By Pepper Parr
December 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Roger Park stands on the observation platform at the back of the construction office that is in behind the sales office of the Paradigm project on Fairview Street east of the Walmart, south of the GO Station, watching a crew complete the concrete pour of the second level of the garage.
Roger Park is one of those rough, tough guys that people don’t mess around with. Described as having a bark that is worse than his bite – you don’t want to test that statement. He is the man managing the building of the five structure Paradigm site on Fairview that can’t be seen yet but is rising floor by floor.
Roger tends not to look at people when he is talking – his eyes are constantly moving over the site where different crews of men and doing different tasks. The weather has been exceptional and work is slightly ahead, which suits Roger, because construction projects tend to fall behind.
He is overseeing the construction of tower A – it will rise to 22 storeys. The first of five towers that will be built by the Molinaro Group on the 1.75 hectare site they acquired.
Tower A under construction with the second level of parking being poured. GO station crossing from the North parking lot to the tracks is shown. Tower A is expected to be completed in 2017
The scale of the project was determined by a 2008 Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruling and permits a mix of retail/commercial and multi-storey residential uses.
The OMB decision sets out specific requirements and development rights for the property, such as height, access, road improvements, public safety and noise mitigation measures, among other things.
The public involvement in the project was unique for Burlington; the Molinaro’s decided to involve the public. They decided to work with the community and listen to what the public thought. It was a novel approach for a Burlington developer and involved the ward Councillor who believed this was the best way to build community.
The Molinaro’s presented their plans to local residents first, ironing out any issues before submitting their plans to the City.
Layout of the five structure site on Fairview just south of the GO station – Tower A in the upper left corner is now under construction. The complete project is expected to take six years to complete.
“The workshops were great,” Sam Di Santo, General Manager and Vice-President of the Molinaro Group, said. “We were skeptical at first, because you never know what the outcome is going to be, but we informed the public, we gave the ability to give feedback and went through every single point and made a list of changes.”
The process has been phenomenal and it is exactly what we want to see going forward,” added city Councillor Marianne Meed Ward.
The Gazette intends to follow the development of the project that will create 929 units in the five buildings.
The Paradigm is going to change significantly a part of the city that was an empty field with places that had traffic going in and out all the time. No one lives at the GO station or Walmart.
The Paradigm will be home to more than 2000 people when it is completed – that is more than a neighbourhood in itself. That many people will want services closer to them which bodes well for the Brant/Fairview intersection.
All this however is sometime into the future – right now Roger Park wants to get the concrete slabs poured one by one.
He has been doing construction work for the Molinaro family for more than 30 years. His son is now part of the team that puts up the buildings that have made a big difference to the look of Lakeshore Road where they built most of the condominiums.
Architects rendering of the Paradigm project as it will be seen from Fairview.
Tower A is scheduled to be completed in 2017 with the complete project expected to take six years. The three towers at the back of the property will be completed first – the front two towers will then be added.
Real estate market forecasters do their research and project as much as they can – but it is individuals who make buying choices. The proximity of the GO station and the long term plan to make the GO station the centre of a mobility hub with the hope that land along Fairview will shift from current usage – automotive and gardening at this point, to something that is more in tune with the changes the added population will bring about.
Home for Roger is in Sarnia. “The Molinaro’s are very good to me – I can stay wherever I want when I stay over” he says.
“They give me the plans and I put the buildings up – they don’t micro- manage me – they know that I deliver and if there is going to be a problem they hear it from me first.”
Amenities galore suggesting a life style for the younger set.
At some point down the road Roger will get to the building of the party room, the party terrace, the Porte Cochere, the indoor pool and Spa, the Theatre Room, Sky Lounge, Activity Terrace and Guest Suites along with the Indoor Basketball Court for Tower A
For now he has one eye watching the skyline for changes in the weather and the other scanning the work site to make sure everything is going the way it was intended to go.
