Two acclaimed Toronto builders have joined together to build new condominiums on Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto’s Bathurst Manor neighbourhood, just minutes away from Downsview Park.

In June, Almega announced a joint venture with Brixen Developments, to build a 12-storey mixed-use condo and rental-replacement building at 824 Sheppard Ave. W., towering above the neighbourhood. This development will offer residents easy access to the 291-acre Downsview Park — generally hailed as Toronto’s version of Central Park.

“We’re thrilled to offer homebuyers the opportunity to live a highly connected lifestyle steps away from Sheppard West subway station and to the highly anticipated improvements to Downsview,” Basem Hanna, CEO of Almega said in a statement, with sentiments echoed by Brixen co-founder Alexander D’Orazio. “We wholeheartedly embrace the opportunity to work in partnership with Almega on what no doubt will be a very sought-after new community.”

The new condo community should become a desirable place to live as plans to transform the Downsview Lands come to fruition.

We previously reported about how the Downsview Lands transformation, representing one of the largest city-building efforts in the history of Toronto, is steadily making progress in transforming the area into a vibrant, interconnected community. Plans for the development of area — originally released in 2021, with the most recent updates submitted to the city in April of this year — show how developer Northcrest and the Canada Lands Company (CLC) will build the project over the next three decades through a process called id8 Downsview.

The 528 acres of land adjacent to Downsview Park (near the intersection of Keele St. and Sheppard Ave. W.) comprise the Toronto Wildlife Centre, the Downsview Park Film and Television Studios, and the Downsview Park Arts Alliance, previously home to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada and a Canadian Forces base.

The newly developed lands will allow for a significant amount of new housing — a mix of residential spaces (including markets and affordable, seniors “continuum of care” housing options), as well as non-residential uses, like offices, retail spaces, and restaurants, interspersed with a ton of green infrastructure, new streets, bike paths, walking trails, with connections to area parks, transit stations, and neighbourhoods.

A key selling point for the new condo development is that — since it’ll be a short distance from the redevelopment — it’ll be a perfect community for people of all ages.