The rise of the citizen developer

Levitt and Goodman make an unconventional pair of property developers. Partners in life and work, they are co-founders of Toronto-based LGA Architectural Partners. While they have designed everything from bespoke family homes to women’s shelters and affordable apartment buildings, Ulster House presented a new type of challenge: the opportunity to become developers.

The project was made possible by a recent municipal policy change to allow multi-unit housing in residential areas, Levitt says. Until about three years ago, small-scale multiplex development in single-family zones was not permitted, “making it a very risky proposition.” In 2023, however, a Toronto initiative called Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) liberalized single-family zoning to allow multiplex development on small lots, dovetailing with recent permissions for secondary dwellings in laneways and gardens. “Since the EHON initiative, we are seeing more and more come onto the market,” says Levitt.