SmartCentres' Mixed-Use Diversification Expressed in New Vaughan Development

Urbantoronto.ca
July 7, 2020
Marc Mitanis

The emerging Vaughan skyline is set to receive another major boost when a masterplanned, multi-tower community proposed by SmartCentres REIT comes to the northeast corner of Weston Road and Major Mackenzie Drive West. SmartCentres REIT has expanded its scope in recent years, maintaining specialization in retail real estate but increasingly diversifying and redeveloping its properties into mixed-use, urban communities.

The 6.3-acre development site encompasses a vacant area within a larger 45-acre property currently featuring a Walmart-anchored shopping centre and a SmartStop Self Storage facility now under construction. The new community will fill in a spot located immediately south of a 12-acre parcel which is being developed into a 179-townhouse project by SmartCentres' SmartLiving residential brand in partnership with Fieldgate.

Official Plan Amendment and Zoning Bylaw Amendment applications have been submitted to the City of Vaughan to permit SmartCentres Vaughan Northwest, which would feature two seniors supportive living buildings and four residential towers. The residential towers and overall site plan are being designed by IBI Group, Kasian is designing the two supportive living buildings, and MEP Design Inc. is the landscape architect designing the master landscape plan.

A Site Plan application has also been submitted for phase one, situated at the north portion of the property, where the proposed 10 and 12-storey seniors' buildings will rise.

The southwestern portion of the property, where Weston Road and Major Mackenzie intersect, is proposed to be redeveloped into 12 and 16-storey residential towers with at-grade retail. A large piazza graces the corner as a welcoming gesture, marking the entry point to an expansive network of green spaces, internal walkways, sidewalks, and landscaping features that animate the public realm.

The southeastern quadrant of the site at Vellore Park Avenue will host the tallest pair of towers, at 20 and 24 storeys. Achieving a diversity of housing tenures and meeting the demand for ownership and rental options, a mix of condominium and apartment units are proposed.

A two-level underground garage will service residents and visitors. On the ground, a new private road from Vellore Park Avenue will serve as the main entrance and exit point for vehicles, with connections to multiple pick-up and drop-off areas.

An abundance of landscaping and walkways are proposed between each of the buildings, including an elongated privately-owned public space (POPS) just south of the two seniors residences, where an active play space for children will be located.

Outside the boundaries of the site, an amenity-laden, complete community is already blossoming. The townhouse development to the north will further amplify Vaughan's housing stock and introduce 'missing middle' housing types to the neighbourhood.

Already well served by SmartCentres' multi-tenant, open-air shopping centre on the adjacent lot, the development also benefits from a York Region Transit bus route with direct access to Maple GO Station. The route will feature a transfer just east of the site through the future VIVA Rapid Transit Station at Major Mackenzie Drive and Jane Street, providing a direct route down Jane to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Line 1 of the TTC subway system.

The new Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, the first "smart" hospital in the country, is also located approximately one kilometre east of this future mixed-use community. Preparing for the hundreds of homes that will soon transform the vacant property into a vibrant neighbourhood, the SmartStop Self Storage facility nearing completion is a harbinger of the promising community assets to come for the area.