happening shortly after. So, if we are starting in the fourth quarter of 2025, first occupancy would be looking for some time in 2028.”

“That’s important because the construction phase for that Block 2 building can happen this year with the approval that happens today,” he said, noting that the client will be able to access funding for the affordable portion of the build.

There were no comments from members of the public and only a few councillors provided comment or asked questions, and that included councillor MacNaughton who also spoke to the heating and cooling technology.

She said advocacy in the early days of Base31 talked about using heat pump technology for heating and cooling.

“Since then, there has been some effort to direct additional natural gas resources, so has there been a change of plans in that regard for any of these blocks to issue heat pump technology in favour of natural gas technology?” asked MacNaughton.

While Chris Marchese with PEC Community Partners did not answer the question, according to the councillor, he said they are committed to sustainable efforts, as MacNaughton again asked if there currently is a clear picture of whether it has changed.

“We are trying to bring things forward and we are evaluating different methodologies that can create sustainable solutions as we know the site has a large footprint. We have made a commitment to continue to investigate and continue to find solutions,” said Marchese. “I’m not aware of any commitment from the partnership where we’ve said that we are getting away from that.”

“I can’t stand here and commit that that is happening for sure, but I can commit that we are investigating these processes to try to stay as efficient and sustainable as possible.”

Willis noted that an interim servicing agreement (ISA) was executed to connect the Revitalization District (Block 1) to municipal water and wastewater services.

“The ISA allocates temporary water and wastewater servicing to support the incremental increase in activity at Base31, pending permanent water and wastewater allocation upon execution of an associated sub-division agreement. The completion of a sub-division agreement for this application will formalize permanent servicing allocation for the Revitalization District lands.”

It was further noted that applicable charges related to connections to municipal infrastructure were deferred on the basis that servicing allocation was temporary, according to the ISA.

“Upon execution of a sub-division agreement related to this application, connection charges, along with all other applicable development related fees and charges, will be payable, at the rates applicable at the time servicing allocation is deemed permanent,” confirmed Willis.

It was further noted that Block 2 (apartment building) is intended to be serviced by private water and sanitary infrastructure, owned and operated as part of Block 1 (Revitalization District).

All planning documentation to the Base31 Revitalization District (Draft Block Plan) sub-division application can be found on the County’s website.