Affordable housing tower with net-zero design aims to bring 200 units to Brampton

There’s a new housing development in the works that will bring hundreds of new, affordable units to Brampton designed to have a net-zero impact on the environment.

The high-rise will be part of the Chelsea Gardens housing development in Brampton and will add some 200 new affordable rental units to the city, right next to a pair of existing Peel Housing apartment towers with a combined 250 units.

On top of adding to the city’s dwindling stock of affordable housing units, the tower is being designed as a net-zero development with Montgomery Sisam Architects tapped to lead the project for the Peel Housing Corporation.

Daniel Ling, director and principal with Montgomery Sisam Architects, told the Daily Commercial News that marrying affordability with a net-zero design has been a “unique challenge.”

The project will meet the requirements through the use of technologies like a geothermal loop and distributed geothermal heat pump system, according to the report.

At 20 stories tall, the infill development includes an expansion of the existing underground parking garage with 50 more spaces and an above-ground lot with another 89 parking stalls. Plans include 113 one-bedroom units, 68 two-bedroom suites, and another 19 three-bedroom units.

The 1.61-hectare site at 10 Knightsbridge Rd. in Brampton is just east of Central Park Drive, and the development would require some 0.21 hectares on the northern portion of the plot which is currently vacant.

Funding has also already been approved through a $1 billion capital envelope and a zoning application was filed late in 2021.

But plans for Chelsea Gardens go back to 2019 as one of dozens of sites located throughout Peel earmarked for redevelopment by Regional Council to accommodate more than 5,650 new affordable rental units.

Nearby amenities include Bramalea City Centre, the Bramalea Bus Terminal, Knightsbridge Park, Chinguacousy Park and the new Chinguacousy Library Branch.

A zoning bylaw amendment for the affordable housing development has already been approved by the City of Brampton.