Sundance Construction Housing Subdivision

In 2019, our President, Jocelyn Burzuik, finalized the design for a new type of housing subdivision. The vision included beautiful, efficient, semi-custom homes that would be serviced by its own private sewer and water systems, be off-grid capable, zero-discharge to Lake Winnipeg AND gated. The new subdivision location was within Sandy Hook, MB within a mature treed lot. We were actually a part of one of the original homestead farms in the area. Other than a portion of the property that entered Hwy 519, there was absolutely no infrastructure remaining on this 24 acre lot.

In 2022, our vision became a reality with the approval of a new 27 lot rural housing subdivision in the RM of Gimli, MB. The new subdivision is structured as a Bareland Condo with 26/27 individual single family homes on each lot.

By the fall of 2024, we had 9 homes standing within the north side of the subdivision. But, none of this has been easy. Our subdivision is serviced by underground electrical and gas service from Manitoba Hydro, and fiber optic cable from Bell MTS. We designed this housing project to be self-contained, sustainable and private, while maintaining an affordable market price. Each home is pre-wired for backup generator power, and future solar panels. Yes, we are off-grid capable but we are far more than this – we exceed energy efficiency standards at every level. We use 40% less energy, use 46% less water (than the average Canadian home), and produce 40% less sewage waste.

With the Province of Manitoba’s approval, we also constructed internal pond and swale drainage systems throughout the entire property. This allowed for us to hold water in the spring, collect all spring runoff and rain within the swales, and allow water to return to the aquifer through natural processes. Throughout the seasons, the water ponds bring in wildlife of all forms, including birds. But, it does more than that. The design (provided by Inninew Project Management) can allow us to irrigate in a dry year, and swales provide a physical fire break. Every part of this design needed to fulfill a specific purpose.

Instead of clear cutting, we have only cut what is absolutely necessary. We truly build within the trees. And all of our construction access routes double as future pathways through the 24 acres of space.

Our entrance into the subdivision holds additional ponds, a standalone set of Canada Post boxes for our community, garbage/recycling compounds, and an area for a future community garden. In the photo above, we see Lake Winnipeg in the background. All of the roads within the subdivision are privately owned. Sundance Construction has constructed all roadways, and we maintain these as well. Our road design was also completed by Inninew Project Management.

In the end, we will look like the above in terms of layout. Beautiful lots, each with a treed portion, self-contained, private and secure.

Above, we see the two bedroom layout for our homes. They have what we call a saw tooth roof design, and they were intended for maximum snow loads. Very efficient. Our homes, whether it is the two or three bedroom unit, are built on a solid concrete thickened edge slab for both garage and house. Each home has a minimum of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, sunroom, mudroom and so much storage. Initially, we felt this was perfect for the downsizing couple but it also works well for a younger professional just starting out.

The above is a slightly larger layout with a two car garage, and extended sunroom. Anything is possible really, as long as we stick to the primary structural design.

The above is a three bedroom without garage, but we can also do an attached or detached depending on which lot we are placing on.

All of the thought that went into our subdivision came out of our wide range of building experience across multiple types of construction. Our entire team has experience in heavy construction, sewer, water, commercial construction projects, water treatment and sewage treatment plants, environmental and marine construction, and residential housing. As a group, we have worked all over Western Canada.