Five subway stations confirmed. Zero in North Richvale. No published opening date.
North Richvale is bounded by Bathurst Street, Yonge Street, Carrville Road and Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill, with City-designated growth areas at both ends of its Yonge frontage. No subway station is planned inside it: Metrolinx's five confirmed stations stop at Richmond Hill Centre, and Metrolinx publishes no opening date. Most of the land-use direction is still draft.
I am Ali Bolourchi, Broker of A.B.R.E. Team with REMAX® Your Community Realty. If you own a business, lease space or are weighing an investment near Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive, you have probably heard three things: that a subway is coming, that the area is about to be rezoned, and that York Region has the lowest vacancy in the GTA. Each one is partly true and easy to overstate. That last one is true only for industrial space.
This post separates what is confirmed from what is draft or unknown, with the source and the date beside every figure. I explain planning and market data here. I do not give zoning, legal or tax advice, and where a question needs one, I name who to ask.
Where exactly is North Richvale, and what commercial activity is around it?
North Richvale is the part of Richmond Hill bounded by Bathurst Street to the west, Yonge Street to the east, Carrville Road to the south and Major Mackenzie Drive to the north. Community names and MLS district lines do not always match, so check the exact address before relying on either. Richvale itself is one of the communities that joined Richmond Hill in 1971 (City of Richmond Hill, Draft Strategic Directions Report 3, June 2024).
Two commercial nodes frame the neighbourhood along Yonge Street.
At the southern edge, the City's Official Plan identifies a Key Development Area at Yonge Street and Carrville/16th Avenue, and Hillcrest Mall sits inside it (same City report, June 2024). Hillcrest, at 9350 Yonge Street, describes itself as home to over 140 stores and eateries (hillcrestmall.ca, checked September 21, 2026).
At the northern edge is the Village Local Centre, Richmond Hill's historic core around Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive. The City's draft report describes it as a low- to mid-rise "Village within the City" with a main-street focus on niche dining, retail and culture (June 2024). Whether the Village boundary reaches south of Major Mackenzie into North Richvale I could not confirm, because the boundary map in the City report was not readable as text.
What is the City of Richmond Hill planning along Yonge Street here?
Growth, in two specific places, and mostly on paper so far. Here are the terms, in plain language.
AKey Development Areais, in the City's words, an intensification area on a Regional Corridor where public rapid transit intersects with major nodes of retail and commercial development. The City's Official Plan names two: Yonge Street and Carrville/16th Avenue, and Yonge Street and Bernard Avenue. It also identifies Regional Mixed-Use Corridors on Yonge Street and Highway 7 (City draft report, June 2024).
For theYonge and Carrville/16th area, the June 2024 draft directions include the following.
Vision.Evolution from an existing retail and commercial node into a more connected, mixed-use urban centre, with opportunities for new office and major office.
Density target. It is designated a Protected Major Transit Station Area, a planning label for land around existing or planned higher-order transit. The draft sets a minimum of 160 residents and jobs per hectare and cites an Official Plan target of 670 per hectare.
Jobs.A long-term target of no less than 15% of new gross floor area as non-residential.
Height and density ceiling.Permitted densities up to a maximum of 8.77 FSI, highest at the Yonge and Carrville/16th intersection. FSI (floor space index) is the ratio of a building's floor area to its lot area. A ceiling in a draft is not an entitlement for any parcel.
Hillcrest and transit land.The directions anticipate redevelopment of Hillcrest Mall while keeping 90% of existing retail and commercial floor area, and call for protecting land for the potential future extension of the Yonge Subway.
For theVillage Local Centre, the same draft sets a long-term target of up to 360 residents and jobs per hectare, densities of 2.8 to 3.5 FSI in blocks abutting Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive, and a Protected Major Transit Station Area designation (June 2024).
I have not mapped individual parcels, and I will not say what any specific property is zoned. That answer comes from the City, not from a blog.
How much of that is approved and in force, and how much is still draft or under appeal?
