Thread by @EmmaMci

Why would anyone spend millions on Greenbelt land that can't be built on?

Six developers did since 2018 — now, their land is set to be taken out of the Greenbelt.

Lucky bet? Or did they know?

A ✨Starwhal✨ investigation by me, @njaved and @BKennedyStar
thenarwhal.ca/ford-ontario-g…

Together, @thenarwhalca and @TorontoStar analyzed land holdings in the 15 areas of Greenbelt set to be opened for development.

We found eight of those areas included properties bought since Doug Ford was recorded at a private event saying he'd open a "big chunk" of Greenbelt.

Collectively, six developers spent $278 million buying Greenbelt land over the last four years.

We also found more have been holding Greenbelt land for years — long-term bets that are now set to pay off.

Read the stories to see this interactive map in its full glory:

The most recent purchase of Greenbelt land happened just two months ago, in September.

A company headed by prominent developer Michael Rice of Rice Group bought 700 acres of fully Greenbelt land for $80 million.

Rice did not respond to our questions.
thenarwhal.ca/ford-ontario-g…

We also looked at donation and lobbying records.

We found nine of the developers who stand to benefit most from the opening of the Greenbelt donated significant sums to the PC Party.

And a few of them are also connected via registered lobbyists with ties to the Tories.

One of the biggest winners from the opening of the Greenbelt is Silvio De Gasperis of TACC Developments, a longtime PC donor.

He owns land in four areas being opened up, the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve. Which has a wild backstory we get into here:
thenarwhal.ca/ford-ontario-g…

The province did not directly answer when we asked if any of these developers had advance knowledge that their land would be removed from the Greenbelt.

They also did not directly answer when asked how they selected the 15 sites.

Instead, the province pointed to the need for new homes to tackle the housing crisis -- despite the fact that its own housing affordability task force said land supply is not the problem and cutting into greenbelts isn't needed.

After we started reaching out to developers for comment, an industry lobby group called BILD reached out to us with an unsolicited statement that they said was from no one developer in particular.

Let's also not lose sight of the importance of the Greenbelt. Some of the land proposed to be removed is near other development, some isn't.

I wrote this soon after the Greenbelt land swap was announced -- it explains the environment impact in depth:
thenarwhal.ca/ontario-greenb…

It has been a true joy to work with and learn from @njaved and @BKennedyStar, two reporters I have looked up to for a long time. Co-pros are easy with such excellent company.

We could not have done this without herculean efforts from @balkissoon, @jesse_mclean and @DavidBruser.

Thanks are also due to the Star's excellent librarians, Rick and Astrid. Heroes, all!

This investigation was a huge effort that involved a ton of resources from both outlets. So if it matters to you, please help us do more of it.

Support The Narwhal here: checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org…

And support the Star here: thestar.com/subscribe

The Star's version of the story is here and you should go read it too!
thestar.com/news/investiga…

PS: The lovely Greenbelt photos in the story were taken by Christopher Katsarov Luna, who makes so many Narwhal stories come to life with his incredible work
christopherluna.ca

PPS: The Narwhal's amazing @ShawnParkinson and The Star's excellent digital team did stunning work on these graphics in record time. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!