Lebovic
Up in Canada, ASGCA Past President
Doug Carrick would echo Clark’s
thoughts about project timescales.
Carrick’s Lebovic course project in
the town of Aurora north of Toronto
has been on his books since 1996—
and the owner originally bought the
property back in the 1980s! “The
property fell within the Oak Ridges
Moraine, which is designated as
sensitive,” he says. “As a result there
are a lot of restrictions on what can
be done in that area. But the location
is good—a 40-minute drive from
downtown Toronto—the setting is
very picturesque for both golf and
housing, and the southern Ontario
housing market is still fairly strong.
The recession had very little to do
with slowing Lebovic—it was all
about planning. We have 11 holes
seeded, and hope to have the build
completed by the end of September
for an opening next summer.”
At Carrick’s other in-build project,
Friday Harbour on the south shore
of Lake Simcoe, an hour north of
Toronto, work began in 2001. “The
property had an existing small
marina, and the client bought the
property with the intention of
developing a resort community with
golf and a much expanded marina,
plus real estate,” he says. “There was
a local ratepayers group opposed to
the development and took it to an
Ontario Municipal Board hearing.
We won, but it took several years to
go through approvals. The project
includes 2,000 holiday homes—low
rise and townhouse homes, centered
around the 40-acre marina, which
has 1,000 slips. Early plans for the
golf course had it integrated with the
marina and housing, but through
the planning process there was
around 150 acres of protected green
space that the township wanted to
preserve as a nature reserve between
marina and golf course. So now
the course is roughly half a mile
from the resort center. The marina
is being excavated now—it’s about
two million cubic meters of glacial
till. This is being moved to the golf
course, so we have some significant
fills! We’re about half way through
the earthmoving, and the plan is
to be completed by end 2015 for
opening in 2016.”
•
The recession
had very little
to do with
slowing Lebovic
–
it was
all about
planning
Doug Carrick,
ASGCA Past President
Lebovic
Location: Aurora, Ontario
Architect: Doug Carrick, ASGCA Past President
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