OFFICE STRATEGY
PREPARED FOR:
CITY OF BRAMPTON
REGION O FPEEL CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 1
May 4, 2016
Ms. Claudia LaRota Policy Planner Planning and Infrastructure Services City of Brampton 2 Wellington Street West Brampton, Ontario L6Y 4R2
Regarding: Office Strategy
Dear Claudia,
Cushman & Wakefield has collaborated with The Planning Partnership and Real Estate Search Corporation to provide this Office Strategy report on behalf of the City of Brampton. From a real estate perspective, this report is intended to provide an overview of the local and regional office market; consider the achievable share of office space growth in the future; and review the characteristics of Brampton’s established office concentrations and future development sites. The report also provides an analysis and recommendations regarding planning policy to encourage office development. Finally, an office strategy with an implementation plan and performance measures are provided.
We are grateful for the assistance of City staff on this project – in particular in the provision of data and mapping to support our analysis. If you have any questions, please contact the undersigned.
Respectfully submitted,
Cushman & Wakefield Ltd.
Andrew Browning Vice President Valuation & Advisory [email protected] 416 359 2510
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Market Perspectives
The City of Brampton seeks to be the preferred GTA Northwest location of choice for office development. As part of its Municipal Comprehensive Review process, the need for an Office Strategy Study was identified. The City needs to establish and implement policies to attract and retain office employment. The main goal of this Office Strategy is to provide strategic policy directions to support the development of the office sector in the city.
This Office Strategy is primarily focused on conventional major office buildings (those greater than 20,000 sf) for which Brampton competes with other municipalities across the region to attract – as distinct from public sector office uses, or professional/medical-type office space that principally caters to the residential population of a municipality (classified as Population-Related Employment). This is because the site selection criteria for conventional office space is different from medical/professional- type offices, or public sector office space. While population-related office uses grow in tandem with a municipality’s residential base, major office employment may draw from wider labour pool, and the site selection criteria for these users is therefore different.
There has been a pronounced shift in the location of new office supply in recent years across the GTA. From 2000-2008, the GTA’s suburban markets accounted for 91% of all the new supply (on a square footage basis). However, since 2008, buildings in Toronto’s Central Area (the Downtown and Midtown submarkets) that have been completed plus those currently under construction account for 62% of the new supply. This shift in the competitive landscape has impacted the ability of suburban municipalities to meet their office employment growth targets.
Since 2000, Brampton has added 1,543,000 sf of new office development (an annual average of approximately 100,000 sf). A comparative analysis of GTA municipalities indicates that City of Brampton is relatively under-represented in terms of office space per capita. There is a notable absence in the number of large private sector office tenants in the market (only Rogers, Loblaw, and the future Canon space exceed 100,000 sf).
Guided by the office employment projections provided in the City’s Development Charges Background Study, it is anticipated that Brampton could attract demand to support an additional approximately 1.9 million sf (gross leasable area) of major office space (or 190,000 sf annually) from 2011-2021, at a benchmark of 200 sf per office worker. This represents almost a doubling of the annual new office demand seen from 2000-2015. The major office employment forecast calls for 25,790 jobs to be added from 2021-2041. This translates to demand for approximately 5.2 million sf (gross leasable area) of office space, or close to 260,000 sf per year – a figure that is 2.6 times the rate of new office space added from 2000-2015. In our view, a long-term office demand outlook for the city likely falls somewhere between the recent recorded market performance of 100,000 sf of new space added annually (seen from 2000-2015) and the figure indicated by the Hemson employment projection of 250,000 sf of new space required per year over the forecast horizon.
The site selection priorities of smaller professional firms and larger corporate offices may vary, but such users are inclined to locate in environments that fulfill a range of needs, such as: good highway access; public transit access, reasonable commuting time; proximity to a suitable labour pool; proximity to clients and service providers; established amenities for workers; and good visibility and signage potential. The site selection needs of tenants are aligned with those of developers, since a successful long-term investment in an office building is predicated on addressing the needs of users from a locational perspective.
