Downtown Markham, Ontario

Not to be confused with Markham Centre.

Downtown Markham
Downtown
Motto: The Place To BE
Downtown Markham's location within York Region.
Coordinates: 43°51′N 79°19′W / 43.85°N 79.32°W / 43.85; -79.32Coordinates: 43°51′N 79°19′W / 43.85°N 79.32°W / 43.85; -79.32
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional Municipality	York
City	Markham
District	Markham Centre
Planned	1992[1]
Completion date	2030
Area[1]
• Total	0.98 km2 (0.38 sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Canadian postal codes	L6G
Area code(s)	905, 289
Website	Downtown Markham

Downtown Markham is a central business district of south Unionville community under construction within the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. The community is located within the subdivision of Markham Centre as well as Unionville and is proposed to serve as the heart of Markham's Unionville Village. Downtown Markham or as some refer as "Downtown Unionville", once completed, will serve as a CBD to the city, hiring as many as 16,000 employees,^[2][3] as well as a home to approximately 10,000^[4] with the proposed medium to high density residential structures. The community is being developed, built and wholly financed by The Remington Group Inc. Contrary to popular belief, to date (2009), Downtown Markham has not used provincial or municipal funding for any construction.^[2] The downtown features Montgomery High Street, which is planned to be Markham's premier retail destination.^[5]

Occupancy begins in April 2009, when the first "set" of condos are finished its completion.^[6]

Downtown Markham and Unionville

Downtown Markham will be a community within Unionville, which is located in the center of The City of Markham and will consist of mostly commercial buildings.

Downtown Markham refers to an area south of Uptown Markham / Highway 7, west of Kennedy Road / Main Street Unionville, east of Warden Avenue, and north of Highway 407 ETR.

On the other hand, Markham Centre or Unionville refers to a broader area. Markham Centre is bounded north to Apple Creek Boulevard / Carlton Road, east to Kennedy Road, west to Rodick Road, and south to 14th Avenue.

Recent History

Downtown Markham construction site in 2009.

The community was planned in 1992. The Town of Markham has approved the plan, according to Markham's former mayor, Donald Cousens.^[2] It was planned out that the community situated in Unionville will be entirely self-sustained, transit-oriented, using Smart Growth. Construction began in 2005, when Enterprise Drive was completed.

Notable sites in downtown

• Cineplex Odeon Downtown Markham and VIP Cinemas^[7]
• Markham Centre Park & Civic Mall
• GTA Centre
• Markham Pan Am Centre
• Marriott Hotel
• Me Va Me
• Chatime
• Aroma Espresso Bar
• South St. Burger Co.
• Royal Bank

Strategies of Downtown Markham

Downtown Markham located in the City of Markham's Unionville Village is using a development strategy named smart growth. The community will try to limit urban sprawl by creating a denser urban centre. The urban centre is planned to be a transit-oriented community, with everything close by and fully transit dependent.^[3] In addition, the community was also planned to have be environmentally sustainable as well.

The community was planned by the Town of Markham, in co-operation with the Remington Group. The Remington Group is mainly in charge of constructing most of the structures across this new community.

According to the plan approved by the town council, the community will contain structures such as condos, townhouses and office buildings.^[2] Some of these structures have already begun construction. In particular, the Honeywell Office building has already been completed.

Downtown Markham in Unionville has been nominated as the country's largest mixed-used development, as well as North America's largest LEED (leadership-in-energy-and-environmental-design) registered development.^[6]

Transportation

Warden Vivastation

The primary modes of transportation in Downtown Markham are: Regional Roads, municipal roads, a toll highway, bus rapid transit, and GO Trains.^[3]

York Regional Roads

The community is bounded with three York Regional Roads, which are numbered as 3 (Kennedy Road), 7 (Highway 7), and 65 (Warden Avenue).

Municipal Roads

Most of the roads across the community are municipally funded local roads. The only two roads serving as major arterials are Enterprise Drive and Birchmount Road. Both roads have four lanes and a median divider.

Toll Highway

Highway 407 serves the community with exits on Warden Avenue and Kennedy Road. The highway leads east to Pickering and west to Burlington.

Bus Rapid Transit

The community is served by the Warden, Enterprise and Unionville stops on the VIVA bus rapid transit system. Warden and Enterprise are served by three lines: Viva Purple, Viva Green, and Viva Pink, while Unionville Station is only served by Viva Pink. As of 2011, Viva Purple is the only line with all-day service, the other lines operate only during rush hour. It is scheduled that when Downtown Markham is fully functional and occupied, Viva Green will return to full service. The community is anticipated to be highly dependent on these transit routes, as part of the planned smart growth.

Viva Purple connects the locale to Cornell and York University; Viva Green connects the locale to Don Mills Station and Cornell; Viva Pink connects the locale to North York City Centre.

Other bus routes that serve the area include:

• TTC 68 Warden
• YRT 8 Kennedy
• YRT 1 Highway 7

GO Transit

GO Transit also serves the area. Unionville Station is located within Downtown Markham. It is on the Stouffville Line, which operates only during rush hours. The GO Train connects the locale to Stouffville and Downtown Toronto.

Environmental Sustainability

The community reserves 72 acres (290,000 m²) as a natural reserve, which includes an ecologically sensitive area, Rouge River.

References