Less than the headlines imply. The figures above come from aJune 2024 draftCity report. The Official Plan Amendments behind them, OPA 18.5 for the Key Development Areas and OPA 18.6 for the Village, were adopted by Council on November 22, 2023 and, as of June 2024, were subject to Ontario Land Tribunal appeals.I could not verify their current appeal status.Treat everything in the previous section as dated direction, and re-check it before you rely on it.
For contrast, one plan is in force. The Richmond Hill Centre Secondary Plan (OPA 41), covering the new downtown planned at Yonge Street and Highway 7, has been in effect since January 17, 2025 after Ontario Land Tribunal appeals (City of Richmond Hill, checked September 21, 2026). It is not in North Richvale.
The City's Official Plan page shows a consolidation to June 2025, and its Official Plan Update page shows an update under way (both checked September 21, 2026). So the policy picture is still moving.
To check current status for a specific address, call City of Richmond Hill Planning at 905-771-8910 (the number listed on the City's Official Plan Update page).
Is the Yonge North Subway Extension coming to North Richvale?
No station in the confirmed plan is in North Richvale. Metrolinx describes the project as TTC Line 1 extended about 8 kilometres north from Finch Station withfivestations: Steeles, Clark, Royal Orchard, Bridge and High Tech. Royal Orchard is in Thornhill. High Tech will serve a future community envisioned in the Richmond Hill Centre area (Metrolinx, What We're Building, checked September 21, 2026).
Richmond Hill Centre is at Yonge Street and Highway 7, which is Richmond Hill's southern boundary. North Richvale starts north of Carrville Road. I have not measured the distance, so I will say only this: the northern terminus is south of the neighbourhood.
What about Carrville/16th? The City's own June 2024 draft calls a future subway or GO station there "potential." Metrolinx's five-station scope does not include one. Those two statements are consistent, and neither is a commitment.
Where the project stands, from Metrolinx's project page (checked September 21, 2026): early Finch Station upgrades ran from February 2023 to December 2023, the tunnelling contract was awarded in July 2025, the request for qualifications for stations, rail and systems went out in October 2025, and the request for proposals followed in May 2026. The page lists excavation of the tunnel launch shaft, just south of Langstaff GO station, as complete in July 2026.
When does it open?Metrolinx says the extension enters service after the Ontario Line is complete, and it publishes no opening date. I am not repeating any year you may have seen in older articles, because I cannot source one.
What do the numbers say about York Region industrial, and why can't we quote a York Region office figure?
York Region'sindustrialvacancy was 2.0% at mid-year 2026, the tightest in the GTA, according to Newmark's second quarter 2026 Toronto reports (checked September 21, 2026). For comparison, Newmark shows Toronto at 2.3%, Peel at 2.8% and the GTA overall at 2.7%, down from 3.1% at year-end 2025. York Region asking rents were about C$17.8 per square foot against about C$16.9 for the GTA.
That is industrial space only. It is not an office figure and not a retail figure, and this stretch of Yonge Street is planned for retail, office and mixed use, not warehouses. Read the 2.0% as regional context, not as a reading of North Richvale.
For office, I found no York Region only vacancy figure in the reports I checked (Newmark, Avison Young, TRREB). I did not open every brokerage's suburban pages, so one may exist. What is published is at GTA or district level, and the geography matters:
GTA overall (Avison Young, Q2 2026):office availability 17.9%, vacancy 15.6%.
GTA suburban (Avison Young's definition, Q2 2026):availability 19.3%, up 60 basis points from the prior quarter and down 120 basis points from a year earlier; vacancy 17.3%.
Avison Young's "North" district (Q2 2026):availability 18.1%, down 360 basis points year over year. This is not York Region. Avison Young's North district includes addresses in Toronto (Sheppard Avenue East) and Markham (Commerce Valley Drive West).
Availability counts space being marketed, including sublease space that is not yet vacant, so it runs higher than vacancy for the same market. Avison Young figures are from its Greater Toronto office market report for Q2 2026, read September 21, 2026.
