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Huge development with 37 separate towers planned for downtown Mississauga, Ont.

Two big-name developers are planning a massive mixed-use development centred on the Square One shopping mall in downtown Mississauga, Ont.

Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of pension fund OMERS, and Alberta Investment Management Corp., better known as AIMCo, announced plans Jan. 21 to transform 130 acres of what today is mostly parking lot space into a sprawling 37-tower neighbourhood.

Eric Plesman, executive vice-president and head of North America for Oxford Properties, said the “bold vision” will repurpose land that’s currently underutilized into the largest mixed-use downtown development in Canadian history.

“Our ambition is to build a community more than 35,000 people will be proud to call home,” Plesman said in a release. “This new community will support employment with world-class office space to help businesses grow while maximizing the positive impact of new transit being developed in Mississauga. It will be a place where business, life and leisure can come together as one.”

The huge redevelopment plan for the city just west of Toronto includes 18,000 residential units, more than half of which will be rental apartments. The approximate boundaries of the development area — which covers roughly half a square kilometre — are Burnhamthorpe Road to the south, Confederation Parkway to the west, Highway 403 on the north end and City Centre Drive to the east. Growth in Mississauga, Canada’s sixth-largest city, is expected to continue with the population closing in on one million by 2041.

Overhauling the city’s downtown won’t

Renderings of the new mixed-use development planned for downtown Mississauga, Ont. Designers aim to incorporate a significant amount of walkable civic space to accompany the new towers.

PHOTOS: OXFORD PROPERTIES

happen overnight. The two developers pointed to the so-called Square One District as a multi-phase, multi-decade project. Construction, however, is already moving ahead on the neighbourhood’s first two towers. The 48- and 36-storey buildings will house nearly 1,000 condo units combined, with construction expected to get underway this summer. Oxford, which is also one of the driving forces behind prominent New York City development Hudson Yards, and AIMCo, have partnered with Ontario-based builder Daniels Corp. on the two towers.

With the project linked up to the new Hurontario LRT, which is now under construction, the developers said the Square One District will include a transit hub, a civic space dubbed the “Strand,” as well as parks and community buildings. Office space will also play an “important role” in the new development, the group said, but it did not release a specific breakdown of planned residential, commercial and office space.

The developers anticipate getting to work on another 5,000 residential units over the next five to seven years. If advanced as planned, the project will be a boon for the construction industry, translating to up to 6,500 direct jobs over the first five years, with many more following.

B.C. pre-qualifies three build teams for final stage of highway project that will cost $125M per kilometre

A costly highway widening project just east of Golden, B.C. is one step closer to being shovel-ready.

The province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said Dec. 13 it has shortlisted three teams for the final stage of the long-running Kicking Horse Canyon Project.

Three previous phases of work have widened just over 21 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway, or Hwy. 1, through the scenic canyon adjacent to Yoho and Banff national parks. Phase 4 will complete the final 4.8-kilometres, four-laning what’s currently a two-lane road, as well as installing avalanche and rockfall hazard protection.

Due to significant technical challenges, the relatively short highway widening project is expected to cost a staggering $601 million — or about $125 million per kilometre.

To take on the complex design-build project, the province has pre-qualified three construction teams: Kiewit Infrastructure BC ULC, Flatiron-Vinci Joint Venture and Kicking Horse Canyon Constructors.

The unveiling of the shortlist follows the request for qualifications stage that got underway this September.

B.C. expects to award the contract to one of the teams by summer 2020 and construction is scheduled to start in the fall. Currently, planners are targeting late 2023 or early 2024 as the completion date for the complex stretch of highway.

Fluor, Kiewit win multibillion-dollar contract to build new petrochemical facility outside Edmonton

The Canadian and Kuwaiti companies developing a new multibillion-dollar petrochemical facility in Alberta have awarded a lump sum construction contract to a 50/50 partnership between Fluor Canada Ltd. and Kiewit Construction Services ULC.

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. and Petrochemical Industries Co. K.S.C. of Kuwait have been planning the facility within the Alberta Industrial Heartland development area northeast of Edmonton for nearly four years. The group announced a positive investment decision for the integrated propane dehydrogenation plant and polypropylene upgrading facility last February and has been working to secure contractors to take on the project since.

The precise value of the new lump sum contract with Fluor and Kiewit was not disclosed, but Pembina said it covers approximately 60 per cent of the capital costs of the project, which is now estimated at $4.9 billion, up from $4.5 billion earlier this year.

