We worked with the City of Oshawa to conduct a community needs assessment, develop the vision and introduce development principles for transforming the 5.3-acre former Ritson School site, near Oshawa GO station, into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly transit-oriented and complete community.
Client: Region of DurhamLocation: OshawaScale: Master PlanSize: ~700 units
Transit: Oshawa GOProject Duration: 2023-2024
The Challenge: How to enable successful partnerships to realize a community-driven vision, ensure financial feasibility, and facilitate long-term affordability and sustainability?
More and more municipalities are considering partnerships to deliver large-scale housing projects by leveraging city-owned properties or lands in locations desirable for transit-oriented developments.
The former Ritson School in Oshawa is one such site. It was purchased by the Region of Durham in 2022, as a site to introduce much-needed, sustainably built housing that accommodates a mix of incomes and uses while integrating new community services and supports.
The Opportunity: Introducing a ‘HousingNow’ strategy across the region of Durham for delivering transit-oriented affordable housing
Our Community Needs Assessment, combined with insights from community engagement, identified a broad range of necessary services and amenities. To meet these needs, we proposed a partnership with a private-sector partner and one or more non-profit organizations for the development and operation of affordable housing.
Read our Community Needs Assesment
Flexibility in Planning is key
To facilitate and incentivize these strategic partnerships, we worked with Regional staff to establish a set of development principles. We incorporated several flexibility measures to make the partnership more feasible and appealing to private-sector partners while ensuring a solid and clear foundation for realizing the community’s vision and needs.
Opening the field to a diverse group of developers
As part of our strategy to build flexibility into the development process, we divided the land into three parcels. This approach not only provides a more future-proof phasing strategy but also allows developers of different types and sizes to participate at various stages of the project.
A new model for place-Making and Community Building
At the heart of the project is the heritage-designated former Ritson School. We seized this opportunity to revitalize the building and position it as the central community connector. Our plan integrates the heritage building with both housing and community services, incorporating pedestrian-friendly urban design principles to transform the surrounding area into an accessible, vibrant, and people-first community hub, serving the broader neighbourhood.
Effective Communication
The success of a community development project ultimately depends on how well it is received by the communities it affects, whether they are future residents or existing neighbours.
Recognizing this, we implemented our unique communication approach as the centerpiece of our community engagement. Instead of using overly detailed, hyper-realistic renderings that might overwhelm or confuse the audience, we presented engaging, illustrative visuals that clearly highlight the key aspects of the design and how they would impact people’s daily life.
This approach made the vision for the area accessible and understandable to a wide range of community members, fostering meaningful dialogue. As a result, we got to work with an informed community eager to participate in the visioning process, and our engagement sessions were marked by productive discussions and brainstorming about what truly matters for the present and future of the community.