Last Monday night 56 or 57 townhouses under construction by Dunpar Homes at their Burnhamthorpe and Ponytrail site in Mississauga burned to the ground. This site has had fires before. All are being investigated as arson.
In all, 96 high-end townhouses are under construction at this site, a half-hour drive west of Toronto. Of those damaged, including more than a dozen that burned to the ground. All 57 will likely have to be razed and rebuilt. The remaining stone facades that remained after the fire, were being leveled as I took this picture Thursday morning. (7.02.09) Globe and Mail
The developer, Dunpar Homes, said each unit was worth between $500,000 and $625,000 and that most had already been sold.
"Who is doing this to us?" asked Mark Mintzer, vice-president of marketing for Dunpar Homes, whose original development plans were opposed by residents and the city.
In 2007, when the site held just an empty field, the townhouse complex proposal drew ire from neighbours, who thought the units too dense and too tall. On Monday night, they stood on the sidewalk and watched the units burn. Missisauga News
So what happens Now? Where will you live?
- The Builder, once they have had a few days to regroup from this tragic event will have a number of isssues to decide.
- Are they able to conclude the project at the price, time and material quoted and contracted?
- Will extensions be permitted?
- Will they merely cancell everyone's contract and start reselling the units again?
- I would think that existing contract holders would have the first right on the same unit.
To those that commented about insurance proceeds and profit, that is just silliness. Homes are built when they are contracted for occupancy. That means that someone has bought it. No Builder is erecting dozens of models home on the chance that they will sell.
I would welcome your comments and thoughts on this event in Mississauga.
UPDATE: They found and charged a 19 with this and the previous arson event
Quit work! Kudos to our Police
1 comment:
There's a discrepancy here though. Mississauga News says, "About 25 per cent of the units were sold before Monday's fire". Was Dunpar building without contracts for 75% of the units or not?
And to the neighborhood issues with density and height, we can now add "unsafe".
They had a fire before and yet Dunpar didn't ensure there'd be guards on duty as they had promised to have. Plus those units lit up and burned like thermite. If the wind had been south-east or it hadn't been raining all day prior, that fire would almost certainly have jumped to the occupied neighboring houses.
Dunpar have proven themselves to be very poor neighbors to Fleetwood Village in every possible way.
[Disclosure: I live within 200 meters of that firetrap/project. Colour me unamused.]
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