City-building in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre continues: Mayor Bevilacqua

The following is a statement by Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua marking the first virtual Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) Sub-Committee meeting of 2020. 

“During my 2018 to 2022 inaugural address, I reaffirmed the importance of the VMC Sub-Committee and my intention to continue chairing it. As we mark the first VMC Sub-Committee meeting of 2020 virtually this year, our record of accomplishments is proof that this working group maintains an essential role in shaping our entire city’s future. 

“Vaughan is a city in demand. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, our golden decade continues to shine bright. Our economy is showing signs of resilience. In fact, during the first quarter of 2020, the City of Vaughan issued 656 permits valued at over $128 million. More than 12,300 inspections have taken place over the past three months – well exceeding 2019, 2018 and 2017 during that same period. Vaughan is a city that people are confident investing in. 

“As our efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of residents continue, so too does the important task of city-building. We have in no way hit the pause button on key infrastructure projects. These must continue, and they are a vital part of our post-COVID reality. 

“Our emerging downtown core continues to attract significant investment opportunities. The VMC is the largest and most ambitious project in Vaughan's history. With a transit system anchored by the subway that offers seamless connectivity throughout the GTA, the VMC is one of the best places to live, work and play. 

“The VMC is in high demand by office tenants. The first two office buildings—comprising over 390,000 square feet of office space—are 100 per cent leased by nationally-recognized tenants, including KPMG, PwC Canada, GFL Environmental and Harley-Davidson Canada. 

“From 2015 to 2020, the VMC attracted more than $9 billion in economic activity, with much of this rooted in unprecedented construction projects that are building a growing skyline with new business and residential developments. Vaughan Council has approved the development of more than 10,817 new residential units. In November, we celebrated the opening of the PwC-YMCA Tower – a 240,000-square foot SmartCentres mixed-use project, which will include office space for this global professional services firm, in addition to a YMCA and a new Vaughan Public Libraries branch.

“In January 2019, we marked the historic arrival of Niagara University to the VMC – the first university in our city. Earlier this year, I was pleased to join Niagara University President Reverend James J. Maher to commemorate another important milestone between the City of Vaughan and Niagara University, with the addition of three new programs — Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Finance, and Master of Science in Information Security and Digital Forensics. 

“The VMC is home to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Subway, SmartCentres Place Bus Terminal and the vivaNext rapidway transit system — all just steps away from Niagara University’s Vaughan campus. Creating new connections to surrounding communities and making it easier for people to get where they need to go will contribute to our continued success. Higher-order transit provides an enormous advantage for attracting residents, businesses and talent to Vaughan. 

“Other city-building milestones include: significant progress on the construction of the iconic YMCA Centre of Community and new high-rise residential developments, such as Transit City Towers 1 and 2, the Met, and Expo City Towers 3 and 4; Scotiabank expanding into the PwC-YMCA Tower; and new mixed-use development applications located at 3300 and 2851 Highway 7. 

“The important work of city-building has never been more relevant than it is today. Our objective to develop a world-class city that encompasses good urban design and public spaces that foster community well-being, remains. The global COVID-19 pandemic has served to heighten the value that we hold for public spaces like parks, streets and trails. As a Committee, we continue to build on our strategic partnerships and leverage strong relationships with the development community to ensure Vaughan’s downtown truly is the place to be.  

“We have many reasons we can be proud to live, work and play in Vaughan. I look forward to continuing to work closely with industry leaders and community partners to build on our success and unleash the potential of the VMC.” 

-30-