I think they actually already purchased the property at the South East corner of Finch and Keele.

It used to be a gas station that was demolished. Maybe it's unrelated, not sure.
 
That gas station closed down a number of years ago, so I don't think the TTC was responsible. But I'm almost certain that's one of the parcels they will be purchasing, if they haven't already.
 
Wow, we haven't had upadates ina while! Good to see at least something happening.
 
Not an update per se, but interesting nonetheless. The building is located at the SW corner of Jane St. and Highway 7, and is quite large.

Vaughan firm threatens to move 2,500 jobs

Company says it's moving to Manitoba if it can't 'leapfrog' protected Greenbelt to build new plant

Mar 14, 2009 04:30 AM

Phinjo Gombu
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER

A Vaughan equipment distributor, being forced to relocate as Toronto's subway creeps north, is threatening to leave the province – and take 2,500 jobs with it – if it's not allowed to build a replacement facility on fertile farmland north of the provincial Greenbelt.

Toromont Industries, which assembles and distributes heavy tractors as well as grading and mining equipment, has set conditions that may force the province to choose between losing those jobs or rejecting anti-sprawl principles enshrined in its legislation.

Negotiations are quietly proceeding between the province and two major developers over a proposed 700-hectare industrial-commercial zone off Highway 400, where Toromont would be an anchor resident.

Provincial planners have questioned whether development in the area, linked to housing, could be justified under the internationally praised Places to Grow plan. There are concerns about what will follow if this first major challenge to the plan succeeds, allowing development to "leapfrog" north over the newly protected Greenbelt.

Provincial planners were set to challenge the proposal at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. But the hearing was abruptly adjourned last year.

The Star has learned the key reason the province agreed to "settlement" discussions with the developers and their municipal supporters was Toromont's threat to move to Manitoba if it was not allowed to consolidate its operations on the Highway 400 corridor.

Ironically it's mass transit, touted as a sprawl-fighter, that has created the dilemma. Toromont's Vaughan facility will be displaced within a few years from the Highway 7 and Jane St. area, which has been earmarked for the future city centre and new terminus of the University-Spadina subway line.

The proposed new home for the company is about 40 hectares on the east side of the 400. But servicing that small property with sewer and water would be too expensive without bringing into play about 688 hectares of farmland around it as well as residential development to the west in Bond Head. There is also pressure for more development to the north.

The province is struggling to curtail sprawl, in part by capping the number of homes allowed to be built in the next 25 years. That limit is almost half of what the developers who have speculated on vast swaths of Simcoe County want.

Shoring up the jobs-creation argument has been one counter-strategy for developers, particularly those involved in the Highway 400 site, such as Metrus Developments, owned by Fred DeGasperis, and Geranium Corp., run by Earl Rumm, who made headlines recently with his controversial resort development on nearby Big Bay Point.

Doug White, mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury and a strong supporter of the highway industrial node, wouldn't comment on Toromont's threat but acknowledged urging the province to come down on the side of jobs.

"The situation is what it is," White said. "That's who we are hoping to attract to our town, because they are the ones who want to come here. They've made it clear what their times are."

In October 2007, a representative for DeGasperis said the company was working on a deal with a major employer as an incentive for the province to allow building there. Pressure on the province, with Toromont as a lever, continued last year.

But it was the autumn downturn in the economy that emboldened local politicians like White to push the province to abandon the board hearing.

In a letter to Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson and deputy premier George Smitherman, White and Simcoe County warden Tony Guergis didn't mince words.

"It is critical to recognize, as you know, that a major GTA employer needs to relocate its existing industrial operations and has identified lands within the OPA 15 area ... as ideal for its head office, training, manufacturing and distribution operations," they wrote.

"This company has made it known that if it cannot relocate to this area, its next preferred operation is out of Ontario. In these times of economic uncertainty, Ontario cannot afford to lose these jobs."

Shortly after, the province announced it had appointed provincial development facilitator Paula Dill to mediate a settlement between the province, developers and municipalities. Amy Tang, a spokesperson for Smitherman, who handles the Places to Grow file, would not comment on why, pointing out that negotiations are sensitive and putting them into the public realm could affect the outcome.

"The decision to call in the provincial development facilitator was motivated by the confidence the parties could avoid a costly hearing and reach a resolution that preserves jobs while fulfilling growth plan principles," Tang said in an email. Toromont vice-president David Wetherald responded: "If we are unable to move operations to Bradford we would reconsider all our options, including moving part of our operations (including training and northern mine support) to Manitoba."

A political source familiar with the negotiations told the Star Toromont officials are serious. Toromont serves markets stretching from Alberta's oil sands to Nunavut and Newfoundland, and the site near a major highway is suited to distribution operations.

"They absolutely mean it. And they need the province to okay this by June or they are gone," the source said. "Period."

The company is said to have been hunting for a new site for several years as it became apparent the subway would arrive by 2015.

The conflict arises as many developers and speculators are finding themselves seriously limited by provincial smart-growth plans.

Under Places to Grow, the population of Simcoe County, including Orillia and Barrie, will be allowed to grow by only 247,000 (above today's 420,000) in the next 25 years. Residential building applications in the pipeline would have brought in 1.2 million people in the same period.

The provincial cap all but vaporized the most ambitious plans by developers.

That has brought proposals for industrial-commercial zones between the Greenbelt's northern edge and Barrie into focus – even though planners in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing contended last year there was an "oversupply" of designated employment lands in south Simcoe.

Deputy ministers in municipal affairs and infrastructure in the past have challenged the county to justify its enthusiasm for the Highway 400 employment nodes.

