The condos at Kingsley Square's first tower on Davis Drive in Newmarket are reaching structural completion, giving its builders a reason to celebrate with a ceremony Dec. 17.
Briarwood Development Group hosted a topping-out ceremony to mark the completion of the building’s structural framework at 705 Davis Dr. The condo development will soon be ready for more interior development, with hopes to have occupancy in 2025.
Briarwood principal Fausto Saponara said he is happy to be celebrating the occasion after all the effort to get it up off the ground.
“We started this project in 2017, and it took us five years to assemble the land that we’re building on,” he said. “But we’re finally here … We’re pleased to have worked with community.”
The project broke ground in 2022, after several years in the planning process and some community concerns around traffic and local impact. When completed, there will be two towers with 327 units total being sold for ownership, along with street-level commercial spaces.
The town originally sold off part of the land of the former Hollingsworth Arena site for the development, with plans to use the remainder for a park. Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said there is a housing crisis, and that is why the town took that “bold step.”
“To everybody involved, engineers, architects … thank you for really helping this redevelopment of Davis Drive, helping see the urban fabric take place which will match so well with other buildings,” Taylor said. “But again, most importantly, providing housing. We need it so desperately. Everybody, in every sector, every level of government … We’ve all got to be producing housing as quickly and as creatively as we can.”
GCL builds director Shaoyong Shen said he can remember when the job began two years ago.
“We see the sparks in every (person’s) eyes working on this job. Now I try to have sparks in my eyes every day, and I hope that the team can carry on and complete the building,” he said. “Putting up the tower is not easy …. Let’s carry on and hit occupancy.”
Saponara said the development will now continue for the building interior, with marketing coming on the remaining units to sell sometime in the spring.
“We’ve adapted, we’ve made changes to accommodate the wishes of the community, and we’re pleased to be where we are today,” he said.
