It's a neighbourhood that's had its troubles and traumas, an area too often associated with sometimes rundown Toronto-owned public housing and high crime rates.

But now the revitalization of Regent Park has begun, with the opening of a state of the art high rise, a 61-unit eight-storey environmentally friendly building at Dundas and Sackville Sts., part of a $1 billion makeover for the neighbourhood.

It's the day Anwarul Jaigirdar has been waiting years for, as he moved into the modern and gleaming new living space on Tuesday. "I can't even explain this," he emotes, beaming with pride. "This is a piece of gold for me."

"It's day one of the move-in for residents, it's day one of a new beginning for Regent Park," suggests Derek Ballantyne of Toronto Community Housing.

The new Regent Park will boast mixed housing, and only two tenants are moving in every day. For those who recall what it used to be like and were forced to vacate so the building could be constructed, it's a dream come true.

"Three years I've been waiting," Jaigirdar recalls. "Three years before the move ... and the promise when the building is done, they'll bring me back. And today my mission is accomplished."

The new building is expected to be filled with tenants by the end of the month.