Ontario mall to be completely demolished for futuristic 9-tower complex

Another Ontario mall is on the chopping block, the latest addition to a growing list of retail properties targeted for demolition and redevelopment across the Greater Toronto Area.

A July development application filed with the City of Vaughan could spell the eventual end of the Woodbridge Square shopping centre, a strip mall at Weston Road and Highway 7, just across Highway 400 to the west of Vaughan's emerging downtown.

Property owner Morguard Corporation is seeking to replace the existing Woodbridge mall and its associated surface parking lot with a new multi-phased development that would add nine towers to the rapidly evolving Vaughan skyline.

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Morguard has signed on Turner Fleischer Architects to design their new vertical community that would house almost 4,400 new condominium units in towers ranging from 12 to 57 storeys.

The tallest of the pack would rise just shy of 185 metres, and would hold a prominent position on the area's skyline.

Towers are planned to rise around a privately-owned public space measuring over 3,700 square metres and functioning as the community's central park.

 

Though the plan would see the mall demolished, there would still be a significant retail element within the new complex, as the bases of residential buildings would accommodate a range of commercial spaces. 

An existing Nations Fresh Foods grocery store is one of the many businesses that would be lost to redevelopment. Planning documents specify that a "large-scale food store" would be built into the new complex, though it is not stated whether Nations would retain a presence at the site.

Other notable mall tenants include the Vaughan location of popular dessert chain Crumbl Cookies.

Plans go on to state that "Retail spaces have been designed to articulate and activate the sites and its internal and external street frontages."

While the mall will indeed be torn down over time, a phasing plan concentrates the initial build-out on the north and east sections of the site, occupied by a mix of surface parking and single-storey structures currently home to businesses Naan Kabob and Aroma Espresso Bar.

This means that locals relying on the current supermarket and other businesses not affected by the initial phases of development will retain their neighbourhood staples in the short term.

The development site is located less than two kilometres from Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station on the TTC's Line 1, with a dedicated busway connection to the station on its doorstep. Highway 400 is also just east of the site, with on-ramps just opposite Weston Road. 

The project team expects that a significant share of residents and visitors would rely on local transit options, with many more requiring vehicles and bicycles to get around. 

The plan contemplates over 2,900 vehicle spaces to be housed in a three-level underground parking garage. In addition, over 4,400 bicycle parking spaces are planned — a significant cycling component in a quickly urbanizing pocket of Toronto's suburbs.