24 Sep The Story of Village on the Twelve
Village on the Twelve will be comprised of about 300 housing units within 16 Acres. The Concept Plan includes many forms of housing that cater to the many facets of the market in St. Catharines. Traditional Development Design principles were utilized to create a cohesive and high quality “sense of place” that appeals to potential buyers and maximizes property values.
Progress: The first four stages are complete and Stage V is under construction. The value and marketability of the remaining 5 stages is assured because the original design concept has been realized.
Recognition: The Master Concept Plan received the 2005 & 2016 Niagara Community Design Award for Large Developments.
Timeline
The Barnes Vineyard 1980
The Barnes Vineyard provided grapes for Barnes Winery to the north. Barnes Wines, established in 1873 was Canada’s oldest continuous winery until the 1980’s. By the early 1980’s West St. Catharines was designated for development by the City and Regional Niagara, which included the Barnes Vineyard. A developer led by Robert Garside purchased the 17 acre farm from Michael Guzie about 1985.
Winston Landing Concept Plan
After reviewing several options, the Developers settled on the above Concept. It was to be a campus-style Modernist vehicular-oriented gated community – something that one might see in Atlanta, in the Caribbean or perhaps on Hurontario Street in Mississauga. The site was to contain over 700 apartments in 6 buildings ranging in height from 10 to 18 storeys. Glenn Barr, through a previous sister company was on the design team as the Site Engineer and Development Consultant. Note the remote parking lot along Martindale Road (See Image 4).
Winston Landing Concept Vision
This was an ambitious project – and it proved to be too ambitious. After completing the first building fronting Martindale Road (Grenadier Place), the recession of 1989-99 set in and the Developer lost the site to the Bank. Underlying the loss (now hindsight) the total local market for luxury condominium apartments proved to be no greater than 50 units per year. After 60 pre-sales for Grenadier Place, it took an additional 5 years to sell the remaining 40 units.
Grenadier Place & Willow Bank Circle
Winston Landing Phase 1 – Grenadier Place and Willow Bank Circle were constructed in 1987. This is the promotional image. Because of the Developer’s financial difficulties, no further work was done on the site until 1998 (Winston Gables).
Winston Gables Aerial 2000 (Niagara Navigator)
In 1998, Glenn Barr, together with John and David Welton (original investors in Winston Landing) purchased a portion of the site from the Bank and developed Winston Gables – a 30-unit townhouse project on what was intended to be the excess parking lot site. Barr Associates designed the site and Taro Homes (Don Ward and Doug Fowler) became the builder partner. As part of the project, the former sales centre was converted to two homes.
Winston Gables
The concept for Winston Gables was radically different than Winston Landing. It was developed on what was intended to be a parking lot on the Martindale Road frontage. 18 0f the 30 townhouses were benched into the slope of the Grapeview Creek ravine and fronted Martindale Road. A private lane provided access and the homes were set well back from the busy roadway. Barr Associates incorporated a variety of house types and design details leading into a New Urbanist concept.
The Village on the Twelve Concept Plan
In 1999 Glenn Barr and the Weltons purchased the rest of the Winston Landing site from the Bank. Barr Associates redesigned the site to better suit the local market through incorporating Traditional Neighbourhood Design (TND) principles. TND principles include:
- Diversity – of housing forms, types and sizes, of architecture, of materials and colours
- Pedestrian-oriented streets – avoidance of “garage-controlled” architecture, walkways around and throughout, narrower streets with curb-side visitor parking
- Creating a “sense of place” different from other suburban sites
- Details, details, details