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Identifying the locational attributes of Brampton’s planned office locations is necessary to evaluating their potential for growth. In addition to established office nodes throughout the GTA, Brampton will compete in the future with other office concentrations that will emerge, such as the Buttonville Airport Lands (Markham), Lever Brothers Site and Port Lands (Toronto), Markham Centre (Markham), Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (Vaughan), and others.
The report provides an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each of the City’s planned office areas: the Central Area (including Downtown), Bram West, Fletcher’s Creek South, Bramalea Road South Gateway, and Bram East. Demand for office space in Brampton has been scattered, not concentrated; the 15 new office developments since 2000 are dispersed throughout the city. Current office areas are generally automobile-dependent, with limited amenities nearby. The better performing office areas have best highway accessibility, and future transit enhancements will benefit some planned office locations. The report provides an outlook for these planned office areas, describing their role, the type of office that could be attracted, and anticipated timing. As well, the prospects for future office space in Heritage Heights is examined. While major office should be permitted as a land use in Heritage Heights, and population-related office uses will be required, it is not likely to be a significant component of the local employment base.
Planning Perspectives
The report provides a review of Provincial and Regional planning policy. It also examines the Brampton Official Plan (BOP), along with select secondary plans, and zoning pertaining to office uses in select locations. The section concludes with a review of Official Plan policies related to office uses in other municipalities. The policy review provides a summary of the requirements of Provincial and Regional planning policies with respect to the accommodation of office and major offices uses in a broader growth management and urban structure context. It also provides an understanding of how the current Brampton planning policy regime – including the Official Plan (BOP), and selected Secondary Plans and zoning regulations – respond to those planning policy directives, and identifies where office uses are accommodated within the City’s planned urban structure, and how they are to be developed. The review of a number of other municipal Official Plans provides guidance as to their approach to growth management, and the accommodation of office uses within their associated planned urban structures.
The BOP conforms to the Region of Peel’s Official Plan (RPOP) and Places to Grow (P2G), and is consistent with the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS). The BOP has appropriately incorporated an urban structure that includes centres and corridors, and promotes transit-supportive development, and the development of complete communities in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Overall, mixed-use development, at generally higher densities, is accommodated and promoted. To accommodate planned office employment growth, the City’s Official Plan identifies that a full range of office uses are broadly permitted throughout Brampton, within (a) The Central Area; (b) Major Transit Station Areas; (c) Mobility Hubs; (d) Intensification Corridors; (e) Employment Areas; (f) Retail Areas; and, (g) Residential Secondary Plans. While office uses are permitted in all of these land use/transportation system contexts, there are varying levels of management provided through scale, urban design, locational, and functional criteria.
This Official Plan is not a directive-focused plan, but rather is opportunity focused. In terms of implementation, the BOP is focused primarily on providing – and in some cases protecting – the opportunity for the private sector to respond to the market with respect to the range of permitted uses, and, specifically with respect to various forms of office spaces, to where any particular office user may wish to locate. The Official Plan is considered to be a flexible and market-responsive Plan, with minimal use of land use-specific development targets, either through Floor Area targets or employment yield targets.
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Strategic Directions
An Office Strategy is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It must be tailored to the particular on-the-ground realities of a local market. Brampton’s planned urban structure identifies five concentrations of office/major office development; however, there is no identified priority for the development of these nodes. The Official Plan allows the City to respond to office development opportunities as they arise throughout the Planned Urban Structure. This opportunity-based approach is considered appropriate in Brampton. It maximizes the ability of the City to attract office development of a range of types and configurations, in a range of locations. Each of these planned office locations has a different context (built form, public realm, land availability, and access to existing or planned high-order transit). These contextual considerations affect the opportunity for each location to attract a concentration of office/major office development.
Through our office market assessment, and in discussion with local real estate market participants (landlords, developers, and real estate brokers), we have generated a list of notable constraints that have impacted Brampton’s ability to attract a greater proportion of the GTA’s suburban office development activity. These are as follows (in no particular order):
1. No significant clustering or “critical mass”. 2. Perceived as an industrial market. 3. No “natural” locations for office. 4. Inferior highway access. 5. Inferior transit access.
