Ontario Construction News staff writer
Collingwood council will ask the province to approve a minister’s zoning order (MZO) for the Poplar Wellness Village, a $2-billion project proposed for Collingwood’s east end.
Council approved the request at a meeting last week. If approved, the MZO will rezone the property to mixed use from industrial and allow the minister of municipal affairs and housing to bypass local planning approvals to speed up the development.
The project, a partnership between DiPoce Management and Live Work Learn Play, is expected to create about 16,000 construction jobs and could be underway 12 to 36 months after an MZO approval.
The 130-acre proposed development includes a transformative vision to deliver an innovative and fully integrated mixed-use regional Health and Wellness Village for Collingwood and the province of Ontario, including a potential future expanded regional hospital. It includes 2,200 residential units with a portion dedicated to attainable housing.
“After almost a year of robust community and stakeholder engagement, and months and months of work, we are thrilled that our request for the endorsement of an MZO has now been approved by council and will be sent to the province for consideration and will now involve their tremendous vision and leadership,” said Max Reim, CEO, co-managing partner & founding principal at Live Work Learn Play Inc.
If adopted by the Province, the proposed MZO will establish the necessary zoning to build , state-of-the-art hospital and facilities on a 30-acre parcel of the land, which is proposed to be gifted as a community benefit by Mr. Di Poce to Collingwood General & Marine Hospital.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to work closely with the Town of Collingwood and community, and now provincial leadership, to deliver much needed health care services, attainable aging-in-place and workforce housing opportunities, new knowledge-based jobs, and much more, that together will result in a strengthened economy for the citizens of Collingwood and the region,” said Armando Lopes, development manager at Di Poce Management Limited.