The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns - International ...

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Leadership and Collaboration The City has been a strong champion in the downtown, undertaking a range of planning processes in the core to encourage growth and increase vitality. The City has also made use of innovative planning and financial tools, working closely with the private sector to encourage increased levels of investment in the core. Interviewees also identified the private sector as being key players in the revitalization of Saskatoon’s downtown. Private developers were seen to have led the way in adaptive reuse and heritage preservation in the core. Several interviewees also commented that there is an emerging ‘young population of committed Saskatonians’ who have been bringing new ideas and expectations to the downtown. The municipality, working with the downtown business improvement district, has also been increasingly recognized for its efforts to improve the downtown. The River Landing development on the south side of downtown also represents a significant capital project for the city. The future of this project has been uncertain for some time, but seems to be gaining momentum and could potentially transform the downtown. This will also help unlock the value of the river and reconnect the City from the opposite sides of the river. Overall, the approach to downtown revitalization in Saskatoon has been highly collaborative between the public and private sectors, yet it will benefit greatly from the creation of stronger vision through the downtown planning processes that are currently underway. Large philanthropic gifts have also left an important mark on downtown Saskatoon. Not least among these was a $30M donation from the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation for the Remai Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, 3 conditional on a move to a downtown site. The new building for the Art Gallery will also be partly financed with a loan from the City to be repaid by capturing increased local property values. Additionally, the Nasser family donated $2M to open a downtown campus for the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Business. Another notable example of public-private collaboration is the funding arrangement between the City and the downtown BID (The Partnership) using revenues from downtown parking meters to finance streetscape improvements. This best practice approach has been in place since the mid-1980s and has been highly successful at enhancing the public realm in downtown Saskatoon. Saskatoon has policies in its Official Plan that relate to its downtown Saskatoon has had a downtown plan for 22 years 3 CBC News. (2011). Family donates $30 million to Saskatoon art gallery. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/06/03/sk-artgallery-donation-1106.html. Accessed 2011 August 23. 134
PROSPERITY Is the downtown’s economy robust and innovative? Saskatoon’s economy has been booming, thanks in large part to the strong performance of the natural resource sector. These high levels of growth are forecasted to continue in the coming years, and are allowing the City to diversify its economy and create exciting plans for long term growth. Residential Development The most significant challenge facing downtown Saskatoon is increasing its residential population. In an effort to more than triple the population to 10,000 residents, the City has implemented incentive programs (loans, grants and tax relief programs) to encourage projects that support intensification, setting aside $5.1M between 2002-2009. 4 Despite these incentives, residential growth has been slow and sporadic. Since 2003, the proportion of city-wide residential development occurring downtown has fluctuated, reaching a peak of 15% in 2006. Unfortunately the downtown actually lost six housing units in 2010. Despite this setback, there is optimism about future residential growth and a sense that downtown Saskatoon is teetering on the edge of a significant increase in population. This optimism stems in large part from the emerging neighbourhoods in the north end of the downtown - the Warehouse District and the south end – River Landing. Redevelopment of the Warehouse District was launched in 2002 when City Council approved the Warehouse District Local Area Plan. The City made several investments to facilitate this redevelopment, such as relocating the City Yards waste disposal site, rezoning of the downtown core to encourage private sector investment, creating the Downtown Warehouse Development Incentives Program and the ongoing project to extend 25th Street. The area today has become a hub for medical offices, restaurants, art co-ops, and specialty shops, while retaining its original historical character. 5 River Landing is also an emerging neighbourhood, and to date many of the recreational components have been completed. The next stage will include considerable mixed use and residential development that will contribute to a growing downtown population. Both the Warehouse District and River Landing present major development opportunities for downtown and have the potential to transform the core and strengthen the connection between the downtown and the River. 1,885 dwellings downtown Number of dwellings in downtown has increased by 2% between 1996-2006 compared to an 11% increase city wide. 429 New dwellings between 2003-2010 $58M on residential development downtown between 2003-2010 $164M on non-residential development downtown between 2003-2010 4 City of Saskatoon. (2010). Downtown Housing Incentives Annual Report, 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.saskatoon.ca/DEPARTMENTS/Community%20Services/PlanningDevelopment/Documents/Neighbourhood%20Planning/Housing/Downtown%20Hou sing%20Incentives%20Annual%20Report.pdf. Accessed 2011 September 13. 5 City of Saskatoon (2002). Local Area Plan: Final Report. Retrieved From http://www.saskatoon.ca/DEPARTMENTS/Community%20Services/PlanningDevelopment/Documents/Neighbourhood%20Planning/Downtown%20Warehouse% 20District%20LAP/warehouse_district_final.pdf. Accessed 2012 January 16. 135
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would
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CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........
