When Daniels Corporation acquired a land parcel from Choice Properties and North American Land Development Group in the months leading up to March 2020, it could not have anticipated what was around the corner.

But despite all the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniels Corporation forged ahead with plans to build MPV2 Condos on its newly acquired land.

MPV2 is a multi-phase project located in Brampton’s Mount Pleasant Village neighbourhood — and it was the site's proximity to regional transit connectivity at the Mount Pleasant GO station that impelled Daniels Corporation to pull the trigger in the first place.

However, with subsequent announcements of the pending construction of Highway 413, a new highway a mere stone’s throw from MPV2, and the federal government’s decision to aggressively increase the annual number of permanent residents and non-resident permit workers to Canada, MPV2 is well situated for the future.

“Certainly, population growth has been driving our industry over the last couple decades, and what we’ve just seen is that on steroids the last couple of years, but this was an existing condition in our minds,” Adam Molson, VP of Daniels Corporation, told RENX Homes.

“The real driver was, actually, the proximity to the Mount Pleasant GO Station. That’s a real piece of infrastructure that’s there now that we think adds a lot of value and makes us a desirable place to live.”

MPV2 a master-planned community

MPV2 is a 19-acre master-planned community, the first phase of which — slated for occupancy by the end of 2025 — comprises 120 townhouses across seven blocks. They will be accompanied by a couple of 11- and 14-storey towers with a combined 313 units.

The second phase will see 87 more townhouses, which Daniels Corporation expects will be occupied in early 2026. 

Townhouse projects aren’t commonplace the way high-rise multifamily developments are in the Greater Toronto Area, but — like MPV2’s back-to-back stacked formation — they serve as a more affordable alternative to single-family homes — especially on a per-square-foot basis.

“It’s going to be very different than what I think people’s typical conception of a suburb or subdivision is,” Molson said. “If you look at our seven blocks of townhouses, they’ve very high-density product, and almost akin to a multi-unit building. It’s just that every unit here has a front door to the street. It’s a bit of a hybrid.”

Molson added that MPV2 follows a tried, tested and true formula for Daniels Corporation.

“We’ve seen a lot of success with that product, because it is just kind of that right bridge, where it is a more urban condition.”

The townhomes range between 700 and 1,400 square feet, and pricing for the remaining homes starts in the upper $800,000s.

Modernity is sustainability

Developing MPV2 makes a compelling case from an economic perspective, but the criteria it satisfies extends well beyond that, Molson said, noting that consumers expect more today. So does the building code, and MPV2 satisfies its modern sustainability requirements with all-electric townhouses.

“You don’t have fuels being combusted in your house, and carbon monoxide and particulate matter being generated in your living space,” Molson said. “There’s a growing body of research pointing to the important health benefits that come with eliminating fuel-burning appliances from your home.”

It even goes a little further, attaining the capability for net-zero — years ahead of a deadline that’s left the building industry scurrying to make economic realities work with code requirements. 

But Molson credits Daniels Corporation for reinvesting decades of success into getting ahead of the curve.

“The townhouses are completely fossil fuel-free, they’re all electric and they’re net-zero,” he said. “We’ve got community-scale rooftop solar array there. It’s a 500-kilowatt system that’s going to provide for all the power that these homes require to operate.”

Ontario’s building code is considered among the most progressive globally, and while such modern engineering feats like ameliorating indoor air quality are certainly persuasive from a consumer standpoint, so are the financial benefits.

“These buildings are quite a bit more energy efficient than they were back (15 years ago),” Molson said. “Even compared to another condo being built today (that’s) just being built to the conventional code minimum standard, you’re not going to be paying extra with us."

In the condo towers, units start in the mid $500,000s.

The development also includes a rental component as part of its first phase. Uniti, a joint venture between Daniels and Choice Properties REIT, is a 26-storey tower with 302 apartments, which is part of Daniels Gateway Rental Communities.

It includes a range of unit sizes from studios to two-bedroom-plus-den suites.

Uniti is also Brampton’s first low-carbon rental community.