Over 200 new condos to add to Newmarket's housing options, rentals to follow

The Davis Residences at Bakerfield to build 3 towers on Deerfield Road

Yorkregion.com
July 23, 2019
Teresa Latchford

A new condominium project will help to fill the desperate need for housing options in Newmarket.

The Davis Residences on Bakerfield, a 15-storey condominium building housing 219 luxury condo suites, is to be built at 175 Deerfield Rd. It will be the first of three towers to be built on the site with the second being another 15-storey building with over 200 rentals and the third a 10-storey building with the types of units or suites still to be determined, according to The Rose Corporation President Daniel Berholz.

It will be the first phase of the 4.4-acre master-planned community that will boast about 500 new suites in total.

“This housing option doesn’t currently exist in Newmarket,” he said. “Those looking to own could enter the market by buying a house until recently, now condos are the affordable choice.”

The Rose Corporation first fell in love with the Newmarket community when building the town’s first new rental development at 212 Davis Dr., the first since the mid 1980s. The demand to purchase those rental units by the occupants made it glaringly clear there was a market and demand for condominiums in the area, Berholz added.

“Newmarket is poised for a residential occupancy boost,” he said. “We really wanted to bring something new, something upscale to the community that needs different housing options.”

The Davis, designed by Toronto architecture firm RAW, will meet LEED Silver standards. The condominium building will also feature outstanding indoor amenities including a designer lobby, modern lounge with a fireplace and gallery, state-of-the-art fitness centre and yoga studio, party room with kitchen, furnished guest suites, children’s play room, landscaped rooftop terrace, pet spa and bike racks.

The building presents a sleek and sophisticated urban design with livable suite layouts ranging from one bedroom to three bedrooms. The building will be surrounded by a communal 20,000-square-foot park with a children’s playground available for public use.

Newmarket Mayor John Taylor feels the town is very ready for this type of development because there are people who want to live here.

Over the next decade, York Region will be investing $6.6 billion in a capital growth plan, with over 80 per cent of the budget allocated to improving infrastructure. The Region is planning to welcome over 600,000 people, representing a 63 per cent population increase, over the next 20 years and with the average re-sale price for a single detached home currently north of $1.3 million, additional affordable housing is a necessity, he added.

“We believe this will help fill the gap in our housing mix and will spur more developments like this in the future,” Taylor said. “We saw this as important, we changed our allocation policy (sewer service) to incentivize the development of condominiums and rentals.”

This new build will be the first step in housing senior citizens who wish to downsize and are currently seeking housing in other municipalities due to the lack of choice in Newmarket. Young professionals and families looking to enter the housing market will be able to and large employers locating in the area will have somewhere to house their employees.

The density boost in the area will support local businesses and local transit like the VIVA Rapidway along Davis Drive.

Housing options are an important tool in building a corridor that thrives, he said. Towns that don’t have these options could see a freeze in their local economic growth.

“This fits perfectly with the vision set out in our Official Plan and Secondary Plan,” Taylor added. “It is important to protect and preserve our existing communities but we want to encourage and direct intensity to our corridors while providing a wide range of housing options.”