A 10-storey residential tower and a cluster of townhouses may soon overlook the Sunningdale Golf and Country Club in London’s north end, just the beginning of a massive home-building boom north of Masonville.

Corlon Properties has put an eight-hectare parcel of land on the market, overlooking the golf course on Sunningdale Road, between Richmond Street and Wonderland Road, and it’s zoned for townhouse and tower development.

That development has been dubbed Sunninglea, and Corlon has another 110 hectares it will sell for residential development in the area as urban growth creeps north.

“The market is very strong. This property has fantastic attributes, overlooking the golf course. It’s a tremendous opportunity,” said Gord Thompson, president of Corlon Properties and also president of the Sunningdale Golf and Country Club.

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Thompson downplayed the suggestion that development there represents urban sprawl, adding “a city should embrace all types of development, suburban and infill intensification.”

“There is plenty of demand in the north end. We have been building here since 2001 and have never seen a drop in demand. It has been very strong in this area.”

Work may begin on Sunninglea later this year, but it will take as long as 20 years to build out the 110 hectares, he said.

It’s not yet known how many towers or townhouses will be built at Sunninglea, but they could combine to total about 500 units, said Thompson.

Lou Pompilii, manager of  development planning with city halll agreed the development doesn’t exemplify unfettered growth, saying it’s adjacent to existing subdivisions.

“I don’t see it as urban sprawl. It is in the urban growth boundary and is a medium-density form of development. It is an extension of a developed area,” said Pompilii.

“It provides for appropriate land uses and densities. It is the scale of housing we are looking for.”

Corlon is not alone developing the largely agricultural space to the city’s north, even though the London Plan, a blueprint for the city’s growth, wants to see infill development in existing neighbourhoods.

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