“Our relentless pursuit of a lump sum contract for the PDH facility reflects our disciplined and prudent approach to capital allocation,” Mick Dilger, the company’s president and CEO, said. “This project is highly strategic for Pembina and our producer customers in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It offers a new demand source for domestically produced propane and supports ongoing development of Canada’s world-class hydrocarbon resources.” The deal with Fluor and Kiewit covers construction of the site’s propane dehydrogenation facility. Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corp. said the contractor selection process for the polypropylene upgrading facility is still ongoing.

Once in service, the petrochemical site, which will be located just north of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., will produce about 550,000 tonnes of polypropylene per year.

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Boring starts on Toronto’s Coxwell Bypass Tunnel, first phase of $3B water infrastructure project

Components of a tunnel boring machine known as “Donnie” have been lowered and assembled at the bottom of a 50-metre shaft at a wastewater treatment plant on the east end of Toronto. The 1,000-tonne machine will begin moving material shortly for the 10.5-kilometre Coxwell Bypass Tunnel, a key component of the city’s long-term water infrastructure plan.

City officials, including Mayor John Tory, were at Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant to mark the official start of tunnel construction Dec. 14.

“Through this tunnel we can capture and store rain and wastewater and transport it for treatment and disinfection so clean water is released into the lake,” Tory said in a release. “This project is of great importance to our city and the future of our waterways.”

Prep work for tunnel construction began last year, with crews carving out a 50-metre shaft with a diameter of about 20 metres to accomodate the boring machine. Once preliminary testing is complete and “Donnie” gets to work, the subsurface digger can bore through at least 20 metres of earth per day, leaving behind a 6.3-metre diameter tunnel.

“Years of planning, engineering and design will soon be realized as Donnie gets digging to create what will be a significant piece of infrastructure,” Coun. James Pasternak, said in a release.

The tunnel will run west from the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant below Lake Shore Boulevard East. Once it reaches the Don Valley, it will swing away from Lake Ontario, following the valley north and east until reaching Coxwell Ravine Park, where an exit shaft will be prepared. After it’s put in service, the tunnel will store and transport sewer overflows and stormwater to the east side wastewater plant for treatment, preventing this type of water from getting into the Don River, and ultimately, Lake Ontario.

The Coxwell tunnel project is phase one of the wider Don River and Central Waterfront Wet Weather Flow System that aims to improve water quality in the Lower Don River, Taylor-Massey Creek and along Toronto’s Inner Harbour. The five-stage project is expected to cost about $3 billion and will solve some of the problems caused by the city’s aging water infrastructure, which generally relies on combined sewers that can be overwhelmed during heavy rainfalls or intense snow melts. Several other components of the project include a new outfall at the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant, an integrated pumping station at the site and upgrades at the nearby Main Sewage Treatment Playground.

The new bypass tunnel is scheduled to be completed by 2024.

Infrastructure Ontario chief Ehren Cory returning to private sector

The president and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario has announced his impending departure from the crownowned agency.

Ehren Cory, who has been with Infrastructure Ontario for the past seven years — and served at its helm for the previous three — will return to the private sector following his departure April 30. His appointment, which was set to expire next month, has been extended to give Infrastructure Ontario more time to find a replacement.

“The Government and I agreed to a short extension of my appointment, through to the end of April,” Cory explained in a release. “This extension allows time for government and our board to put in place next steps to transition.”

During his time at IO, Cory led numerous major infrastructure projects and orchestrated the agency’s shift into enterprise real estate, its new approach to affordable housing projects and the expansion of public transit, which includes a nearly $30 billion quartet of planned projects in Toronto.

“This government has entrusted IO with new and expanded challenges across the gamut of our work, and I have no doubt IO’s role will continue to grow in impact in the months and years ahead,” Cory said in a release. “Working at IO has been a dream job for me — a chance to combine private sector thinking and the public good, and working with a team of incredibly motivated and passionate colleagues. It’s also an opportunity that I have always planned on being one stop in my overall career journey.”

IO is expected to conduct a search for a replacement for Cory over the coming months.

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Extension of Ontario Hwy. 407, new Hwy. 418 open east of Toronto

Looking south from the new Hwy. 407 and Hwy. 418 interchange. The major highway project stretching approximately 22 kilometres look about five years to complete. PHOTO: BLACKBIRD INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP

An eastern extension of Ontario Hwy. 407 and a new toll road to connect the lengthened highway to nearby Hwy. 401 opened Dec. 9 on the outskirts of Toronto.

