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

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VISIBILITY Does the downtown have an integral role in the life of the wider city? “We reached a stalemate downtown, protecting heritage and the environment were at the centre of it…. but while all this was going on the downtown declined.” Downtown Halifax is the core of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) which is centred on the Halifax Peninsula (that includes the downtown study area) and Dartmouth. HRM is comprised of 23 former municipalities and some 200 communities including seaside villages, rural and farming communities, suburban neighbourhoods, and urban centres. 1 The downtown occupies a mere 0.0012% of the HRM, only 98 hectares of over 9.2 million ha. The HRM is one of the largest urban municipalities in Canada. HRM is the largest municipality studied, and the size of HRM creates inherent challenges for the downtown in getting the attention it requires to thrive and endure as the strong heart of this region. With so many distinct communities, the downtown must compete to attract growth at the same rate as newly emerging neighbourhoods outside the core. For example, the proportion of office space in the downtown has steadily declined over the past decade from near 60% to only 46%. The downtown has been only attracting a small portion of overall regional investment, which is likely attributed to HRM’s complex regulatory regime and downtown land being more expensive than in the suburbs yet failing to provide a strong enough return on investment. Many regulatory challenges in downtown Halifax stemmed from the desire to protect Halifax’s unique, high quality urban fabric, which included not only protection of buildings but also the view-planes extending to the harbour and the Citadel. Debate around these important issues – spanning from the 1960s to early 2000s – was fierce and appeared polarized, positioning “heritage” and “development” as mutually exclusive. The downtown suffered through this debate, and while perhaps some insensitive developments were halted, the downtown received little investment in the heritage features that it so desperately prized. Most recently, the ‘HRMbyDesign’ process helped to transform this debate into a productive discussion that bridged these opposing views by shifting the focus to what constitutes responsive, high quality design that will contribute to a more attractive and vital downtown. Overall, the City has started to make inroads towards revitalization of its downtown with new financial incentives and a Downtown Plan to create confidence, instil certainty and guide development. This will be critical to growing the visibility of downtown Halifax in the context of such a large region, as well as contributing to the downtown’s re-emergence as the centre of commerce and a place to invest. Downtown comprises 0.0012% of Halifax’s area (98ha) 1% of the Halifax’s population lives downtown (4,500) Downtown has 46% of office floor space (4427078sf) Downtown Halifax has 298 jobs/ha or 29,360 jobs (15%) Downtown generates 8% Of HRM’s property tax revenue Downtown generates $414K/ha in property tax revenue 1 Region of Halifax (2012). Urban Planning. Retrieved from: http://halifax.ca/regionalplanning/Region/region.html. Accessed 2012 January 16. 36
Context Map: Halifax Regional Municipality and its Downtown Downtown Halifax comprises a mere 0.0012% of the diverse Halifax Regional Municipality 37
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........
Page 7 and 8: Additionally this project aims to b
Page 9 and 10: with the selected downtown study ar
Page 11 and 12: KEY FINDINGS The project team devel
Page 13: Downtowns are iconic and powerful s
Page 16 and 17: Victoria have very sensitive downto
Page 18 and 19: PROSPERITY Does the downtown have a
Page 20 and 21: These are very promising signs, yet
Page 22 and 23: Downtowns are making a major contri
Page 24 and 25: The densest downtown is Vancouver a
Page 26 and 27: Downtowns are important places for
Page 28 and 29: Winnipeg Fredericton Edmonton Halif
Page 30 and 31: Downtown Toronto and downtown Vanco
Page 32 and 33: Municipal Investments (mapped inves
Page 34 and 35: DOWNTOWN CASE STUDIES 32
Page 36 and 37: Downtown Halifax Timeline 1749 - 20
Page 40 and 41: VISIONARY Does the downtown have st
Page 42 and 43: LIVEABILITY Is the downtown vibrant
Page 44 and 45: sites for redevelopment that are cu
Page 46 and 47: Summary of Municipal Investments Pr
Page 48 and 49: Key Patterns of Investment: 1. Cent
Page 50 and 51: Future Investments The proposed Con
Page 52 and 53: Downtown Fredericton Timeline 1749
Page 54 and 55: VISIBILITY Does the downtown have a
Page 56 and 57: PROSPERITY: Is the downtown’s eco
Page 58 and 59: Municipal Tax Base Since 1995, the
Page 60 and 61: Public Realm Downtown Fredericton h
Page 62 and 63: 60 Municipal Investments in Downtow
Page 64 and 65: 2. Enhancing the waterfront Committ
Page 66 and 67: Downtown Ottawa Timeline 1792 - 201
Page 68 and 69: VISIBILITY Does the downtown have a
Page 70 and 71: charges have recently been reinstat
Page 72 and 73: Many of the federally occupied buil
Page 74 and 75: Safety Downtown Ottawa is seen as a
Page 76 and 77: transit service downtown and across
Page 78 and 79: Summary of Public Investments Publi
Page 80 and 81: Key Patterns of Investment: Convent
Page 82 and 83: Downtown Toronto Timeline 1793 - 20
Page 84 and 85: Context Map: Key Assets and Feature
Page 86 and 87: The downtown study area differs sli
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http://www.architravel.com/architra
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Office Development Downtown Toronto
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Municipal Tax Base The downtown mak
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Safety Crime indicators for the Cit
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STRATEGY Is the City Strategically
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Public Investments in Downtown Toro
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5. Strengthening Communities Invest
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Downtown London Timeline 1840 - 201
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VISIBILITY Does the Downtown have a
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PROSPERITY: Is the downtown’s eco
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LIVABILITY Is the downtown vibrant,
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picnic tables, cafe tables with umb
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Summary of Capital Projects: 1998-2
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Key Patterns of Investment: The Cit
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WINNIPEG Growing in strength and co
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Context Map: Key Assets and Feature
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VISIONARY Does the downtown have st
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PROSPERITY: Is the downtown’s eco
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Page 126 and 127:
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126 Major Public Investments in Dow
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Ship Street, Sky, and The Strand. T
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Downtown Saskatoon Timeline 1903 -
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VISIBILITY Does the downtown have a
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Leadership and Collaboration The Ci
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Office Development Private office s
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LIVEABILITY Is the downtown vibrant
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Key Patterns of Investment: 1. Conn
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EDMONTON a downtown filled with mom
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UNITY Does the downtown have strong
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Retail Development It has been obse
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156 Municipal Investments in Downto
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downtown zoning bylaws ensure that
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Downtown Vancouver Timeline 1859 -
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PROSPERITY Is the downtown’s econ
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The downtown also generates a fifth
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Eastside community, which could pot
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uild freeways into downtown Vancouv
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172 Downtown Vancouver Capital Proj
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2. Building complete communities In
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Page 180 and 181:
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The City has also taken strong lead
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downtown is striving to offer a uni
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Safety Downtown Victoria has faced
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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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