Download - International Downtown Association Conference Minneapolis, Minnesota September 21-24, 2012
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
International Downtown Association Conference
Minneapolis, MinnesotaSeptember 21-24, 2012
The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
‘The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns’ study
• The first study of its kind.• Designed to raise awareness and create an ongoing
dialogue around downtown issues in Canada• Aims to bring downtown stakeholders together
across the nation• Works to develop a body of high quality ‘downtown
specific’ data• Seeks to highlight the level of effort going toward
downtown revitalization across Canada
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Connectivity Architecture and Design
Innovation &Venture Capital
Diversity
Sustainability
Culture
Heritage
Public Realm
What makes a downtown great?
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principles for a thriving downtown
Measures downtownsagainst 5 principles:• Visibility• Visionary• Prosperity• Livability• Strategy
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
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June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Dow
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Area
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June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Canadian downtowns are enjoying a period of renaissance
Canadian downtowns are:• Moving in a positive direction• Benefitting from innovative
partnerships• Adopting progressive approaches
to urban development • The subject of long terms plans and
planning processes
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principle 1: Visibility Does the downtown play an integral role in the life of the wider city?
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principle 1: Visibility Does the downtown play an integral role in the life of the wider city?
• Downtowns are undergoing a renaissance
• Downtowns are iconic and powerful symbols for a city
• Downtowns may be physically small in area, but typically highly visible
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtown Toronto is crucial to the strength of the city and region
• Occupies 3% of the City’s land area but generates 25% of the City’s property tax revenue.
• Home of Canada’s largest stock exchange• Strong concentration of historic and distinctive
architecture • Comprehensive range of cultural, educational,
and retailing amenities and services• Concentration of major infrastructure. Union
Station is the busiest passenger transportation facility in Canada, with 65M passengers.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principle 2: VisionaryDoes the downtown have strong leaders that collaborate to achieve a shared vision?
• A clear vision goes a long way• Patience, Patience, Patience• Downtown specific master plans are helping
to shape and articulate downtown visions• Implementation of downtown master plans
must consider local circumstance• Implementation efforts benefit from strong
partnerships.• Tracking and monitoring downtown
achievement is invaluable.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
HRMbyDesign has unlocked development potential downtown
• Unified stakeholders and created a positive dialogue around development.• Strategic Urban Partnership has been established.• Introduced heritage incentives and design guidelines.• Brought certainty to application process, reduces application processing
time from up to 3 years to 60 days.• Helped unlock development potential in the core, more investment in the 3
years than the previous 20 years combined.• Revitalization efforts are young and long term commitment will be required.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtown Toronto does not have a specific master plan
• Downtown Toronto, is not subject to a single master plan, allows for local champions to emerge and diverse neighborhoods
• The size and diversity of Toronto’s downtown creates a need for innovative partnerships that are likely to remain viable and consistent across election cycles
Just a handful of downtown Toronto’s many city builders:
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
• Residential development is bringing vitality back to downtowns
• Downtowns are retaining office space
• Downtowns have a strong concentration of jobs
Principle 3: ProsperityIs the downtown’s economy robust and innovative?
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Edmonton has developed a formula to attract residential growth
• Proactive municipal investments to enhance the public realm (i.e upgraded streetscapes, plantings, and green spaces etc) and residential development has followed.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtown Toronto has attracted high portions of new development
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Post-secondary institutions are transformational city builders
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtowns make a major contribution to the City’s bottom line
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principle 4: Livability Is the downtown vibrant, livable and connected
• Downtowns are experiencing positive population growth
• Downtowns are accommodating young, educated populations in smaller households
• Downtowns are providing a growing number of dwellings but are challenged with housing diversity and affordability
• Downtowns have to overcome perceptions and concerns over lack of safety
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Land use data can help identify development potential
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtowns have higher rates of walking and cycling
Downtown City Wide
Edm
onto
n
Hal
ifax
Lond
on
Vanc
ouve
r
Vict
oria
Car45%
Other mode55% Car
79%
Other mode21%
Car23%
Other mode77% Car
76%
Other mode24%
Car44%
Other mode56%
Car73%
Other mode27%
Car33%
Other mode67%
Car58%
Other mode42%
Car37%
Other mode63% Car
72%
Other mode28%
Win
nipe
g
Fred
eric
ton
Car30%
Other mode70% Car
77%
Other mode23%
Car41%
Other mode59% Car
85%
Other mode15%
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtown Toronto is becoming increasingly livable
Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto Reference Library 519 Church Street Community Centre
Regent Park revitalization Waterfront Revitalization
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Principle 5: Strategy Is the City strategically investing in it’s future?
• Many new public investments in Canadian downtowns.
• Large investments grow confidence and increase profile of downtown.
• Smaller investments add up to be transformational.
• Tracking investments can build momentum behind revitalization efforts.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Downtown investment must be ongoing
Downtown Years Municipal Investment ($)
London 1998-2011 $174M
Vancouver 2002-2010 $149M
Edmonton 2002-2011 $137M
Saskatoon 1998-2011 $94M
Fredericton 2006-2010 $84M
Halifax 2000-2014 $34M
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Public investments in Downtown Toronto
• Redevelopment of Union Station
• Nathan Phillips Square
• Post secondary sector has made significant investment in the core i.e. U of T, Ryerson, George Brown
• Important investments in arts and culture i.e. AGO, ROM
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Innovative approaches to financingThe Partnership in Saskatoon• Collaboration between the City and the BID
since the 1980s, sees money collected from parking meters being spent on streetscape upgrades in the downtown.
Heritage Incentives in Victoria• Heritage incentive have been highly
successful in Victoria. • Heavily leveraged by the private sector and
led to significant investment in the downtown.
• Led to dramatic increases in downtown assessment values, that in effect pay back these grants over time
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Innovative approaches to financing• RE-DO-IT Ottawa: Development charges waived in
downtown Ottawa.• Additionally:
– Applications dealt with on a priority basis (90 days).
– Parking standards and open space requirements relaxed.
– City compiled a list of vacant sites with development potential.
• As a result, more than 6000 units built since 1994• $9.2M exempt since 2004, but increase in property
taxes compensates for loss in less than four years.• Program so successful at attracting growth that it has
been discontinued.
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Melbourne, Australia
Curbside cafes
1983
Collecting and visualizing data
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Curbside cafes
1993
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
Curbside cafes
2004Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
extent of bluestone paving in 1985
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
extent of bluestone paving in 2004
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
1983= 5 dwellings
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
19973,763
dwellings
= 5 dwellings
convenience storeSource: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
= 5 dwellings
convenience store
20029,895
dwellings
Source: Rob Adams, City of Melbourne
June 22 2012The Value of Investing
in Canadian Downtowns
The Canadian Urban Institute555 Richmond Street West, Suit 402Toronto, M5V 3B1www.canurb.org
ContactKatherine MortonSenior Planner, Economics and Researchemail: [email protected]: 416.365.0816 x280fax : 416.365.0650
www.canurb.org