I’ve ranked the Top 5 places to invest in Mississauga by order of potential as both an investor and end-user. The idea is to identify what neighbourhoods have potential for high growth in the future and the likelihood of those neighbourhoods achieving the goals that have been set out for them by the City of Mississauga.
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1. Lakeview Village
POTENTIAL: VERY HIGH
LIKELIHOOD: HIGH
FORECAST: 1-2 YEARS + INTO FUTURE
Lakeview is another neighbourhood in Mississauga with huge potential thanks to the Inspiration Lakeview masterplan.
The essence of the plan is that it will revitalize the eastern part of Mississauga’s lakeshore that has been used for mostly industrial purposes with the presence of the Lakeview Wastewater Treatment Plant.
And, finally, in 2021, the “Lakeview Village” development was approved. The redevelopment will add 6 new neighbourhoods to the area with a mix of residential, commercial, employment, institutional and recreational uses planned.
In my opinion, Mississauga hasn’t made the most of its portion of the lakeshore with western neighbour Port Credit doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of entertainment and housing. This, along with the Brightwater redevelopment on Port Credit’s western edge, will finally let Mississauga rival the waterfront of its neighbours.
The new Lakeview community will hopefully draw on the excitement of Port Credit but it does provide another great avenue for those seeking shelter just outside of Toronto. Prices here will definitely be in the upscale range, but getting in on the early phases of what could very well become Mississauga’s most in demand community development should pay off big time.
2. Hurontario Corridor
POTENTIAL: MEDIUM-HIGH
LIKELIHOOD: HIGH
FORECAST: 3-5 YEARS + INTO FUTURE
With approval of the Hurontario LRT, we now have light rail that connects the city from north to south along Hurontario Street. This has meant that lands along Hurontario became more in-demand and we’ve already seen several condo projects launched and built specifically near Eglinton, Burnhamthorpe and south near Lakeshore Rd.
While many of the good deals have already taken place, there should still be lots of opportunity available especially north of Eglinton.
There is a huge amount of potential for housing running along this corridor, and you’re going to see developments and marketing continue to focus on proximity to the LRT in the future. This is also the reason Mississauga is focusing on getting major employers into these areas, so that people can realistically leave their cars at home to get to work.
An interesting investment might even be the older condos that line Hurontario right now. At the moment, they house mostly bigger families, newer immigrants, mid-to-lower income households and seniors. They don’t draw the younger crowds that Square One does. Demand is slightly lower there and so are rents, but prices are as well. With the LRT coming in, it’s that former demographic that would benefit most from its service.
You could see a nice little uptick in demand in rental housing along that corridor, so I would advise people to take a good hard look at these kinds of places before eyeing the newer developments that will surely begin to line Hurontario.
Potential here is very good as Mississauga desperately needs to connect to its lakeshore south communities. This should give people the opportunity to drop a family car and more realistically look at many areas of Mississauga that are out of reach by only being available to those who can afford larger, freehold homes.
3. City Centre/Square One
POTENTIAL: VERY HIGH
LIKELIHOOD: MEDIUM
FORECAST: 3-5 YEARS + INTO FUTURE
The first thing I have to do is put a massive asterisk on this because it relies entirely on the execution of the Downtown 21 masterplan.
For those unfamiliar with it, the plan is to turn the current City Centre into a vibrant, walkable community buoyed by the presence of large, steady, major employers and accessible by great public transportation.
The plan is ambitious, however this is what will make Mississauga an area that people will flock to for more affordable options with a downtown lifestyle. This is what will bring more business, more youth and long-term stability to all of Mississauga.
It’s not just the downtown core that will be revitalized and benefit from this though. It’s also the surrounding neighbourhoods that have been virtually untapped over the years where real potential comes into play.
The issue at the moment is that this plan will focus its efforts in the beginning on a very small core. The City Centre is just too large to redesign all at one time.
4. Port Credit
POTENTIAL: HIGH
LIKELIHOOD: MEDIUM
FORECAST: NOW + 5-10 YEARS
Along with Lakeview, Port Credit actually has waterfront land that is still undeveloped. On its western edge, the Brightwater redevelopment has taken place on the former Imperial Oil refinery.
Developed by a consortium of four companies: Kilmer Group, DiamondCorp, Dream Unlimited, and Fram + Slokker, they’ve partnered to transform the former refinery site into a new mixed-use waterfront community.
The first few buildings have sold out along with the townhomes, but changes to the project are coming and there are still opportunities here to purchase over the next decade as its built out.
Investment into waterfront communities has generally been a very strong play and Port Credit is a safe place to invest in Mississauga.
5. Central Erin Mills
POTENTIAL: MEDIUM
LIKELIHOOD: MEDIUM
FORECAST: NOW + 5-10 YEARS
The Central Erin Mills area is one of my favourite in Mississauga and has been undergoing a facelift over the last decade that it sorely needed.
The Erin Mills Town Centre is at the heart of that of it all and underwent a major redevelopment in the mid 2010s. Mississauga has always needed a second option to Square One and the new EMTC has provided one.
Condo development has been happening at a solid pace with well-known Daniels a key driver of projects in the area. More is to come, but I feel there is a slight lack of focus on what the area is meant to be. Public transportation still hasn’t been solved there and houses in Central Erin Mills are already pretty pricey and getting to an age where things have become outdated.
I think the potential here is in the newer condos where at pre-construction levels you can find reasonably good prices and rental demand. I think the cap on potential though is around where it is right now at the City Centre. Appreciation rates will be low or stagnant and rental rates may be just under carrying costs at the resale level.
I think this has big potential if the city can focus its efforts on it, but with so many other projects in the works, I feel like it will be more or less ignored for the next few years. In the meantime, resale in the area is very nice and will continue to climb in areas in Central Erin Mills and neighbouring communities like Churchill Meadows and Streetsville.
These are all great resale options with pre-construction development something investors should be keeping a close eye on.
