Master-planned communities aren't a new concept, but few have been developed on the scale of iConnect Community in Hamilton, a joint venture from Krpan Group and The Remington Group.

“We’re building a city within a city,” John Krpan Sr., founder and CEO of Krpan Group, told RENX.

iConnect Community is a collaboration between Burlington-based Krpan Group and Toronto's The Remington Group spanning an expansive 400 acres and Krpan said the wheels are in motion for the remaining elements of the project.

iConnect just received rezoning approval for 45 acres of residential development, and although Krpan said it’s too early to know exactly what will comprise the final manifestation, he shared preliminary details with RENX.

There will be more than 4,000 homes spread across townhouses, purpose-built rental and condominium towers, which he estimated will translate to more than 10,000 new residents living in buildings ranging from three to 20 storeys.

“You can’t complete a community today without having that purpose-built rental component in there,” Krpan said, noting iConnect Community’s motto is “live, work, shop, play.”

“You can go to work at Stryker Canada, then have lunch at Boston Pizza, do your groceries at Loblaws, go by your bank, grab a Starbucks and be back at your office all within a five-minute walk. We’re an urban setting within a suburban area.”

Anchor office tenant in place

With roughly 3,500 full-time and 1,500 part-time employees spread across 700,000 square feet of office and retail space, iConnect Community is already a bustling office park in its own right, with banks, grocers, engineering firms and manufacturers.

The aforementioned Stryker Canada — the Fortune 500 company became iConnect’s anchor tenant five years ago — recently expanded in the business park.

Moreover, with a pipeline brimming with more than 4,000 residential units and an additional million square feet of commercial space, iConnect Community will boast all the amenities of an actual city.

And what cannot be found on iConnect grounds, whether a library or hockey arena or the sprawling Bruce Trail, is located nearby.

Focus groups commissioned by Krpan and Remington revealed a need for doctors and health care in the community, which Krpan said is essential for companies’ recruiting efforts. In seven months a purpose-built medical office with seven family practitioners will open. 

Hence, why Krpan calls iConnect Community a city within a city.

“People, once given the opportunity, really want the option of being close to their work or to work remotely,” he continued. “If we give them an opportunity like this where they can work within five or 10 minutes, I don’t think working remotely really comes into play for them.”

Workers want to be close to home: Krpan

As part of the iConnect Community’s commercial expansion, Krpan said he met with a considerable number of presidents and CEOs, many of whom have made it no secret they want their employees working on-site rather than remotely.

“You have to be on top of things and listening to how the market is changing, how people are changing, how lifestyles are changing,” Krpan said. “I wouldn’t have built something like this 15 years ago, maybe not even five years ago.

"Things have changed quite a bit and we keep our ear to the market so that we can accommodate current and future trends.”

Those meetings, which predated the COVID-19 pandemic, revealed companies were preoccupied with keeping their staff happy and a big part of employee satisfaction is work-life balance. 

“The way to keep them happy is to keep them close to home, close to convenience, and the new talent pool coming wants everything at their fingertips,” Krpan said.

“That’s what sells to these guys, so they encouraged us to bring in more residential, more retail or keep the existing retail happy because they have a hard time finding a good base of employees, but when you give somebody a complete community, that eliminates having to drive long distances to work.” 

Led by Krpan, whose career began as a realtor at age 18, Krpan Group was founded in 1973 and has divisions spanning residential, industrial, office and commercial/retail that oversee millions of square feet of space, including in master-planned communities.