Base31 CEO Tim Jones is on an indefinite leave of absence from his role as CEO of Base31.

President Assaf Weisz has stepped into the role of Acting CEO.

“For the moment,” said Mr. Weisz, “he’s on leave, and I’m carrying the team forward.”

“Work continues on the project we started with our development partners four years ago.”

Mr. Jones was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2023 for visionary leadership and contributions to the art of creative placemaking.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Weisz have been business partners for seven years. They first met at Artscape in Toronto, a founding partner of the Distillery District, a hugely successful rehabilitation centered on a massive old brick distillery, Gooderman and Wort’s, near the Toronto waterfront. It is now a bustling mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood hub.

“As much as this is a change, we feel a great deal of continuity as we move through this transition,” Mr. Weisz continued. 

“Tim and I have known each other and worked together for a long time, and shared perspectives and ideas back and forth for years. That shared vision will continue.

“This is the project of a lifetime.”

Mr. Weisz describes the coming summer as a pivotal one in the ambitions of the Base’s development teams: a major expansion of the activities of the Revitalization District comes at the same time as construction begins on a seven-storey, 120-unit apartment building adjacent to the Sergeants Mess.

“It’s our intention to get started on that as quickly as possible,” said Mr. Weisz, who expects construction to begin as early as this summer.

The Base’s development partners have been awaiting the outcome of the municipality’s application for a Ministerial Zoning Order in early 2024. An MZO is a legislative tool intended to expedite the building of housing across the province, but the Ontario government has been slow to respond to requests. The provincial election and a change in housing ministers also contributed to the delay, but the team now expects approval this month.

There are other things to celebrate. The Base is for the first time fully connected to the municipal water supply. The active and intense waterworks construction of the past year is almost over; all that remains is connecting a few outstanding buildings to the main pipe.

Also on the very near horizon is construction on Village A. About 500 homes will sit on a 70-acre parcel between Kingsley Road, County Road 22/Church Street, and Macaulay Village.

“We are now adding new layers to the constitution of the community here,” says Mr. Weisz. “That means integrating the expanding activities of the Revitalization District with new residential development.

“People are going to be living here very soon, and we are mapping the grounds and expanding the vision into a cohesive, integrated neighbourhood. 

“It’s incredibly exciting.”

The Base’s development partners — DECO Homes, Rockport Group, CaraCo, Paradise Developments and Fieldgate Homes, in addition to PEC Placemaking — are starting to see the past three years of intense effort at the Base snowball. 

“The investment is growing both in terms of the Revitalization District and the overall vision of integrated neighbourhood villages,” affirms Mr. Weisz.

“We’ve turned a corner. Now in our fourth year, concerts are just one piece of all that is happening here. We have announcements coming in the next few weeks about an array of new programming, all the result of new partnerships.

Those include the Moto Craft Festival, which will be activating the Base this summer in a series of major motorcycle and lifestyle fairs, featuring camping, music, and motorcycle-centred activities for all ages. Stay tuned for more.