Abstract

Suburban contaminated property (brownfield) redevelopment projects in peripheral or lower-density municipalities often do not have the same expected returns as urban brownfields in dense cities like Toronto, which are aided by high residential sale prices. A survey (n=17) of stakeholders’ opinions found that brownfield redevelopment costs and complexity had increased since changes to environmental and planning regulatory frameworks were made. Existing financial incentives for brownfield redevelopment were reviewed in selected Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) municipalities. A pro forma analysis of a hypothetical mid-rise residential construction scenario was developed to test the current incentives against current market conditions (condo sale prices) in these municipalities, which were often not sufficient to make a project feasible in areas of low condo sale prices. A combination of incentives was found to be effective, and was recommended to be implemented by the Town of Whitby, which has many brownfields but no financial incentives

Highlights

  • Changes in the Environmental and planning regulatory framework have made contaminated property redevelopment more desirable to municipalities, and more complicated

  • Financial incentives are available for municipalities to encourage brownfield redevelopment, but they are not used uniformly by municipalities in Ontario (MAH, 2012)

  • This study looked at Brownfield Community Improvement Plans (CIPs) in Barrie, Guelph, Hamilton, Waterloo, Whitby, and Toronto

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Summary

Introduction

Changes in the Environmental and planning regulatory framework have made contaminated property (brownfield) redevelopment more desirable to municipalities, and more complicated. While urban brownfield redevelopment projects (in dense cities like Toronto) are aided by high property values, suburban brownfields (in peripheral or lower-density municipalities) often do not have the same expected returns. Financial incentives are available for municipalities to encourage brownfield redevelopment, but they are not used uniformly in Ontario. Have stakeholders’ impressions of the profitability (feasibility) of brownfield development changed in light of recent changes to the Environmental and planning regulatory framework?. 2. Is brownfield development in Ontario suburbs financially feasible in comparison to Toronto, given lower market home prices?. 3. Are existing financial incentives for brownfield redevelopment sufficient to close the feasibility gap and make suburban brownfield redevelopment financially feasible?

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