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Alberta & Prairies  + Ontario  | 
Rendering of proposed massive mixed-use project in Vaughan, Ont.

Toromont Hopes to Get Green Light for Massive Vaughan Mixed-Use Project

Toromont Industries is hoping to secure approval later this year for a massive mixed-use development project in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan, Ont., The Globe and Mail reported.

The company’s development application is currently going through the municipal-approval process that requires city planners to review it before council makes a final decision.

Concord, Ont.-based Toromont aims to transform Vaughan’s city centre with towering skyscrapers, parkland, and pedestrian-friendly spaces. If all goes according to plan, the project will span 27 acres at the southwest corner of Highway 7 and Jane Street.

Plans call for at least 17 high-rises, with the tallest reaching 74 storeys. If approved, the development would be built in five phases over 10 to 25 years and introduce up to 10,000 housing units, alongside retail, office, and green spaces.

Emma West, partner at Toronto-based Bousfields, the planning consultant for the project, told the Globe that the master plan aims to align with the city’s vision for a walkable and livable downtown.

Planners have focused on designing an accessible urban space that fosters community interaction.

“We’re creating a large, linear park, something with human scale that people can walk along and be close to retail and to outdoor amenities all the way along,” Nicola Casciato, principal at WZMH Architects, which is designing the development, told the Globe.

In addition to housing, the site is expected to feature a 38,254-square-foot grocery store, daycare spaces, a hotel, restaurants, and an office component.

“We’re still not sure about how much office space will go in because the market for office space is still soft and uncertain,” Casciato told the Globe.

The design draws inspiration from Vaughan’s agricultural roots, incorporating an “apple-basket” concept that integrates parkland, trails, and orchard-like tree placements, West told the Globe.

“We’d like the design to create smaller moments for people within a large park space, so they can weave in and out – the feeling of being in a basket,” she added in her interview with the Globe.

With a focus on sustainability, the development will prioritize insulation over glass-heavy structures and incorporate electric, heat-exchanging ventilation systems, the Globe reported.

Thoughtful landscaping will be a key feature.

“We’re not just planting trees and leaving them there,” Casciato told the Globe. “We have detailed requirements for the soil volumes – there has to be enough soil to support these trees over their natural lives.”

At the heart of the development is a pedestrian-friendly approach, inspired by the Dutch woonerf concept, which blends living spaces with walkable, mixed-use streets. This design will integrate Vaughan’s Metropolitan Centre subway station, reducing reliance on cars and supporting transit-oriented living.

“At first we wondered if the buildings are too tall, but this is the centre of the city of Vaughan,” Casciato told the Globe. “We want it to be transit-oriented so people don’t have to drive, and if you build a community that relies on transit, you need density, and you end up creating higher buildings.”

Rendering: WZMH Architects

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Inside The Story

Nicola CasciatoEmma West

About Monte Stewart

Monte Stewart serves as Content Director - Canada for Connect Commercial Real Estate. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monte provides daily news coverage of major Canadian commercial real estate markets, including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He has written about the real estate sector for various media outlets and Avison Young since the early 2000s. In addition, he has covered sports, general news and business for several leading wire services and publications, including The Canadian Press, The Associated Press, The Calgary Herald, The Globe and Mail, Research Money, The Daily Oil Bulletin, Natural Gas World and The Toronto Star. Monte is active in his community as a youth basketball coach and raises funds for such charitable causes as Movember.

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