Few developers have introduced themselves like Brightstone Developments did in July 2021 with Fairfield Towns — its inaugural Etobicoke-based project that it built before selling.

“We shy away from attention, but we have an internal formula: if we build great product and let buyers and the world see, it’ll sell,” Yoav Bohbot, vice president & director of acquisitions at Brightstone, told RENX Homes.

For a developer without an existing track record, building 12 townhouses and two semi-detached homes before anyone had heard of them was certainly brazen — although that wasn’t Brightstone’s plan from the outset.

Fairfield Towns was well in the works before COVID-19 shut the country down in late March 2020. It was around that time the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) predicted doom.

Fairfield Towns an inaugural success

But Brightstone, though a boutique low-rise developer externally, was founded as a carefully assembled team of experts, Bohbot said, able to forecast incoming tides before many of its industry peers. They realized Fairfield Towns’ could be optimized as a turnkey offering. 

“We decided to go ahead and build Fairfield, and by the time we launched sales in July 2021, we gradually sold all 14 units,” Bohbot continued. “It ended up making financial sense because we sold above what the local market was asking for those unit types and the sizes of the units.

“Our philosophy and our values really paid off, and we knew to stick with that because, ultimately, we’re confident in what we build.” 

Brightstone rapidly followed that up with The Briar on Avenue in Midtown Toronto, only this time it secured the services of world-renowned Toronto-based architect Richard Wengle, whose signature style curated seven luxury townhomes that wouldn’t be out of place in one of Toronto’s toniest neighbourhoods.

“The Briar is a very unique, almost custom home product in a very, very sought-after neighbourhood in the Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue area,” Bohbot said. “They’re approximately 2,600 square feet; they’re three-plus-one bedrooms, with an elevator, lots of natural light and a beautiful, extra-large deck in the back.”

Who is Brightstone?

For a nascent GTA developer, Brightstone has a small and somewhat young team, albeit one belying its members’ individual years of experience.

However, Brightstone had first spent considerable time ensuring it was robustly capitalized with the kind of backers who shared at least as much confidence as its founding team had in their vision. 

Bohbot spent years in the seniors housing sector before transitioning into infill development — the latter experience proving pivotal for what Brightstone does — while Jonathan Marmer is an experienced construction operations director who ensures project timelines remain tight.

Jonathan Axelrod, Brightstone’s construction supervisor — and a veteran site-super before joining the team — is also credited by Bohbot for delivering Fairfield Towns and The Briar on Avenue on time.

And before becoming Brightstone’s director of development, Noah Shechtman was an acquisition analyst who’d previously worked in the architectural and design fields. But it’s his background in data analysis that has, according to Bohbot, helped Brightstone maintain an exceptionally high batting average.

Two Oshawa projects to launch in 2025

This team has wagered big on 2025 — that’s when Brightstone will launch five projects. Bohbot said internal analysis had already anticipated significant interest rate decreases by next year, which would strengthen all five infill projects’ surrounding fundamentals, thereby stoking demand.

Brightstone has identified a need in Oshawa: a dearth of new homes in one of the GTA’s richest school catchment areas. The aptly named SchoolHaus Towns will see 159 stacked townhouses built on a three-acre lot surrounded by nine schools (one of which is a Montessori), while nearby Mackenzie Park will additionally introduce a mix of 86 towns, semi- and detached homes into a neighbourhood with aging housing stock.

“It’s an older area, and SchoolHaus’s layouts will appeal to new homebuyers, and they’re accordingly price-point sensitive for young families who want to buy a home, but aren’t ready for single-detached or large townhouses,” Bohbot said.

Mackenzie Park, only blocks away, will likely attract established young families.

According to Brightstone’s market research, many of Mackenzie Park’s buyers have grown up in the neighbourhood and want to raise their children there.

“This neighbourhood is a rich catchment area that will appeal to young and growing families.”

Additional projects planned for 2025

Another project on Elmway Court in Richmond Hill, The Elms of Thornhill Woods, happens to be the last piece of infill land in the highly-coveted Thornhill Woods neighbourhood, where Brightstone will deliver 36 luxury townhomes.

“It’s a mature neighbourhood where most homes are probably 20-plus years old,” Bohbot said. “This site is over two acres and right next to an existing park, and within the catchment of a couple of great schools.”

Brightstone is also bringing 101 stacked townhomes minutes to a site south of Mississauga’s city centre. OG Urban Towns is yet another infill site secured a few blocks west of the Highway 10 dedicated LRT line connecting south Mississauga to Brampton.

Brightstone will also launch a 48-unit townhome project by Lake Ontario in Oakville next year, called Kerr Village Towns, which will come with two retail units curated by Brightstone.

Bohbot noted there’s a familiar pattern.

“The site’s over an acre fronting Lakeshore, one block from the water and two blocks from great schools, as well as shops,” he said.