Updated: More than 300 new homes to be built beside planned Cambridge Recreation Complex

  • 08/27/20
  • |          Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE — A new 300-home subdivision is expected to take shape at the south end of Cambridge, next to the planned Cambridge Recreation Complex.

Polocorp and Gemini Homes are partnering on the Southpoint project, with more than 300 single detached homes and townhomes planned for lands near Dundas Street South and Branchton Road in southeast Galt.

“We are excited to bring this new community to Cambridge. This project has been many years in the making and we are excited to blend the creation of the newest destination community next to the new Cambridge recreational complex,” Polocorp president Paul Puopolo said in a release. “We think it will be a wonderful amenity for the new residents and the existing community.”

Officials updated plans for the recreation complex at its city-owned, 13-hectare (32.5 acre) location on Wednesday, where site preparation has begun. That work includes grading, street and trail development, and adding municipal services such as water and sewer.

The site plan process and detailed design is expected to take between 18 and 24 months. Groundbreaking for the recreation complex is expected in 2022, with an opening targeted for 2025.

Plans for the recreation complex include a 25-metre swimming pool, leisure pool and warm water/therapy pool, gymnasiums, fitness track and multi-purpose rooms. A branch of Idea Exchange, Cambridge’s public library, is also planned, along with new public and Catholic elementary schools that may share amenities — a first-ever joint campus in Waterloo Region.

“I look forward to working with our partners at the school boards, Idea Exchange and the development community to create a vibrant community hub for all Cambridge residents to use and enjoy,” Mayor Kathryn McGarry said. “Reaching this milestone has been a long time in the works and I’m thrilled to see that ground work has begun.”

Waterloo Region District School Board chair Jayne Herring said the public school will house more than 500 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 8, and will have 6,000 square feet of dedicated child care space. Waterloo Catholic District School Board chief managing officer John Shewchuk said their school will have a capacity of 354 students, and that a best-case scenario could see it open in September 2022.

A site study prepared in 2019 puts the recreation complex toward the rear of the property, flanked by two parking lots, a baseball diamond and soccer field. The two schools (30,000 and 41,000 square feet) stand closer to residential Wesley Boulevard, with the 14,000-square foot Idea Exchange and some green space in between. There’s a smaller parking lot on either side of the schools.

About 26,500 residents will live within a 15-minute walk of the complex once the area is fully developed.

“Gemini Homes couldn’t be happier having teamed up with Polocorp Inc. and the City of Cambridge to bring on this exciting new development. With the new recreation centre and schools in our backyard, everyone really worked to create a great community node here,” Gemini Homes president Jason Fabbian said. “In our new post-COVID world, we are thankful to be able to bring this vibrant neighbourhood to life with plenty of trails, outdoor amenity space and walking access to the community spaces.”

While the City of Cambridge decided in May to postpone about two dozen capital projects due to pandemic-related revenue losses, site preparation for the recreation complex was on the list of projects that would move forward.

Kitchener-based Polocorp’s portfolio includes Vista Hills in Waterloo, Barra on Queen in downtown Kitchener, and Forbes Estates in Hespeler. Guelph-based Gemini Homes’ recent projects include Stewart’s Landing in Morriston and Swan Creek Estates in Inverhaugh.

 

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