Wednesday, April 16, 2025
EllisDon, together with the City of London, celebrated the opening of a new 61-unit affordable housing development located at 122 Baseline Road West.
The apartment building is one of the first projects successfully completed under the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Rapid Housing Initiative. The four-storey apartment complex consists of one, two, and three-bedroom units along with common-use support spaces on each floor aimed at providing Londoners at risk of experiencing homelessness a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
“This project was on a very tight and demanding timeline for our builders,” says Patrick Cooper, director of municipal housing development for the City of London. “EllisDon understood that demand and the difference this development would make for so many in our community. And thanks to their hard work and this partnership, many Londoners now have a safe, affordable place to call home.”
The successful completion of the project was a team effort between multiple departments within EllisDon along with the city of London. EllisDon Community Builders (EDCB) led the combined effort in close partnership with EllisDon Construction, working with the city from feasibility, through design and completion. EDCB is a division of EllisDon dedicated to affordable housing that works directly with non-profit organizations and municipalities.
“This important project hits close to home for EllisDon, as our company’s roots are in London, Ontario,” said Mike Stewart, director, Pre Construction, EllisDon. “We are honoured to provide affordable housing for the city where we live, work, and continue to build in.”
From the onset, EDCB worked closely with the city to confirm the project’s feasibility and compliance with the federal funding requirements, particularly the achievement of substantial completion within the rigorous timing conditions of the RHI program. EDCB supported the project’s concept, delivery, and commercial/legal structuring to satisfy the social outcomes and scale that the City of London was looking to achieve.
EllisDon’s Energy & Digital Services (E&DS) team was brought on to the project to assist with maximizing the efficiency of the building design and construction execution. E&DS involvement expanded to include the procurement, implementation and configuration of the integrated security system and the supporting network. The final solution included video surveillance, access control, wireless insuite panels and an entryphone system. By leveraging extensive knowledge of both building systems and networking, E&DS implemented a converged building network that supports the integrated security system, the in-building WiFi solution, and property management systems. The construction team was able to simplify the site’s installation, operation, and management and E&DS was able to value engineer the solution and deliver cost savings to the project by reducing infrastructure costs and space requirements.
Featured image: (EllisDon)
