The Remington Centre, an 800k SF mall with 700-plus retailers and condos, will be a mixed-use game-changer for Markham. It’ll also be North America’s largest geothermal commercial-retail project. Bisnow met up with the development team to hear what’s planned.

Slated to break ground later this year at Kennedy and Steeles, The Remington Centre will include both condo-retail spaces and leased spaces for larger anchors. “It’s a hybrid of a traditional mall and a boutique shopping experience,” explains the project’s retail leasing VP, Albert Yong, snapped left at the presentation centre with Remington Group VP Wayne Chan and Sean Lawrence, partner with Kohn Partnership Architects, the project designer. Remington Centre will boast a night market, catering to younger folks seeking a place to mix and mingle into the wee hours.

The three-floor mall will have clusters of boutique retail—including “lesser-known brands” from Asia, Europe, Japan and South America—surrounded by larger national retailers, Albert says. All the major banks have taken spots, and there’ll be a 36k SF grocery store. Two thirds of the retail space is for sale (75% of it's been snapped up) with the remaining third, or 250k SF, for lease. There'll be an events stage, outdoor skating rink and 3,500 parking spots, as well as on-site TTC and York Regional Transit service. Two condo towers, with 600 units, are also planned.

The Remington Centre, which will replace the Market Village mall, is designed in accordance with feng shui principles, Wayne Chan tells Bisnow, noting they enlisted the guidance of a feng shui master. “It’s the reason the building is shaped the way it is, with curves but no square boxes.” And why there's a fountain and translucent glass, too. (That’s nothing: Wayne says the condo towers will be shaped like a bat, as seen from above. “The Chinese believe the bat brings good fortune.”) The mall’s geothermal system, the largest retail installation in the country—with 80 km of tubing—will cut energy use by 40%. “Astounding,” says Sean.

It makes perfect sense for Remington to build a mall here, notes Wayne, given his company is in the midst of carrying out its Downtown Markham mega-project at Highway 407 and Warden Avenue. Canada’s largest mixed-use development, it will have 10,000 homes and 3M SF of office space. “People can come down and shop here, so it’s a good synergy.” The Remington Centre's development has also spurred landowners in the surrounding area to move forward on plans for residential projects, according to Wayne. “They want to latch on to the beautiful opportunity with this amenity we’re creating for them.”