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Honda heads to Markham
Aug 21, 2007 04:30 AM
Betsy Powell
Staff Reporter
In a decision attributed to timing and a lack of red tape, Honda Canada has decided to build its new head office in Markham, not Richmond Hill.
Richmond Hill's loss is a boon for Markham, which bills itself as Canada's high-tech capital and is home to corporate head offices for IBM and American Express.
Honda will initially relocate 500 employees to the new site to be built on a 19-hectare parcel of land facing Highway 404, just north of Elgin Mills Rd. The tentative move-in date is two years from now.
"They saw a municipality that was willing to work with them and make things happen quickly," Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said yesterday.
"They didn't want this process to go on forever and we made a very strong commitment to them to get them through the process as quickly as possible, to ensure some of the transportation network that they needed would be there in time for their opening."
Richmond Hill is, of course, disappointed, said Deputy Mayor Brenda Hogg, who also sits on York Region council.
She played down any friction between the neighbours and said there's "always competition" among municipalities trying to attract companies, and the valued tax base they bring, to set up shop.
And, more importantly, Honda is remaining in York Region, Hogg said. "It still speaks to the southern end of York Region and the opportunities that exist here. What we didn't get today, we will get tomorrow."
While Honda owned a large chunk of land at Highway 404 and Major Mackenzie Dr. – that it will now sell – it was located close to the environmentally sensitive Rouge River Valley system, Hogg noted.
"In Richmond Hill we did have environmental constraints, we did need a bridge to be built, that's a tremendous expenditure," she said, adding Richmond Hill was nevertheless "willing to negotiate on those major infrastructure costs."
The new location is about three kilometres north on the east side of Highway 404, which separates Richmond Hill from Markham.
Two months ago, Honda Canada publicly announced it was looking at options other than Richmond Hill after running into numerous delays getting municipal approvals for the complex, which will consolidate operations now based in three locations, including Scarborough.
Jim Miller, Honda's senior executive vice-president, said last night while Honda is an environmentally responsible company and was prepared to work to ensure safeguards were met as far as development, "the timing of roads, bridges, infrastructure, every time we turned around it seemed to be taking longer and longer and ... all things being equal it looks like it's going to come together as we had originally anticipated."
Scarpitti said his work began behind the scenes last fall before he was elected mayor. He sent out a clear message that if he won, "Markham would do everything that we could to attract Honda and certainly to keep them in the Region of York."
Despite there being a winner and loser here, "this wasn't a battle," Scarpitti said. "It was really Honda coming to the conclusion that they needed to get onto a site that worked for their timeframe," and "time was not on their (Richmond Hill's) side."
"We worked very diligently to get them through a complex planning process. It was sort of our can-do attitude, our infrastructure, that will be available to them when they open their doors and an opportunity to develop a key site that will have exposure to the 404 without anything that really stands in their way of moving right ahead with their building of the facility."
Scarpitti also touted the overall benefit to the region.
"They're going to be on east of the 404 versus the west side but it's going to mean jobs for many communities, not just Markham. It means some of their executives and employees will end up moving and purchasing homes" in other areas close by, he said.
"They're certainly going to shop and eat and they won't know the political boundaries. From that perspective, there's three parts of the tax bill: the local municipality but also a major part is that of the region and school board. ... We're happy to accommodate a facility that keeps them within the region and contributes to the economy of Ontario."
A move was needed to respond to Honda's growing sales and expanding workforce, Miller said.
The home office "campus" will house three interconnected buildings, including a four-storey energy-efficient "green" building, a technical centre for research and development, engineering and training, and a one-storey parts distribution centre.
Honda employs 5,000 people across Canada and manufactures 390,000 vehicles a year at two facilities in Alliston, northwest of Toronto.
Honda heads to Markham
Aug 21, 2007 04:30 AM
Betsy Powell
Staff Reporter
In a decision attributed to timing and a lack of red tape, Honda Canada has decided to build its new head office in Markham, not Richmond Hill.
Richmond Hill's loss is a boon for Markham, which bills itself as Canada's high-tech capital and is home to corporate head offices for IBM and American Express.
Honda will initially relocate 500 employees to the new site to be built on a 19-hectare parcel of land facing Highway 404, just north of Elgin Mills Rd. The tentative move-in date is two years from now.
"They saw a municipality that was willing to work with them and make things happen quickly," Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said yesterday.
"They didn't want this process to go on forever and we made a very strong commitment to them to get them through the process as quickly as possible, to ensure some of the transportation network that they needed would be there in time for their opening."
Richmond Hill is, of course, disappointed, said Deputy Mayor Brenda Hogg, who also sits on York Region council.
She played down any friction between the neighbours and said there's "always competition" among municipalities trying to attract companies, and the valued tax base they bring, to set up shop.
And, more importantly, Honda is remaining in York Region, Hogg said. "It still speaks to the southern end of York Region and the opportunities that exist here. What we didn't get today, we will get tomorrow."
While Honda owned a large chunk of land at Highway 404 and Major Mackenzie Dr. – that it will now sell – it was located close to the environmentally sensitive Rouge River Valley system, Hogg noted.
"In Richmond Hill we did have environmental constraints, we did need a bridge to be built, that's a tremendous expenditure," she said, adding Richmond Hill was nevertheless "willing to negotiate on those major infrastructure costs."
The new location is about three kilometres north on the east side of Highway 404, which separates Richmond Hill from Markham.
Two months ago, Honda Canada publicly announced it was looking at options other than Richmond Hill after running into numerous delays getting municipal approvals for the complex, which will consolidate operations now based in three locations, including Scarborough.
Jim Miller, Honda's senior executive vice-president, said last night while Honda is an environmentally responsible company and was prepared to work to ensure safeguards were met as far as development, "the timing of roads, bridges, infrastructure, every time we turned around it seemed to be taking longer and longer and ... all things being equal it looks like it's going to come together as we had originally anticipated."
Scarpitti said his work began behind the scenes last fall before he was elected mayor. He sent out a clear message that if he won, "Markham would do everything that we could to attract Honda and certainly to keep them in the Region of York."
Despite there being a winner and loser here, "this wasn't a battle," Scarpitti said. "It was really Honda coming to the conclusion that they needed to get onto a site that worked for their timeframe," and "time was not on their (Richmond Hill's) side."
"We worked very diligently to get them through a complex planning process. It was sort of our can-do attitude, our infrastructure, that will be available to them when they open their doors and an opportunity to develop a key site that will have exposure to the 404 without anything that really stands in their way of moving right ahead with their building of the facility."
Scarpitti also touted the overall benefit to the region.
"They're going to be on east of the 404 versus the west side but it's going to mean jobs for many communities, not just Markham. It means some of their executives and employees will end up moving and purchasing homes" in other areas close by, he said.
"They're certainly going to shop and eat and they won't know the political boundaries. From that perspective, there's three parts of the tax bill: the local municipality but also a major part is that of the region and school board. ... We're happy to accommodate a facility that keeps them within the region and contributes to the economy of Ontario."
A move was needed to respond to Honda's growing sales and expanding workforce, Miller said.
The home office "campus" will house three interconnected buildings, including a four-storey energy-efficient "green" building, a technical centre for research and development, engineering and training, and a one-storey parts distribution centre.
Honda employs 5,000 people across Canada and manufactures 390,000 vehicles a year at two facilities in Alliston, northwest of Toronto.
