Downtown Markham is the main

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Currently under development, it is located near the historic Unionville district and serves as the new heart of Markham. Businesses in the district are expected to employ up to 16,000 individuals, and it may house as many as 10,000 residents. The development plans will have a high density of residential, retail, commercial and mixed-use structures. The community is being developed, built and wholly financed by The Remington Group Inc.

Description

Downtown Markham is a planned urban hub and the largest planned mixed-use development in Canada. The development spans 243 acres and is situated in one of the fastest growing regions in the province. It will be the commercial and financial district at the center of the city of Markham, and will consist of a mix of residential, office and retail uses. Two million square feet of retail space will include international retailers, local shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. Downtown Markham will also offer more than 3.4 million square feet of office space in a commercial district adjacent to Highway 407. The vibrant urban centre is being designed and developed following sustainable guidelines, including energy efficient power sources and

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a Green building certification systems, green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating ...

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified residential and commercial projects. Aside from allowing greater density, the development also enjoys 72 acres of natural and landscaped green space, improved

walkability In urban planning, walkability is the accessibility of amenities within a reasonable walking distance. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it s ...

and easy access to public transit, including

Viva Rapid Transit Viva is the bus rapid transit service of York Region Transit in York Region, Ontario, Canada. Viva service forms the spine of YRT's local bus service, providing seamless transit service across York Region with connections to northern Toronto. V ...

and

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

. Downtown Markham refers to an area south of Uptown Markham / Highway 7, west of Kennedy Road /

Main Street Unionville Main Street Unionville is a collector route that runs through the historical suburban community of Unionville, Ontario, Unionville, in Markham, Ontario, Markham, Ontario, Canada. Like most other Main Streets, the street serves as an important roa ...

, east of

Warden Avenue A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically iden ...

, 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.

History

The current City of Markham was created in 1971 when the original town was expanded by amalgamation with the surrounding namesake Markham

Township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

which also contained the independent communities of Thornhill and Unionville. With its original historic downtown,

Markham Village Markham Village ( 2006 population 6,090) is the historic town centre of Markham, Ontario, Canada. Originally settled in 1825, the village, which was originally named Reesorville (in reference to the Reesor family of settlers) sometime after 180 ...

, being small and largely relegated to being a community node in the far eastern part of the amalgamated municipality, the city decided a larger, more centrally-located downtown was needed. The area south of Highway 7 and east of Warden Avenue was frozen for development by the province during the planning and construction of express toll road Highway 407. In 1992, a plan was approved to develop the area with higher commercial density. The Town of Markham has approved the plan, according to Markham's former mayor, Donald Cousens. The new downtown was planned to be self-sustained and transit-oriented based on

smart growth Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood ...

development. Construction began in 2005, when Enterprise Drive was completed. Aviva Canada built its second Canadian headquarters on Birchmount Road and a new Cineplex theatre opened on April 4, 2015. It provides a bigger space to include a few VIP theatres, a new gaming corner and much higher capacity than the old Cineplex theatre at First Markham Place. The Marriott hotel and the York condo was constructed on the corner of Enterprise Drive and Birchmount Road. It was finished by the end of 2018.

Development

Enterprise Blvd at Andre De Grasse St 2023

Downtown Markham is using a development strategy named

, and 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. In addition, the community was also planned to be environmentally sustainable as well. The community was planned by the City of Markham, in cooperation 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 city council, the community will contain residential condos and townhouses, commercial, and retail buildings. Some of these structures have already begun construction. Updates as to what is built is underway. Downtown Markham 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.

Transportation

The primary modes of transportation in Downtown Markham are: Regional Roads, municipal roads, a toll highway, bus rapid transit, and

GO Trains Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position ...

Arterial Roads

The downtown area is bounded with three arterial streets, which are numbered

York Regional Roads York Region, located in southcentral Ontario, Canada, assigned approximately 50 regional roads, each with a number ranging from 1 to 99. All expenses for York Regional Roads (i.e: maintenance, traffic lights, and snow clearing) are funded by the ...

: Kennedy Road (York Road 3), Highway 7 (York Road 7, which was formerly Provincial Highway 7), and Warden Avenue (York Road 65).

Toll Highway

Highway 407 serves the area with exits on Warden Avenue and Kennedy Road.

Bus Rapid Transit

The community is served by the

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

, Enterprise and Unionville stops on the VIVA bus rapid transit system. Warden and Enterprise are served by three lines:

Viva Purple Viva Purple is a line on the Viva bus rapid transit system in York Region, Ontario, Canada. The route primarily runs in an east–west direction along a dedicated right-of-way, dubbed the '' Highway 7 Rapidway'', in Markham and Richmond Hill. ...

Viva Green Viva Green was a Viva bus rapid transit route in York Region, north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was operated by Tok Transit under contract from the Region of York. Service on the Viva Green route was suspended on April 5, 2020, during t ...

, and Viva Pink, while Unionville Station is only served by Viva Pink. As of 2011,

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,

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 Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

and

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

; Viva Green connects the locale to

Don Mills Station Don Mills is a subway station that is the eastern terminus of Line 4 Sheppard in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is at the northeast corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Don Mills Road, within the residential communities of Don Valley Villa ...

and

; Viva Pink connects the locale to

North York City Centre North York City Centre is a central business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the administrative district of North York. It is located along Yonge Street, between just south of Sheppard Avenue northward to Finch Avenue with its focus aroun ...

. Other bus routes that serve the area include: * TTC 68 Warden * TTC 17 Birchmount * YRT 8 Kennedy * YRT 1 Highway 7

GO Transit

operates Unionville GO Station on the

Stouffville line Stouffville is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Its southern terminus is Union Station in Toronto, and its northern terminus is (formerly "Lincolnville") in Whitchurch-Stouff ...

during peak commuter traffic. The GO train line connects the Downtown Markham to Stouffville and

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

Environmental sustainability

The community reserves as a natural reserve, which includes an ecologically sensitive area, Rouge River.

Facilities

There are two recreational facilities in Downtown Markham: *

Markham Pan Am Centre The Markham Pan Am Centre is a multi-purpose community and aquatics centre located in the new downtown area of Markham, Ontario, Canada. The facility was designed to host the badminton, table tennis and water polo events for the 2015 Pan Amer ...

was built for

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

and became a city-owned facility after completion of the games in September 2015 * Markham YMCA Rudy Bratty Centre was completed in 2006 and upgraded in 2008; featuring two pools and other fitness facilities for YMCA members

Education

The York University Markham Campus is currently being built next to the Markham Pan Am Centre.

References

External links

The Markham Centre Story
{{Communities of Markham Neighbourhoods in Markham, Ontario

Proposed populated places