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Additionally this project aims to b
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with the selected downtown study ar
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KEY FINDINGS The project team devel
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Downtowns are iconic and powerful s
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Victoria have very sensitive downto
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PROSPERITY Does the downtown have a
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These are very promising signs, yet
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Downtowns are making a major contri
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The densest downtown is Vancouver a
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Downtowns are important places for
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Winnipeg Fredericton Edmonton Halif
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Downtown Toronto and downtown Vanco
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Municipal Investments (mapped inves
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DOWNTOWN CASE STUDIES 32
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Downtown Halifax Timeline 1749 - 20
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VISIBILITY Does the downtown have a
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VISIONARY Does the downtown have st
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LIVEABILITY Is the downtown vibrant
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sites for redevelopment that are cu
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Summary of Municipal Investments Pr
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Key Patterns of Investment: 1. Cent
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Future Investments The proposed Con
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Downtown Fredericton Timeline 1749
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PROSPERITY: Is the downtown’s eco
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Municipal Tax Base Since 1995, the
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Public Realm Downtown Fredericton h
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60 Municipal Investments in Downtow
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2. Enhancing the waterfront Committ
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Downtown Ottawa Timeline 1792 - 201
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charges have recently been reinstat
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Many of the federally occupied buil
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Safety Downtown Ottawa is seen as a
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transit service downtown and across
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Summary of Public Investments Publi
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Key Patterns of Investment: Convent
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Downtown Toronto Timeline 1793 - 20
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Context Map: Key Assets and Feature
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Page 88 and 89: http://www.architravel.com/architra
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Page 100 and 101: 5. Strengthening Communities Invest
Page 102 and 103: Downtown London Timeline 1840 - 201
Page 104 and 105: VISIBILITY Does the Downtown have a
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Page 112 and 113: Summary of Capital Projects: 1998-2
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Page 116 and 117: WINNIPEG Growing in strength and co
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Page 120 and 121: VISIONARY Does the downtown have st
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Page 132 and 133: Downtown Saskatoon Timeline 1903 -
Page 134 and 135: VISIBILITY Does the downtown have a
Page 138 and 139: Office Development Private office s
Page 140 and 141: LIVEABILITY Is the downtown vibrant
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Page 146 and 147: EDMONTON a downtown filled with mom
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Page 160 and 161: downtown zoning bylaws ensure that
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Page 166 and 167: PROSPERITY Is the downtown’s econ
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Safety Downtown Victoria has faced
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STRATEGY Is the City Strategically
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Pattern of Investment: Investing in
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QUICK WINS FOR CANADIAN DOWNTOWNS O
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Connecting the Downtown with Natura
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comprehensive planning processes to
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uilding and reconnect it with surro
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198 APPENDICES
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Yet, where the municipality had not
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Data Gaps From the outset of this p
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The foundation of the five principl
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was also collected that examines pr
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APPENDIX 2 - PHOTO CREDITS Front Co
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Context Map The Harbour: http://www
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Toronto 212 Confederation Square: h
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214 Rebuilt Covent Garden Market: h
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Parking lots: The Alberta Legislatu
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Victoria Cover Page Red Second post
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APPENDIX 3 - REFERENCE LIST City of
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City of Edmonton. (2010). Capital C
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City of Vancouver. (2007). Downtown
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Condos Victoria BC. (2011). The Atr
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Harris Consulting (2007). City of V
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The Star Phoenix Website. (2011). S
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