Closed airport near Toronto will finally be redeveloped next year

It's been mostly quiet at the Markham site of Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport since the facility's closure at the end of 2023, but that's all set to change in the new year.

The municipal airstrip along Highway 404 just north of the city has sat idle for close to three years, though its long-awaited redevelopment is looming closer on the horizon.

Buttonville was originally destined for redevelopment with a sprawling community of condo towers, though, with the market already in decline by the time of the airport's closure, the developer behind the project opted to pivot to a much less flashy industrial redevelopment.

Developer and property manager Cadillac Fairview was already part owner of the airport in 2021, when it bought out the remaining 50 per cent stake in the property for just shy of $193 million. 

Almost five years later, the developer is preparing to move forward with its redevelopment of the 169-acre site. The airport lands are destined to be built out with a roughly three-million-square-foot, 11-building industrial plaza. 

Known as the Buttonville Industrial Park, the massive new complex will feature buildings ranging in size from 42,000 to 836,000 sq. ft., designed to accommodate a variety of tenants. 

Cadillac Fairview states on its website that work on the new industrial park is just around the corner, with site servicing and infrastructure construction to precede construction starting next year.

The 2027 start of preliminary work will set the stage for the first phase of building construction, which Cadillac Fairview anticipated will take place in 2028. 

City of Markham

Actual occupancies of the new buildings are expected to follow "as early as 2029."