Development Services

Windmill's Strategic Areas of Focus
Windmill's strategic areas of focus have been shaped by our commitment to maximize green building potential while meeting market needs. We constantly re-evaluate these priorities to ensure that our development projects are making the most of current opportunities, and are always open to suggestions and ideas from potential clients. Our current priorities include:

Smart growth urban infill sites
These projects have immense green building potential, including building reuse, heritage preservation, use of existing infrastructure (public transportation, water/sewer, greenspace, etc.), urban renewal through redevelopment of underutilized urban sites, revitalizing urban community living, and providing housing that allows people to live closer to their workplaces and amenities.

Mixed use developments
These kinds of developments - where residential, office, retail, and other space uses are housed in one building - offer a range of green building benefits, including maximizing water and energy efficiencies, maximizing the utilization of space, building community, proximity of residences to services, increased safety and security, and cost efficiency gains.

Brownfield remediation
Windmill is interested in reclaiming contaminated sites, and redeveloping them into healthy, clean and vibrant green building projects.

Niche opportunities
We are interested in certain specialized development projects that offer great green building potential, including eco-resorts and planned sustainable communities.

Innovative development opportunities
We are open to and excited about working with private landowners, investors, and other individuals and organizations who are looking for an ethical way to invest their resources or to utilize their land through ethical, financially rewarding, and ecologically sound development projects.

Development management
We provide a full range of services when acting as the development manager for private and public sector clients. As a developer, we understand all aspects of development including planning, design, community involvement, rezoning applications and facilitation, permit applications, financing, construction and marketing. Windmill specializes in managing and facilitating the entire development process with the clear objective of creating goals for environmental, social and financial sustainability and to identify strategies to meet these goals.
 

Benefits of the Green Development Model

Improved Development Fundamentals
Green buildings have proven to achieve faster development approvals and superior planning concessions including improved site densities and up-zoning that significantly enhance development financial returns.

Marketing Advantage, Better Tenant Retention
Green projects typically sell or lease faster, at a premium and retain tenants better because they combine superior amenity and comfort with lower operating costs and more competitive terms. The resulting gains in occupancies, sales, rents and residuals all enhance financial returns.

Improved Labor Productivity/Less Downtime
Case studies show that the acoustic and visual comfort, together with higher quality air standards of green buildings leads to labor productivity gains between 6-16 percent, improving sales in retail shops, boosting quality and overall output of goods in manufacturing facilities, enhancing learning in schools and healing in hospitals.

Strategic Market Positioning
By positioning itself early in this evolving growth industry, Windmill holds considerable first mover advantage when competing against traditional developers. Windmill offers private land holders, government land administration agencies and other potential joint venture partners this whole system, green expertise - a value-add proposition few are able to match.

Enhanced Human and Ecosystem Well-Being
Green buildings can meet the human needs of providing healthy sheltered space, while protecting and enhancing ecosystems at the same time. A green building project is not considered to be successful unless humans, ecosystems, and economics all benefit together.