Markham GTA Centre | ?m | ?s | GTA S. and E. | BBB

Several large mounds of earth that are on the site are currently being removed. I guess they want to be ready once they get approval and permits.
 
This photo is from June. The arena site is in the foreground.

A32FED16-DEDB-49A7-85A2-D8309629CC0B-4028-00000391F024180D.jpg


dm2.jpg
 
Full steam ahead:

With the promise of three additional public meetings, October and November will be busy months, filled with public meetings, with the goal of having shovels in the ground by February 2013 and building completion by the end of 2014.
The sub-committee is planning three more public meetings than required under the Planning Act.
Click to expand...

In order to complete construction by the end of 2014, with a target opening of January 2015 for the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championship, council may grant conditional permit approvals for foundation and servicing work prior to an official site plan approval.
Click to expand...

http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1501350--foundation-work-could-start-at-arena#.UFH9mN9O9c8.twitter
 
I'll be attending the open house tonight and will report back if anything new is announced.

As mentioned in the article above, a National Basketball League of Canada team playing in a 10,000-seat configuration is another possible tenant. It would be interesting to see what kind of attendance such a team would have given it would be the only pro basketball team aside from the Raptors in the GTA. In any case, there would only be 20 home games a year.
 
It's "The pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in Canada," which admittedly isn't saying much.
 
canarob said:
I'll be attending the open house tonight and will report back if anything new is announced.

As mentioned in the article above, a National Basketball League of Canada team playing in a 10,000-seat configuration is another possible tenant. It would be interesting to see what kind of attendance such a team would have given it would be the only pro basketball team aside from the Raptors in the GTA. In any case, there would only be 20 home games a year.
Click to expand...

Isn't Oshawa part of the GTA? http://www.powerbasketball.ca/
 
So the levy on new townhomes is going to be $6,500?! That is a heck of a lot of money....and for what?: to pay for a stadium in which someone else is potentially going to make a profit? Wouldn't that money be better spent someplace else (schools? social services? in the hands of the home buyer?).
 
alklay said:
So the levy on new townhomes is going to be $6,500?! That is a heck of a lot of money....and for what?: to pay for a stadium in which someone else is potentially going to make a profit? Wouldn't that money be better spent someplace else (schools? social services? in the hands of the home buyer?).
Click to expand...

It is, essentially, the current residents of Markham taxing new entrants for something that the current residents want. Call it a cover charge for moving to Markham in the future. People in the future will know about it (ie. it will inflate the cost of a home in Markham relative to other places) and they will be making a free choice to pay it or not.

The only real issues with it are:

1. If that levy tips the competive balance and people decide living in Markham is not worth that, then either it won't be collected because people won't move to Markham or, home builders developers will be forced to absorb it into their prices in which case it may not be collected because the profit margins are lower in Markham and they may choose to build elsewhere. In a good, growing, market it should be collected....if it is not (or not enough of it is) then current taxpayers will have to absorb the cost into the tax bill and pay for their new toy themselves.

2. Even if this is successful, it does limit municipal flexibility going forward. There is a limit to how much you can collect from home buyers....even if this is not "it" then you have tied your hands a bit if another worthwhile project/idea/need comes up and you have gone down this road.
 
It is, essentially, the current residents of Markham taxing new entrants for something that the current residents want. Call it a cover charge for moving to Markham in the future. People in the future will know about it (ie. it will inflate the cost of a home in Markham relative to other places) and they will be making a free choice to pay it or not.e
Click to expand...

Exactly, Markham, along with the rest of Southern York Region, is already far more expensive than neighbouring places like Scarborough and Durham Region, so I'm not sure if another few thousand dollars will make a difference when you can already save tens, or in some cases hundreds, of thousands of dollars by moving east or south. Considering what townhomes are going for in Markham Centre (examples: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12475810&PidKey=-1926309293 and http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12221940&PidKey=-820916328), $6,500 is a drop in the bucket. Also, the levy for townhomes in places outside of Markham Centre where townhomes can start as low as $400k, like in Cornell, would only be $4,000.

A few new things I learned at the open house last night:

1. Events would not start until 8 PM, which would help to alleviate many of the transportation concerns.

2. There is a "contingency" parking plan that could accommodate up to 7,500 cars.

A4ZrxPRCAAA8C-s.jpg
 
canarob said:
Exactly, Markham, along with the rest of Southern York Region, is already far more expensive than neighbouring places like Scarborough and Durham Region, so I'm not sure if another few thousand dollars will make a difference when you can already save tens, or in some cases hundreds, of thousands of dollars by moving east or south. Considering what townhomes are going for in Markham Centre (examples: http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12475810&PidKey=-1926309293 and http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12221940&PidKey=-820916328), $6,500 is a drop in the bucket. Also, the levy for townhomes in places outside of Markham Centre where townhomes can start as low as $400k, like in Cornell, would only be $4,000.
Click to expand...

everything has a limit.......the question is does this bring Markham's levies to their limits.

canarob said:
A few new things I learned at the open house last night:

1. Events would not start until 8 PM, which would help to alleviate many of the transportation concerns.

2. There is a "contingency" parking plan that could accommodate up to 7,500 cars.
Click to expand...


i am sure that if there was an event out there that had to start earlier.....it would. For example......NHL games tend to start at 7 or 7:30 for TV reasons. Even so, i am not sure how 8 PM alleviates any (never mind "many") of the transportation issues.

depending on how they deal with those transportation issues will determine if 7,500 parking spots is enough.

here is the latest press on this

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...-a-325-million-arena-boost-or-burden-the-city
 
TOareaFan said:
everything has a limit.......the question is does this bring Markham's levies to their limits.
Click to expand...

True, but if the increases seem to be in the 1% or lower range, which they do, I don't think this will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

i am sure that if there was an event out there that had to start earlier.....it would. For example......NHL games tend to start at 7 or 7:30 for TV reasons. Even so, i am not sure how 8 PM alleviates any (never mind "many") of the transportation issues.
Click to expand...

I agree that TV schedules would make this difficult, but starting a game at 8 would mean cars arriving after the peak of rush hour, express buses (that would mainly run from Don Mills subway station, as well as the new Subway station in Vaughan and elsewhere) wouldn't get stuck in as much traffic, and that the three new GO train runs would mostly occur after rush hour. If games started at 7, the highways and GO trains would still be clogged. It won't be perfect, but this one hour will make a huge difference.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top