DEVELOPMENT: WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU
Developmentcan deliver a host of benefits for surrounding neighbourhoods, despite what NIMBYs might suggest.
New housing means more people moving into an existing area, giving it the population to support existing local shops and to attract new retailers and services. “That in turn populates the streets and makes them more interesting places to live,” says Mark Conway, president of Barry Lyon Consultants, a real estate advisory firm. Additional retailers and customers means more eyes on the street, he adds, making a neighbourhood safer.
Applications for higher density development can trigger something called the Section 37 process, where density and height increases are granted in exchange for community improvements such as public art or new green space. Conway points to Mattamy Homes’ Upper Summerside project at St Clair and Warden avenues, where development proceeds funded a new community centre “that may not have occurred otherwise.”
TAS’ new project in the Junction Triangle has been a boon for the surrounding community, and it hasn’t even been built yet. Long before a formal development application was made, the builder spoke with community stakeholders and local councillors to gather ideas on how the area could be improved. Renovate the local library, TAS was told. The builder suggested including a new library, which it would build, at the base of its condo building. “We worked with the community to make that project come to life and to make a better library become a reality for them,” says TAS president Mazyar Mortazavi.
As part of community engagement on another project — a seven-storey condo on Dundas St. W. called DUKE Condos — TAS funded the launch of a local flea market. “We gave it to the community to own,” Mortazavi says. “It in turn has brought attention to the neighbourhood and supported the local businesses.”
Walkable and transit-oriented communities that offer a range of retail and services are the most desirable to live in. “And these neighbourhoods are usually where the highest real estate values occur,” Conway points out. People like the idea of not being bound by a car, made possible by intensification. “They want to be able to walk to get dinner or groceries — that’s very high on people’s buying selection criteria, and increasingly so.”
Young educated workers typically want to be in city centres, and employers are following suit, Conway points out. “Creative industries want to be in close proximity to where the talent is,” he says, citing Liberty Village as a prime example. “It’s gone from a heavy-industry legacy to providing even more jobs on a per square foot basis in tech and other creative industries. It’s a great success story.”
Intensified communities also result in a more efficient use of resources, whether it’s a transit line or infrastructure such as water and hydro. “These can be provided at a fraction of the cost in an intensified scenario compared to a low-density scenario,” he adds.
Community members may bemoan the prospect of increased traffic resulting from new development. But Conway urges some perspective. “Traffic issues typically mean something’s happening in that neighbourhood, that there’s an economic vibrancy about it.” And gridlock is easier to fix than economic malaise, he stresses. “I work in municipalities all over Canada that don’t have growth and density and would kill to have the problems we have.”