Thanks for the video, reaperexpress! I wish they would start working on the retail component with the cinemas since they had the groundbreaking last year. Maybe they're waiting for Nexus to be closer to completion first? Remington seems to wait a long time between phases of the residential as well. The way things are moving, the entire Downtown Markham project won't be finished until 2060! I guess part of the reason might be that they're taking it slow until a decision is made on the arena as that might affect zoning and what could be built in the future.
taal, yeah, I'm not a big fan of those townhomes either. I can't believe they go for the 700-800s.
gabe, the Nexus buildings under construction will have retail fronting on Birchmount Road and there will be a big commercial complex at the SE corner of Enterprise and Birchmount. Given it's an entire "donwtown" being built in a field, I don't think there was any way around it feeling desolate in its initial stages of development.
The broader Markham Centre area (should this thread be renamed "Markham Centre" since Downtown Markham is just one project?) will start feeling like more of a neighbourhood (maybe not an urban one just yet) in a few years when:
-Birchmount is extended to Highway 7 - even though this is just a road, this will make the entire area feel more connected
-Uptown Markham's retail complex opens in 2013 - this will bring Whole Foods and a few other retailers that will be new to Markham
-Uptown Markham's first residential buildings are completed and more redevelopment occurs on the north side of Highway 7 - this stretch of the main east-west route through York Region has been underdeveloped for so long that when these projects are completed, Markham Centre will feel more connected to the rest of the region
-the Cineplex at Downtown Markham opens in 2013 (this date seems optimistic since shovels aren't even in the ground)
-The Pan Am games complex opens in 2015 - this will build on the "sporting cluster" in the area, it will mean the demolition of the ugly warehouse near the YMCA, and hopefully it will better connect Main Street Unionville South with Markham Centre
-Other projects like Fontana are built and more residents continue to move into the area - given there are a number of developers with projects in the works, I think we can expect to see very steady population growth in Markham Centre for the next several decades as this is all built out
If an arena does get built by 2014 (or at all), I would also expect much in the way of restaurants and retail to sprout up nearby.
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