Northern Light said:
I'm betwixt and between on the recent spate of mall intensification proposals.

Of course, I favour them in principle, and see them as a substantial improvement over the status quo of land wasted on surface parking.

But on the other hand, I am troubled by the fact that in almost every case, Sherway, Yorkdale, STC, Fairview and now Upper Canada, the original mall is left in tact.

That to me is very bad planning.

The original building footprints, typically centred on a massive super block, in an ocean of parking, continue to obstruct natural pedestrian movement with human-scaled blocks.

I'm not suggesting the entire mall(s) be torn down; but it would be nice to see at least some division of the super block, even creating a single new street through the footprint, leaving anchors/signature spaces intact.

Wishful thinking, I know.
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I think there is a way to integrate a mall into a pedestrianized area, like the various High Streets across the UK (the one I'm thinking of specifically is Uxbridge, in West London).
 
jje1000 said:
These malls will likely be here to stay into the near future, as they've essentially become as surrogate main streets for the suburbs, and their interiors can sometimes sadly be the only attractive/comfortable/safe pedestrian environment in their localities.

The question of their longevity is not so much whether people want them or not, but whether the economics of an aging building combined with the impending retail apocalypse makes redevelopment more profitable than retaining the malls.
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As noted by @Sandpit and @JasonParis I envision that it should be possible to preserve the majority of the mall, the existing buildings that is; while redeveloping small portions to allow for increased porosity.

The existing retail function can be preserved; but added to; with the new streets being lined with patio'd restaurants or green grocers or the like, establishments that would benefit from an outward, street-facing presence; while preserving the existing of a large indoor shopping area for those w/that preference.
 
I think The Well project will inspire the next wave of mall redevelopment. However, the owners still need to see The Well come into place first as proof-of-concept before committing to anything beyond parking lot redevelopment.
 
Article on this, as apparently Oxford gave a presentation:

www.yorkregion.com

Proposed development plan around Newmarket's Upper Canada Mall opens door to community benefits: residents

New library, parks, transit hub are ideas as mall looks to build 5,100 housing units
www.yorkregion.com www.yorkregion.com

****

The above got me looking for that presentation; so I found one from April of this year, but not more recently, yet.

Link here:


From that we get mostly low quality renders which can't be taken seriously; and a few broad strokes including a phasing plan (all of which may have changed with this more recent presentation)

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No new official docs on the NewMarket site since 2019
 
Wow! 5000 units should bring a population of 15000 or more in this mall area ! That's crazy for the burbs!
 
cd concept said:
Wow! 5000 units should bring a population of 15000 or more in this mall area ! That's crazy for the burbs!
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Probably not that many people.

Average household size in Canada is 2.4

It would likely be a bit smaller in apartments.

I would think 10,000-12,000 is a bit more likely.

Though, that would depend on the unit size mix.

Still a lot of people.
 
Apartment units have an average occupancy of about 1.6-1.9 depending on area. This will likely have a total population in the 8-9,000 range.
 
The document describes the dark gray buildings as indicated in the first plan that @NL posted to be built around the perimeter of the shopping centre as "Regional Shopping Centre related uses, including: Retail, Structured Parking, Food and Beverage, Services, and Entertainment." I assume that all the uses other than parking will be at ground level… but those structures should also include residential that fronts and hides the parking. It's great to reduce the outer surface parking lots and move the spaces into structures around the mall, but those living in the new buildings across the road from the mall should not have to look into the typical gaping maw of parking structures. Yuck. At the same time, adding residential atop the parking would likely making topping the structures with green roofs necessary and more financially feasible, dropping the heat island effect significantly from the garages… and finally the streets should be activated by residential on both sides if they want to end up with a really livable area around the mall.
 
Northern Light said:
Probably not that many people.

Average household size in Canada is 2.4

It would likely be a bit smaller in apartments.

I would think 10,000-12,000 is a bit more likely.

Though, that would depend on the unit size mix.

Still a lot of people.
Click to expand...
I was thinking average three per family house hold give or take one to two kids. Being in the suburbs far from Toronto. You would think they would build more two to three bedroom condo units. Even having 10 to 12 thousand in one shopping mall area is nuts for the burbs!
 
An additional point of clarity:

The residential component is currently intended to be majority rental units, including some affordable rental, as per the Recommendation Report:
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I note this because in a recent FAQ page hosted by the Mall relating to the widening of Yonge Street here, a somewhat misleading answer was given that "there are no plans for a condo building in this location", but makes no mention of the 5000+ unit mixed-use residential scheme:
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