What are commercial lease rates doing across the GTA?
Mixed, and the averages need care. The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board's commercial network recorded 7,894,424 square feet leased across industrial, commercial and retail, and office in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 7,021,769 in the fourth quarter of 2024 (TRREB Commercial Report, covering Q4 2025, page dated April 27, 2026).
Average net lease rates, fourth quarter 2025 against fourth quarter 2024:
Industrial:$15.02 against $16.29.
Commercial and retail:$29.97 against $25.34.
Office:$22.23 against $18.74.
TRREB cautions that these averages reflect a changing mix of what leased, so they are not a like-for-like measure of rent growth or decline. They are also TRREB-wide, not York Region and not North Richvale.
What should a business owner check before buying or leasing on the Yonge corridor?
I can explain what people typically look at. I cannot tell you what applies to your property. Each item below has a named place to take it.
Designation and permitted uses.What the Official Plan designation and the zoning by-law allow on that parcel, and whether either is under appeal or changing. Ask City of Richmond Hill Planning (905-771-8910) and a municipal or land-use planner.
Transit-protection and planning overlays.Whether a Protected Major Transit Station Area or protected transit land touches the site, and what that means for future use. A registered professional planner or land-use lawyer can read the maps against the site.
Legal title and lease terms.Easements, restrictions and lease clauses on use, signage and redevelopment. An Ontario real estate lawyer.
Environmental and heritage checks.Past uses of the site, and whether it is in or near a heritage area, which matters in the historic Village core. Your lawyer and a qualified consultant will scope these.
Parking, access and servicing.Often the deciding practical detail on a retail or office site, and set by the by-law and site plan rules.
Tax and structure. How you hold the property or the lease, and how it is treated. An accountant.
The City also lists business supports on its economic development page (checked September 21, 2026): Approvals Plus, Community Improvement Plan grants covering office, facade, landscape and signage, a Small Business Enterprise Centre, and site selection help. Parts of that page carry Spring 2025 wording, so confirm which programs are open before you count on one.
What should an investor or landlord watch over the next few years?
A short, dated watch list. I am not predicting prices, and nothing here is a guaranteed return.
Ontario Land Tribunal outcomeson OPA 18.5 and OPA 18.6, and whether the zoning that follows matches the June 2024 draft.
Official Plan Update decisionsby Richmond Hill Council.
The Metrolinx stations, tracks and systems contract.The project page I checked shows the bid stage, so an award announcement, and any published opening date, would be new information.
Hillcrest Mall.The City's draft directions anticipate redevelopment, but I checked no application and would not read that as a filing. Look for one on the City's development application map.
Figures in this post refresh quarterly with the next Newmark, Avison Young and TRREB releases. If you are running the numbers on a specific building, our investment calculators are a place to start, and our commercial property glossary covers the terms. You can browse commercial properties for sale and commercial properties for lease, and read more in our Commercial Real Estate category.
Frequently asked questions
Where is North Richvale in Richmond Hill?
North Richvale is the part of Richmond Hill bounded by Bathurst Street to the west, Yonge Street to the east, Carrville Road to the south and Major Mackenzie Drive to the north. Community names and MLS district boundaries do not always match, so confirm the exact address before relying on either. Hillcrest Mall (9350 Yonge Street) and the Village at Yonge and Major Mackenzie are the two commercial nodes at its ends.
Is there a subway station planned in North Richvale?
No. As of Metrolinx's project pages checked September 21, 2026, the Yonge North Subway Extension has five confirmed stations: Steeles, Clark, Royal Orchard, Bridge and High Tech. High Tech is at Richmond Hill Centre, at Yonge Street and Highway 7, south of North Richvale. The City of Richmond Hill's June 2024 draft calls a future station at Carrville/16th "potential" only.
When will the Yonge North Subway Extension open?
