Vaughan Metropolitan Centre

For the planned subway station, see Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (TTC).
Not to be confused with Vaughan Corporate Ctr., a Viva and Züm bus stop.
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Downtown Vaughan
Neighbourhood
Motto: It'll Move You
Coordinates: 43°47′37″N 79°31′38″W / 43.7935°N 79.52727°W / 43.7935; -79.52727
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
Regional Municipality York
City Vaughan
District Vaughan Metropolitan Centre
Area code(s) 905, 289
Website VaughanMetroCentre.ca

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is the proposed 125-acre (0.51 km2) central business district, centered at the intersection of Highway 400 and Highway 7, in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It will be linked by the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre transit terminal, which will connect Line 1 Yonge-University of the Toronto subway with VIVA bus rapid transit services.[1]

Name

The council for the City of Vaughan announced in early 2009 that they wanted public submissions to suggest a new name for what was then proposed as the Vaughan Corporate Centre. In July, 2009, the Council announced it chose the new name, "Vaughan Metropolitan Centre", out of 1569 entries.

Background

Influential businessman, Mitch Goldhar, has owned the 100-acre site since the mid-1990s; 40 acres of it are now owned by developers Rudy Bratty and Silvio DeGasperis, and the remainder by Goldhar’s firms. Prominent businesses having property in the Centre include Toromont, Wal-Mart, AMC Theaters, Lowe's, and Future Shop. Sam's Club had been located there before it closed down in March 2009. Two hotels operated by Marriott and one by Hilton, are also located at the Centre, as well as a Monte Carlo Inn. The core of the centre is approximately 1000m long (west to east) and 400m wide (north to south), although the plans for the Centre also include lands immediately outside this core zone.

Development

Vaughan plans to build a city centre from scratch around the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station in a 179 hectare site that prior to the station's opening was low density featuring big box stores such as Walmart. By 2012, the city had already purchased land around VMC Station for development. Vaughan projects that by 2031, the new downtown will have 25,000 residents and employment for more than 11,000 people.[2]

As of 2012, proposed developments at VMC include the five-building, 37-storey Expo City condos, and Liberty Developments' proposed office building plus four condo buildings on the south corner of Jane Street and Highway 7.[2]

Pino DiMascio, an urban planner who helped create the official plan for Vaughan, said that the new city centre would need cultural spaces, retail, civic spaces and green space to be successful in attracting people to take the subway north to Vaughan as relying on just condos and office buildings had failed to make North York Centre a success.[2]

Two traffic circles will be constructed on Highway 7 at Commerce Street and Maplecrete Road; these will intersect a ring road that will represent the border of this core. Parts of this ring road already exist as Commerce Street, and portions of Doughton Road, Maplecrete Road, and Applemill Road. The new Vaughan Metropolitan Centre TTC Subway Station will be built at the very centre of this core, which is the intersection of Highway 7 and Millway Avenue. Inside the core, the average block will be 100m by 100m (330 ft. by 330 ft.). Thus the theoretical maximum number of blocks is 40, but the Black Creek Valley and the non-perpendicular Jane Street will lower that number somewhat.

These blocks will be separated by small roads, alleys, or pedestrian walkways. One of the first buildings to be built with the tiny block size taken into account is the two-story Future Shop. At ground level, this building has small shop-sized units facing Highway 7 and Millway Drive that are currently vacant.

In late-2015, a community website called VaughanMetroCentre.ca has been launched in an effort to raise awareness, provide resources, engage members of the community, and highlight the progress of the Vaughan Metro Centre development.

Further details of the City of Vaughan's plans for expansion and development are included as part of the council's 'Secondary Plan'.

References

  1. ↑ "First Look: New TTC Map - Vaughan Metropolitan Centre". Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  2. 1 2 3 Noor Javed (6 April 2012). "Toronto's subway brings downtown vision to Vaughan". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
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