For 60 years, Global Kingdom Ministries has been an integral part of the Scarborough community, providing Sunday services to a robust multicultural congregation and offering a wide range of outreach programs for all ages.
The church identified a need in the area for building a community for older adults that would allow them to age in place and enjoy a fulfilling social life. As a highlight of its milestone 60th anniversary, Global Kingdom Ministries has launched Trinity Ravine Towers, a life lease condominium community for adults 55 and older.
“We’re very excited about the concept behind Trinity Ravine Towers condominiums,” Kern Kalideen, executive pastor of administration and finance for Global Kingdom Ministries, says. “This residence is the epitome of immersion in faith-based living.”
Two state-of-the-art towers designed by Reinders + Rieder Ltd. will sit on 2.5 acres that are part of an 11-acre site at 1250 Markham Road near Progress Avenue that includes Global Kingdom Ministries’ 1,600-seat church and community centre. The modern towers will provide beautiful views of the ravine, neighbourhood, shopping, and other amenities close at hand.
The light-filled lobby designed by Johnson Chou Inc. will bring the serene ravine setting indoors with a green wall. The suites, also designed by Chou, will boast the same attention to detail.
The first phase of Trinity Ravine Towers will offer 256 suites from 527 to 1,394 square feet in size, with accessibility features such as 360 degree turnarounds to accommodate walkers and wheelchairs, and walk-in showers. Prices start at $199,900. Phase 2 will include an assisted living facility and a long-term care facility.
The high-rise towers will be connected by a four-storey amenity podium. Residents will enjoy wellness and fitness facilities, rooftop terrace with garden plots, entertainment venues, a computer lab, and a community dining room, although the suites will have full kitchens.
Life lease is a popular form of ownership in seniors’ housing. Owners will pay a monthly occupancy fee to cover maintenance, administration and a reserve fund overseen by the board of Global Kingdom Ministries as the community’s sponsor. Residents buy a life lease or leasehold interest in their accommodations, giving them a right to occupy the unit for perpetuity and use all communal amenities. When a resident leaves or passes away, the lease can be sold, transferred back to the sponsoring organization, or passed to an heir.
Purchasers have to make a 10 percent deposit in the first year, but will have no land transfer tax or development charges to pay and will have a 10 percent lower property tax than conventional condo ownership.
Kern says while there are many new condos in the area, most are geared to younger people, while there is demand for low-maintenance condo living from older adults who don’t want the burden of shoveling snow or cutting grass anymore.
“There are not a lot of developments of this kind in Scarborough,” says Kern. “There are a lot of people who have lived here for decades and don’t want to move out of the area where their friends, doctors, and dentists are.”
Unlike many seniors’ communities, only one person in a household has to be 55 or older, so adult children would be able to live with their parents.
There will be some commercial uses included in the development that will offer services tailored to the community living there. Residents will enjoy a rich and fulfilling lifestyle with lectures, movies and entertainment; painting, crafts and needlework; workshops and gardening; day trips and volunteer opportunities.
Trips: Volunteer Opportunities
Residents will also be able to make use of the adjacent community centre and its gym and participate in programs offered by Global Kingdom Ministries that include counselling and grief services, food bank, immigrant outreach, after-school monitoring, seniors’ programs, children’s sports and much more.
In 1956, Rev. Roy E. Upton began bringing the message of faith to followers in a bowling alley on Kennedy Road (Scarborough Gospel Temple) and started drive-in Sunday services that grew to attract 100 cars in a Dominion Store parking lot. Eventually, the ministry established a home at 710 Markham Road.
A decade ago, Global Kingdom Ministries established the church and community centre at 1250 Markham Road where the organization has 12 pastors on staff and attracts 1,900 people a week to its Sunday services.
For more information on Trinity Ravine Towers, visit TrinityRavine.ca; on Global Kingdom Ministries, visit GlobalKingdom.ca
Tracy Hanes is a Toronto area freelance writer.