With the addition of 14 kilometres of four-lane road on its far eastern edge, the 407 now stretches to Hwy. 35/115 in Clarington, Ont. Drivers can also reach the province’s main thoroughfare via a 10-kilometre north/south road, known as Hwy. 418, which links up with the 401 between Courtice and Bowmanville, Ont. The two new segments of road are designed to relieve some pressure on the increasingly crowded 401 through Oshawa and Toronto’s other eastern suburbs. Combined with other sections of the 407, the latest extension allows through traffic to skirt around Toronto between Clarington and Burlington.

Construction of the highways cost approximately $1.2 billion and has been underway for about four years, with early work beginning in fall 2015. Blackbird Infrastructure, a consortium made up of CRH Canada Group Inc. and Spain-based Cintra Infraestructuras, spearheaded the Highway 407 East Phase 2 project. Dufferin Construction Co, a subsidiary of CRH and Ferrovial Agroman Canada were in charge of construction.

As the name implies, the latest project followed Phase 1 of the 407 expansion, which opened to traffic in 2016. Phase 2 stretched the provincially-owned section of Hwy. 407 another 22 kilometres — from Harmony Road in Oshawa to Hwy. 35/115 — and added the 418 connection to make it easier for drivers to reach the 401. Construction included three highway-to-highway interchanges, as well as five entrances/exits to surface roads. Unlike the privately-owned and operated 407 ETR farther west, the extensions are owned by the province, though they are still toll roads.

The $1.2 billion contract for the highway project includes 30-years operations, maintenance and rehabilitation.

Equipment dealer Strongco to be bought by Portugal’s Nors in $193M deal

Portuguese equipment dealer Nors has struck an all-cash deal to acquire Canada’s Strongco Corp. for approximately $193 million. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company, which carries a number of high-profile equipment brands, including Volvo, Case, Manitowoc and Terex, has 26 branches across Canada. Nors, meanwhile has operations on four continents and different 16 countries, though prior to the acquisition, it has not done business in Canada.

“Nors’ international experience and capital foundation, in many of the same product lines on four continents, brings the know-how and experience to elevate our potential to deliver leading edge quality to our growing customer base in an

14 / FEBRUARY 2020 increasingly global environment,” Robert Beutel, Strongco’s executive chairman, said in a release. “The Strongco board is confident that this represents a favourable outcome for all of our stakeholders.”

Nors will pay $3.15 per share, translating to a 75 per cent premium on Strongco shares, which closed at $1.80 on the Toronto Stock Exchange Jan. 23. The deal has the backing of Strongco’s board, as well as several key investors in the company, the dealer said.

Along with other customary closing conditions, two thirds of Strongco shareholders will need to vote in favour of the deal before it can be finalized.

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More than 80-year-old highway bridge west of Toronto spared tear down as province pledges to rehabilitate

A historically significant and vitally important bridge that carries the Queen Elizabeth Way over the Credit River just west of Toronto has be spared from the wrecking ball.

Last year, the province shortlisted three construction teams to either tear down and replace the more than 80-year-old structure in Mississauga, Ont., or rehabilitate it, but had not decided on which route it would take. After weighing public feedback, the province said Dec. 18 it has elected to repair the bridge, as well as build a new span just upstream.

“Our government has listened to the people of Mississauga and we will only seek bids that involve the preservation and rehabilitation of the existing Credit River bridge on the QEW,” Kinga Surma, Ontario’s associate minister of Transportation, said in a release. “We will be moving forward with rehabilitation of the bridge as announced in April.”

Located between the Hurontario Street and Mississauga Road exits on the QEW, some 200,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day.

The current bridge was widened to six lanes in 1959, while portions of the span date back to the mids-1930s. Recent investigations have found the heritage property is in need of significant repairs if it’s to remain in use. The distinctive appearance of the open-spandrel arch bridge, which is made predominantly of concrete, prompted local groups and politicians to mobilize to save the structure this fall.

While the latest announcement will preserve the bridge, a new bridge will also be built just to the north to allow for upgrades to the busy stretch of highway.

Infrastructure Ontario said last year it expects to pick a construction consortium to take on the project by the summer of 2020.

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