While various locational and market-driven constraints do exist, we have developed an Office Strategy that is intended to minimize or overcome these constraints, while leveraging some of the city’s most important assets, from an office employment perspective.
The following guidance reflects our recommended strategic direction for the City to pursue in seeking to be the GTA Northwest’s preferred office location, while recognizing the strengths and challenges associated with the local market:
1. For the next 10 years – absent any significant decision-making related to higher-order transit in the municipality – the current approach to accommodating office development should prevail. The City will continue to respond to opportunities/applications, with an economic development focus of attracting development to the Bram West and Fletcher’s Creek “Office Nodes”. 2. In addition, for the next 10 to 15 years, the City should focus on the intensification of the Downtown/Central Area. The ability to accommodate Office/Major Office Development should continue, but the primary focus should be on creating an intense residential community with a mix of uses that leverages the proximity to the GO Station, and the character/facilities of the Downtown and broader Central Area (its historic context, community facilities, park space, etc.). Although this area will benefit from medical and life sciences- related office uses following the completion of Peel Memorial Centre, it is not foreseen as a primary location for the accommodation of large-scale private sector conventional (i.e. corporate) office development, given its locational attributes from a site selection perspective. 3. The City should consider the Bramalea Road South Gateway area as a key opportunity for the establishment of an expanded major office node, leveraging the existing GO Station, and its planned service level enhancements. While the office designations are currently focused at the intersection of Steeles Avenue East and Bramalea Road, this permission should be expanded significantly – with details to be determined through ongoing planning for this area. Although the emergence of this node may occur over the medium term, the planning for this transition should begin now.
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4. With the anticipated establishment of the Hurontario LRT (terminating at Steeles Avenue), the Fletcher’s Creek office node will become better connected. It will complement the more residentially-focused “Downtown Node” further to the north along Main Street. Fletcher’s Creek also has the potential to connect, along Steeles Avenue, with employment areas situated in Bram West and the Bramalea Road South Gateway Area. 5. Bram East, given its location, accessibility, and overall site selection attributes, is considered a longer-term opportunity. An updated Bram East Secondary Plan is required. The update to the Secondary Plan should consider a policy approach that provides a clear vision with respect to the City’s intentions for these lands, with a greater focus on its planned function and the forms of development that are desired. 6. As Heritage Heights develops, there will be demand for population-related office-type uses (such as medical and professional/business services). While conventional office should be permitted as a land use in Heritage Heights, it is not considered a probable location for an office node to emerge.
Brampton currently provides opportunities for “campus style” major office users, with access to a good supply of surface parking on site. This form of major office development is likely to continue to be popular in Brampton as other municipalities (including Brampton) become more urbanized. What Brampton lacks is a highly accessible (by transit and highway) and visible location for a more urban form of major office development. There is presently no place for a major office node to emerge that builds on an existing urban context that will attract an agglomeration of large office employers. An urban environment needs to be created in order to compete with other areas that provide the type of setting sought by office users (and their employees). To change the dynamics of the local office environment, the City requires a distinct and competitive alternative within the regional marketplace.
This Office Strategy promotes the creation of a new employment district at Bramalea Road South Gateway with a vision to attract major employment in the New Economy. It is intended to leverage some of the city’s best assets, including: proximity to Pearson International Airport; Regional Express Rail connectivity; Highway 407 connections to other 400-series highways in the region; and relatively low cost land with large parcels suited to redevelopment/intensification. While these lands area already developed, as facilities age or become dysfunctional/obsolete, their uses will transition. Bramalea Road South Gateway provides opportunities to accommodate a range of office employment functions (“multi-functionality”) in an evolving mixed-use environment.
