Developers Osmington Gerofsky Development Corporation (OGDC) and WJ Properties have broken ground on the first phase of a new purpose-built rental community at 9 St. Dennis Dr.

Located at Don Mills and Eglinton and the new Don Valley Station, the 38-storey, 474-unit tower is the first of a multi-phase redevelopment of the site, and will include 20 per cent affordable housing, nearly an acre of new public parkland and a fully geothermal heating and cooling system, states a release.

The project sits on land that the Weinbaum family, operating as WJ Properties, has owned and managed for over 60 years.

“Since the late 1960s, our family has helped shape Flemingdon Park, building homes and caring for the people who live in them,” says Allan Weinbaum, owner of WJ Properties, in a statement. “This project is about investing in the neighbourhood’s future: more rental housing, new public space, and a building that connects residents to transit and opportunities growing around them.”

The building will run on 100 per cent geothermal energy for heating and cooling, drawn from 99 boreholes drilled hundreds of feet into the ground, the release explains, and is expected to use 60 per cent less energy and produce 80 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a comparable code-built building.

The building’s design will draw inspiration from its surroundings.