Changing the conversation - More than 85,000 people vote for the best new community in the GTA

GREATER TORONTO, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ -The people have spoken. The best new community in the GTA, garnering the majority of the whopping 85,000 votes in the Building Industry and Land Development Association's (BILD) People's Choice Award is The Academy, a 26-storey condominium overlooking University of Toronto Scarborough, the Rouge Valley and Morningside Park by By LeMine Development Group and Devron Developments.

The Academy was one of eight finalists. The new residential communities from across the GTA were put out to the public for a vote between March 6 and April 2, 2015. In second place was Lanehouse on Bartlett by Curated Properties and rounding out the top four were Sean by Sean Mason Homes and Aurora Trails by Arista Homes, Fieldgate Homes, Paradise Homes and Opus Homes.

The award was presented at the 35^th annual BILD Awards on April 24. More than 1,100 industry professionals attended the event, which recognizes the GTA's finest in 46 categories ranging from advertising campaigns to architectural design and community building.

"This year we completely revamped the voting process by taking it online and to the people at the National Home Show in March," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey.

"We invested in making the Awards accountable and accessible and we set out to increase public engagement this year by using an interactive display at the Home Show where industry volunteers had thousands of important conversations with the public about building new communities in the GTA."

BILD congratulates all of the finalists and the winner of the 2015 People's Choice Award. The Association also wants to thank everyone who voted and helped to make this a great success!

For a complete list of award recipients, visit www.bildawards.com.

With more than 1,400 members, BILD, formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, is the voice of the land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area.  BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

SOURCE Building Industry and Land Development Association

For further information: Amy Lazar, Manager, Communications, 416-391-3452 or 416-543-3903, [email protected]; Andrei Zaretski, Manager, Marketing & Media Relations, 416-391-3450 or 416-843-4898, [email protected]