Pedestrian safety a top priority in master-planned Agincourt Mall Redevelopment

There’s something big in the works in Scarborough, and it’s a game changer for the Kennedy and Sheppard neighbourhood. 

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Steve Bishop, Vice President, Development Services at North American Development Group, to get a behind-the-scenes look at where they are in the process with the ambitious Agincourt Mall Redevelopment. 

The Agincourt Mall site is currently more than 70% surface parking, but in the near future, it will be a mixed-use 4 million square foot, master-planned community, featuring residential space, retail, office, community spaces, and lush parks. According to Bishop, the residential space will be a mix of rental and market condos.


There will be approximately 4,400 residential units, with roughly 10% being three-bedrooms. The rest is a balanced mix between one- and two-bedroom units. When the Agincourt Mall Redevelopment is complete, it will house somewhere in the area of 10,000 people, including singles, couples, and families of all sizes. 

Bishop estimates that construction on Phase 1 will begin in late 2021/early 2022. Phase 1 features what is currently referred to as Block 7, as well as surrounding public roads. Block 7 is comprised of a new Walmart at ground level with four point towers, all of which are residential, plus a retail square at the south end of the Block.


With regard to site design, pedestrian safety was a priority. “We focused a lot of our attention on ensuring an attractive public realm that includes well-defined pedestrian areas and introduced new traffic signals and other features to create a safer environment,” explained Bishop. “We’ve introduced a strong link across the north end of the site, and in a way, taken the bend out of Bonis Ave., so you’ll be able to walk safely across the northern side of the community.” 

Another example of a significant change to previous plans was the removal of the public road between the library and Central Park. This means people will be able to walk from Central Park all the way up to the Library without encountering any vehicular traffic. 

There is an over-dependence on cars in the area, even though there doesn’t have to be. One of the main reasons NADG took interest in the Agincourt Site was because of the proximity to the Agincourt GO Station; it’s within a five-minute walk. There are also seven bus lines intersecting the neighbourhood. 


“The site shows a lot of promise because of the Agincourt GO Station,” said Bishop. “You can get pretty much anywhere you want to go. You can go north to Markham within 10 to 15 minutes, get to downtown Toronto in less than half-an-hour, and North York is around 20 minutes away.”

“We see the redevelopment of Agincourt Mall as a great opportunity to nurture a little bit of urban feel in a suburban area,” added Bishop.

It’s still too early in the process to register for more details about the residential units in the Agincourt Mall Redevelopment, but there are still ongoing public consultations coming up, so you can have your say!