The head of Ottawa-based Creative Dev Ventures says communities in the area must be willing to cooperate and be creative to facilitate more housing and development options.
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The head of Ottawa-based Creative Dev Ventures says communities in the area must be willing to cooperate and be creative to facilitate more housing and development options.
CEO Carina Guzman told OBJ that her company’s new 189-acre project called Urban Edge, near Pembroke in the Township of Laurentian Valley, is an example of what can be done with a cooperative approach between developers with a vision and communities that are receptive toward new ideas.
Urban Edge is a three-phase development plan with a mix of housing and business being planned on the edge of Pembroke. Guzman hopes it can be a template for future developments and serve as a laboratory for housing innovation.
She said her company is interested in collaborating with other like-minded companies and industry disruptors who are aligned with the transformative vision.
“We are looking to form partnerships with those who are willing to try new things and whose values align with ours,” Guzman said, adding that those partners include communities willing to do things differently.
The Urban Edge project phase one involves a 27-acre parcel of land off Jean Avenue. Guzman foresees it as a designated affordable starter home area, being developed in cooperation with Ottawa-based Small Living Company, a tiny homes operation. There would also be rental apartments and more traditional housing options in the first phase of the project. Guzman expects 300 to 400 housing units in the first phase, and 1,100 to 1,500 units in total for the project.
She said that pinpointing exact targets for each phase is difficult at this time because projects like Urban Edge are an evolving process and, as partnerships are developed, planning could go in different directions.
According to Guzman, future planning could include community centres and schools.
Guzman said extensive community and stakeholder discussions were held before the Urban Edge project was developed and that's key to any future development projects.
"Through this development, we envision more than a cookie-cutter subdivision, we aim to cultivate a vibrant living space that fosters thriving lives, professional growth and holistic well-being," Guzman says of her company’s core values. “Our commitment to community involvement is important to the area’s future and the transformational impact this project will have to the township and City of Pembroke.”
She said a community hub model with a mix of housing units and businesses is ideal since home-based businesses can develop and thrive organically.
Creative Dev Ventures has a number of other projects underway in the Ottawa area.
In Calabogie, the Tatty Hill subdivision development is a 93-acre site, while the company is also developing a luxury resort getaway property called Calabogie House that will be a short-term rental and events space.
In Ottawa, the company is developing a nine-storey purpose-built rental apartment that will include 130 residential units at 1815 Montreal Rd. and zoning approval has been secured for another apartment rental building called the Labrie Development Project near the Cyrville transit station.