Metrolinx publishes no opening date. Its project page, checked September 21, 2026, says the extension enters service after the Ontario Line is complete. Construction is under way: the tunnelling contract was awarded in July 2025, and the stations, tracks and systems request for proposals followed in May 2026. If an article gives a specific opening year, check where it came from.
What is a Key Development Area in Richmond Hill?
The City of Richmond Hill defines Key Development Areas as intensification areas on a Regional Corridor where public rapid transit intersects with major nodes of retail and commercial development. Its Official Plan names two on Yonge Street: one at Carrville/16th Avenue and one at Bernard Avenue. The 2023 amendments behind them were under Ontario Land Tribunal appeal as of June 2024, and current status must be re-checked.
What is planned for Hillcrest Mall?
The City's June 2024 draft directions for the Yonge and Carrville/16th area anticipate redevelopment of Hillcrest Mall while keeping 90% of existing retail and commercial floor area. That is planning direction in a draft that was under appeal at the time, not an application or an approval. I checked no development application, so nothing here means redevelopment has been filed or will happen.
What is the industrial vacancy rate in York Region?
York Region's industrial vacancy was 2.0% at mid-year 2026, the tightest in the GTA, according to Newmark's second quarter 2026 reports (checked September 21, 2026). Toronto was 2.3%, Peel 2.8% and the GTA 2.7%. This figure covers industrial space only. It is not an office or retail vacancy rate and says nothing directly about Yonge Street commercial property.
Is there a York Region office vacancy rate?
I found no York Region only office vacancy figure in the Newmark, Avison Young or TRREB reports I checked on September 21, 2026. Avison Young publishes GTA-wide and district figures, such as 17.9% GTA office availability in Q2 2026, but its North district includes Toronto and Markham addresses and is not York Region. Other brokerages may publish suburban figures I did not open.
Who do I ask about zoning on a specific Yonge Street property?
Start with City of Richmond Hill Planning at 905-771-8910, which can confirm the current Official Plan designation and zoning for an address. For what that means for your intended use, a registered professional planner or an Ontario land-use lawyer can interpret it. This blog explains general planning terms but does not give zoning, legal or tax advice.
What I would do next
If you are weighing a purchase, lease or hold near Yonge Street and Major Mackenzie Drive, tell me the address, the use you have in mind and your timeline. I will pull the current dated figures and tell you which planner, lawyer and accountant questions to bring to the table before you commit.
Email [email protected] or call 416-886-2000. Our office is at 8854 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill.
This article is general market and planning information, not financial, legal, tax, zoning or investment advice, and it is not a projection or guarantee of any outcome, return, rent or sale price. Planning status, vacancy and rent figures change, and everything above reflects the sources as checked on September 21, 2026. Confirm your own position with a municipal planner, a land-use lawyer and your accountant before acting.
Sources
Metrolinx, Yonge North Subway Extension, What We're Building, checked September 21, 2026:metrolinx.com
Metrolinx, Yonge North Subway Extension project page (timeline and opening), checked September 21, 2026:metrolinx.com
City of Richmond Hill, Draft Strategic Directions Report 3, Key Development Area and Local Centres, June 2024 (DRAFT):richmondhill.ca
City of Richmond Hill, Richmond Hill Centre Secondary Plan, checked September 21, 2026:richmondhill.ca
City of Richmond Hill, Official Plan and Official Plan Update, checked September 21, 2026:richmondhill.caandrichmondhill.ca
City of Richmond Hill, Economic Development, checked September 21, 2026:richmondhill.ca
Hillcrest Mall, checked September 21, 2026:hillcrestmall.ca
Newmark, Toronto real estate market overview, second quarter 2026, checked September 21, 2026:nmrk.com
Avison Young, Greater Toronto Office Market Report, Q2 2026, read September 21, 2026:avisonyoung.ca
TRREB, Commercial Report (covering Q4 2025), page dated April 27, 2026:trreb.ca
Ali Bolourchi, BSc, MS, PSA, ABR®, Broker of A.B.R.E. Team with REMAX® Your Community Realty Inc.