White acknowledges that plans to build tens of thousands of homes in his municipality won't see the light of day. But the focus now is on jobs, he said.

"You would think the province would do everything they possibly to keep 2,500 jobs in this province in this economic climate."
Click to expand...

source

located here
 
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Why does it have to be on the 400? What about the 401 in the K/W area, or somewhere on the 403 in Hamilton?
 
afransen said:
Why does it have to be on the 400? What about the 401 in the K/W area, or somewhere on the 403 in Hamilton?
Click to expand...

I had the same thought. The 400 isn't the only highway in the GTA. Certainly there's more than enough land near highways that they could use that isn't beyond the greenbelt.
 
as mentioned Waterloo Region is designating large areas for industrial land...

25.32BE!OpenElement&FieldElemFormat=gif


so is Hamilton (not approved yet)

aegd_referral_area.jpg


Durham Region
growingdurham2.jpg


Halton
http://www.halton.ca/PPW/Planning/PDFs/SustainableHalton_Phase2_FiveGrowthConcepts.pdf

etc..

it's not like the DeGasperis family is known for playing by the rules
 
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Cost-effective solution: terminate the subway extension at Steeles West, improve VIVA bus service north of Steeles, and redirect the saved 800 M for rapid transit in transit-ready areas.

In that case, Toromont does not have to move at all :)
 
Pulling a Chrysler eh?

Piss off then! :)


I really would like to know where these execs get off trying to threaten us with job losses.
 
That Durham region map is the first time I have heard of a plan to build a GO railway connection between the CN line and the CP line to be closer to Oshawa and Clarington. Makes sense. Hopefully they change the plan to end the all-day service at more central Oshawa station.
 
Well, I didn't read all the posts in the topic... but here're my two cents to add t the discussion...


how many people coming from sheppard east go to york U? maybe it would be a good idea to extend the sheppard line to the spadina line if the numbers are there or will be there if it were built.
Click to expand...

I like that idea. I would support this rather than an extension to vaughan.

In fact, I strongly oppose sending the subway north one stop past york uni, because it simply helps those far out suburbs. I think that those far out suburbs do not deserve to have direct connections to the TTC, as that only justified more construction up there and their existence.

Sometimes I think, okay, maybe it's not too bad to extend it up to there, but then I think that this construction would deter investments from toronto itself and that it would result in more suburban sprawl, which of there is too much in north america.






I am annoyed that they have not started digging yet. They have the money... and had it for a while... early 2008... they're messing around with us.

Anyways, here's a recent article that I came across..


http://www.yorkregion.com/article/89186

Boring machines ready to tunnel into York

March 18, 2009 12:10 PM

DAVID FLEISCHER
Shovels are not yet in the ground, but a lot is happening with York Region's two planned subway extensions.

First up is the Spadina subway, set to grow from its terminus at Downsview up to Hwy. 7.

Design concepts for each of the extension's six new stops are underway. York Region's stops - at Steeles Avenue, Hwy. 407 and Vaughan Corporate Centre -Â are being designed by world-class architects such as Grimshaw&Architects and Alsop Architects.

The acquisition of four tunnel boring machines, as opposed to the planned three, is expected to shorten of the construction schedule.

The most complex station is Steeles West, which cuts through land, owned by the region and York University, at an acute angle.

The station also affects numerous landowners including Hydro One, CN, UPS and the TRCA.

Accordingly, planners must deal with how the project affects hydro towers, Black Creek, and a rail crossing.

The station will also have an additional platform so trains can short turn, creating difficulties for the integration of above ground facilities.

Options for the 407 station are being narrowed and the terminal station at Vaughan Corporate Centre, at Jane Street, needs to be integrated with the city's vision for a compact downtown area.

At the end of November, the project was on budget and on schedule to open in 2015.

The Yonge Subway extension's going forward hinges on the March, 26 provincial budget.

Metrolinx has cited it as a priority project and shovels can go in the ground within a year if provincial funding is forthcoming.

The 30-day review period for its environmental assessment concluded on March 4. The Minister of the Environment has 35 days to consider any objections and responses before issuing a decision.

Staff have worked with the Uplands community to allay fears about how a 1,900-spot parking lot at Langstaff could affect their community.

The TTC is conducting a study to find out where to place a rail yard needed for the extension. It could go in Richmond Hill, Vaughan or an expanded Wilson station, if the Sheppard line bridges the Yonge and Spadina lines.

Those results are expected at the end of March.

A public newsletter will be distributed to the community in April.
 
LAz said:
The acquisition of four tunnel boring machines, as opposed to the planned three, is expected to shorten of the construction schedule.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. 4 TBMs at roughly 3km per year (1) with a 15 year lifetime could dig roughly 180km of tunnel. Keeping in mind most projects are twin tunnel, this means 90km of usable expansion over the next 18 years.

45km over 9 years. Stations are built after tunnels go through, so this is about a 15year timeframe to start of operations.

Anyway 45km should cover Spadina, Yonge and Transit City (Eglinton) pieces; so I presume these 3 projects will all be funded in the provincial budget. I wonder if the DRL managed to get bumped into a 15 year time frame as well.


1) Sheppards TBM (5.9m Lovat EPBs) could do 15m/day/face, but setup/teardown time wasn't included in that. Most TBMs at the time were capable of 5m/day. Lovat has offices in Etobicoke, I have no doubt their equipment will be used for the Spadina extension.
 
If they're acquiring 4 TBMs, they better keep them afterward for future subway expansion.
 
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