The rise of a downtown in Vaughan
Cities and towns around the GTA focusing on their core strength
While Stefano Compagnone enjoys spending time in downtown Toronto, living there isn’t in his plans.
The 24-year-old grew up in the Woodbridge area of the city of Vaughan. He works at a Vaughan bank and lives with his parents in Nobleton, just north of the city.
When he heard about plans to create a downtown in his city, the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) at Hwys. 407 and 400, he was excited.
Set on 179 hectares, the transit-oriented downtown core will have office and condo towers, shops, restaurants and entertainment.
With track work complete on the Toronto-York Spadina extension and stations almost finished, the subway will soon extend from Downsview Station to two stops at the VMC. York University will be one stop away; a trip downtown will take 40 minutes.
Compagnone convinced his sister, Jordana, 23, and brother Anthony, 19, both university students, to be a part of Vaughan’s new downtown and buy a preconstruction two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite with him at Liberty Development Corp.’s Cosmos condos.
Cosmos will be a mixed-used development with four condo towers, a12-storey office building, a landscaped park and retail space.
“Living in Toronto was not a consideration,” Compagnone says. “All of our lives are tied to Woodbridge. This is best of both worlds. It’s easy to go downtown, we will be close to our parents. All of our friends, all of our lives are here.”
Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua says the new downtown centre is “the future of the city.” With 12,000 new residential units planned, there will soon be 25,000 people living in the VMC.
Another target is to attract 11,500 jobs, including 5,000 new office jobs.
Bevilacqua says the city of Vaughan and partners engaged in “sensory-based planning” for the VMC to include the elements that people will see and feel and to immediately create a sense of belonging.
“People (the first VMC condo buyers) feel they are part of history. They are the originals and have unique citizenship,” Bevilacqua says.
That vision has been embraced by condo buyers. Cosmos set a record for 416/905 condo sales, selling 780 suites in two towers in 25 days, according to the Altus Group.
“Buyers realize they . . . can walk outside their condo and the subway is right there. There has never been an opportunity like this in the 905 — they literally don’t need a car,” says Marco Filice, senior vice-president of Liberty Development Corp.
“You are 15 minutes from the McMichael Art Collection, 10 minutes from golf courses, one stop from York University.”
The VMC is also the site of downtown condo developer Plaza’s first 905 project, The Met, a 35-storey tower in partnership with Berkley Developments. More than 500 of its 573 units sold in just a few weeks earlier this year.
Plaza’s senior vice-president Scott McLellan admits his company was surprised by the response, but it makes sense, he says, when one con- siders what The Met has in common with Plaza’s downtown Toronto sites — proximity to the subway and a university.
“Downtown amenities are important. When people see the subway coming to Vaughan and are looking at the plans for the VMC, they believe it’s going to happen,” he says. “The subway will create the lifestyle part of the vision.” Future VMC resident Compagnone appreciates that his Cosmos condo will be steps from the subway. “It’s going to feel like downtown, but north of the city.”
He hopes to work downtown in the future and his sister attends Ryerson University and plans to continue her studies at medical school. She and Stefano plan to live in the condo and even if their younger brother doesn’t choose to live with them, it will be a good investment for him.