Plans for a six-storey office building next to the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place are moving forward after years of the property staying idle.
Oskar Group aims to develop the mixed-use office, retail and self-storage building at grade on 514 Davis Dr., currently a parking lot. The proposed development would be serviced by 62 vehicle parking spaces, along with 19 bicycle parking spaces, with a total of 16,182 square metres of gross floor area.
The proposal has been years in the making, with applications dating years back and some time spent idle. However, a fresh round of planning applications emerged in late 2022, with follow-ups in 2023 to progress the project again.
“The proposed development provides employment and retail intensification along this corridor in a built form that is compatible with the surrounding employment uses,” Weston Consulting wrote in a 2023 planning justification report. “The compact urban built form is efficient and will greatly increase and achieve the density requirements of an underutilized site.”
Oskar Group previously applied to develop a similar five-storey structure in 2017. That application went defunct, but a fresh application progressed forward in 2022. After a couple of years of work, the application is now deemed complete, with council due to consider it at a public planning meeting Sept. 16.
The property is nestled between the Newmarket seniors centre, the Newmarket Recreation Youth Centre and Sk8 Park and the Taylor Funeral Home.
The proposal said retail would only be located on the first floor of the building, with warehousing on all six floors. The development will feature a primary entrance via Davis and a secondary access at the south property line. The proposed design also includes sustainability measures like passive design, a roof with a minimum of 50 per cent coverage by solar panels, LED lighting fixtures and individual hydro metering on retail units.
The proposal also includes landscaping covering approximately 25 per cent of the site after redevelopment, with a public plaza along Davis to include planters and seating.
NewmarketToday did not receive a reply to a request for comment from Weston Consulting before publication deadline.
The public planning meeting for the proposal will be Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. in the town council chambers at 395 Mulock Dr. You can view the livestream at newmarket.ca/meetings or attend in person.
