Markham Buttonville Airport Redevelopment | ?m | 1s | Cadillac Fairview | Glenn Piotrowski Architect

Quite the odd couple.

Why odd couple?

Cadillac Fairview has been JV'ing with other developers. Who else would know better the commercial/industrial market than Condrain (being the DeGasperis' -- Metrus and other associated companies) ?

I haven't heard anything about this rumor and will wait and speculate when more information is made known -- If they did sell it to them, I'd be happy means that we are seeing progress on the development.
 
It is official now.

Armadale Co. Limited ("Armadale") and The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited ("Cadillac Fairview") are pleased to announce the formation of a joint venture for the development of the lands bounded by 16th Avenue to the north, Highway 404 to the west, Renfrew Drive to the east and Valleywood Drive to the south, in Markham, Ontario. The site, totaling 170 acres, is one of the most significant contiguous tracts of developable land in the GTA. The site is currently home to the Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport, a privately owned federally regulated airport operated by Toronto Airways Limited ("TAL"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Armadale Co. Limited. Closure of the airport has been previously announced in anticipation of the redevelopment of the airport lands.

Brookfield Financial acted as advisors to Armadale during the transaction.

"This site represents an excellent opportunity to create a world-class development and we look forward to working with the planning authorities on this exciting project," stated John Sullivan, Executive Vice President, Development of Cadillac Fairview. "The site's scale and location and the move to mixed-use and higher density in accordance with sustainable planning principles should allow us to attract significant employment uses to the site through the creation of a vibrant 24 hour mixed-use community," adds Sullivan.

"Armadale is delighted to have formed this joint venture," stated Clifford Sifton, President of Armadale. "With Cadillac Fairview as both our partner and master developer we are confident that we can realize our vision for the development of this legacy property into a truly world-class development. With the expectation that our airport operations at Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport will come to an end in several years, we look forward to actively pursuing relocation plans for our aviation businesses in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders."
 
Anyone know where will the flight school relocate to?
 
Guess there is little chance of airplanes returning to the Weston area for landing or taking off.

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http://www.cadillacfairview.com/Not...Application+Filed+for+Buttonville+Development

Link found via Urbanation's Twitter feed.

Secondary Plan Application Filed for Buttonville Development

TORONTO – October 7, 2011 – The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited and Armadale Properties Limited are pleased to announce the submission of the Secondary Plan Application for the redevelopment of the Buttonville airport to the Town of Markham today, marking the latest step towards the redevelopment of the site.

The application outlines the transformation of the area into a major office complex and employment destination, along with retail, entertainment, recreation and service offerings, based on a mixed-use strategy seeking to attract businesses and jobs. The planning provides for a neighbourhood approach, designed to be vibrant, compact, walkable and sustainable, and able to accommodate large and small businesses and residents in a setting unlike any other in North America.


http://www.buttonvilletowncentre.com/index.html

This development will accommodate 24,000 jobs and 4,000 homes, contributing directly to the market potential of this development

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Markham keeps getting one huge project after another.

At first glance, this proposal seems to have a little too much surface parking. I wonder how this site could be better served by YRT?
 
Thanks for sharing the news Travis ~ this sure looks exciting :)

Here's a bigger image of the Master Plan from the website:

project-masterplan-large.jpg
 
My first reaction is that the proposed road system will never do!

We've all learned the evils of communities that become physically isolated from neighbouring areas.

No matter how nice the community, they rarely function well over the longer term.

Here we see a traffic pattern/road system that looks exceedingly suburban.

I want to see at least some semblance of the grid system.

1-2 major north-south roads, parallel to the 404, that connect the community its neighbours in north and south of the major streets at the development's edge.

I think 1 major east-west road would be good too, though, I'm sympathetic to not having it cross the natural area between the site and Woodbine.

The goal of sustainability is laudable; but this doesn't look friendly to walk into/through, let alone accommodate transit properly.

Back to the drawing board!
 
A Depressingly-poor effort. It seems they've treated the airport like it was any old piece of land and have plunked down an abysmal scheme which bears no reference to the site's history or broader connectivity. It wouldn't have even been that hard to use the existing runway structure to inform how a network of streets and roads might be laid out. I also worry about a 'Mixed Use Core' consisting entirely of multi-story car parks with at-grade retail, a 'Garden Office District' with its own ample parking, a convention centre (avec parking) and a 'nod to nature'-type pond in an oh-so-picturesque location beside a major highway.

What's exiting about this Solaris?
 
Disappointing. This plan reminds me of a master planned mixed community in south Florida in terms of street layout and fake lake, but with taller buildings. I wonder If the cross shaped corridor in the mixed core will include a nice street presence with restaurants, cafe, retail, library, etc, as well as bike lanes. Public transit service will be difficult here. I would also like more of a grid connectivity. Where will schools go?
 
A Depressingly-poor effort. It seems they've treated the airport like it was any old piece of land and have plunked down an abysmal scheme which bears no reference to the site's history or broader connectivity. It wouldn't have even been that hard to use the existing runway structure to inform how a network of streets and roads might be laid out. I also worry about a 'Mixed Use Core' consisting entirely of multi-story car parks with at-grade retail, a 'Garden Office District' with its own ample parking, a convention centre (avec parking) and a 'nod to nature'-type pond in an oh-so-picturesque location beside a major highway.

What's exiting about this Solaris?

To me seeing development proposals coming forward with this intensity / density is exciting ... while yes I agree with some comments posted that the layout may not be perfect (ie: better connections needed to existing road network), everyone need to recongize the existing constraints surround this site (ie: 404 to the west with no additional crossing permitted and creek/ravine area to the east beyond Renfrew Drive thereby limiting easterly connections), the notion of "garden district offices" is simply a transistion zone from the existing low density Valleywood Business Park with primarily 2 storey industrial/commercial buildings ... it is a nice feature they are proposing with the "waterfront district" as much as it is a Disney style man-made lake, it certainly gives the area a focal point to look towards and provides oppourtunities for pond side cafe and promenades, which are good features in my books
 

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