These strategic directions are intended to address all of the key constraints that have impacted Brampton’s ability to attract a greater share of GTA suburban office development in the past. By creating a new mixed-use corporate centre vision, the issue of the city lacking a significant cluster/critical mass of office and related employment space is addressed. The Bramalea Road South Gateway location has several key locational attributes that will make it a desirable location for office space – namely, a Regional Express Rail station, adjacency to Highway 407 and connections to the regional 400-series highway network, and proximity to Pearson International Airport. While Brampton’s perception as primarily an industrial market is well established, redevelopment and adaptive re-use of properties in the Bramalea Road South Gateway area will begin to change the image of this location. Improved transit (Regional Express Rail, and local transit connections) will ensure that this area is highly accessible by public transit or automobile.
While the Office Strategy is tailored to overcome the city’s perceived constraints to attracting office growth, it is also designed to accommodate growth in all forms of office employment. The large land parcels in the area provide flexibility to accommodate major office development, as well as mixed- uses that can cater to local office users. New Economy-type users can also be attracted to the area by virtue of its existing industrial base, which will over time transition to a higher and better use, either through redevelopment of the property, or adaptive re-use. Industrial-Related users will have a home in Bramalea Road South Gateway to serve the large and well-established employment area.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
1.0 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Overview ...... 1 1.2 Focus of Analysis ...... 1 1.3 Terminology ...... 2 2.0 Market Analysis ...... 3 2.1 Introduction ...... 3 2.2 Office Space Inventory ...... 3 2.3 New Office Supply ...... 5 2.4 Office Space per Capita ...... 9 2.5 Tenants in Brampton ...... 9 2.6 Office Land Inventory in Brampton ...... 11 3.0 Demand Drivers ...... 12 3.1 Introduction ...... 12 3.2 Office-Generating Employment Types ...... 12 3.3 Office Employment Forecast...... 14 3.4 Office Demand Outlook ...... 15 4.0 Site Selection ...... 17 4.1 Introduction ...... 17 4.2 Market Metrics of Successful Office Locations ...... 17 4.3 Locational Decision-Making Factors ...... 19 4.4 Office Development in Proximity to GO Stations ...... 20 4.5 SRRA Nodal Study ...... 23 4.6 Emergence of New Office Concentrations ...... 23 4.7 Evaluation of City of Brampton’s Planned Office Locations ...... 24 4.8 Focus on Heritage Heights ...... 29 5.0 Development Economics ...... 33 5.1 Introduction ...... 33 5.2 The Role of Office in Balanced Growth ...... 33 5.3 Analysis of Municipally-Controllable Development Costs ...... 33 5.4 Construction Cost Analysis ...... 35 5.5 Development Incentives and Other Municipal Tools ...... 36 5.6 Municipal Revenues ...... 38
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6.0 Planning Policy ...... 40 6.1 Introduction ...... 40 6.2 The Provincial and Regional Planning Policy Framework ...... 40 6.3 City of Brampton Existing Planning Regime ...... 45 6.4 Review of Select Secondary Plans ...... 49 6.5 Zoning Regulations for Select Office Nodes ...... 60 6.6 Other Municipal Plans ...... 63 7.0 Office Strategy ...... 67 7.1 Introduction ...... 67 7.2 Constraints to Attracting Office Development ...... 68 7.3 Strategic Directions for Planned Office Nodes ...... 69 7.4 Implementation Plan and Performance Measures ...... 72
Appendix A – Maps Map 1 – Office Buildings in Brampton over 20,000 sf Map 2 – Vacant Office Designated Land Map 3 – Office Designations Map 4 – Bram West – Secondary Plan Area 40 Map 5 – Fletcher’s Creek South – Secondary Plan Area 24 Map 6 – Bramalea Road South Gateway – Secondary Plan Area 38 Map 7 – Bram East – Secondary Plan Area 41 Map 8 – Office Construction in Brampton 2000-2015 Map 9 – Heritage Heights Appendix B – Analysis of Municipal Revenues
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
Introduction
The City of Brampton seeks to be the preferred GTA Northwest location of choice for office development. As part of its Municipal Comprehensive Review process, the need for an Office Strategy Study was identified. The City engaged Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. (“C&W”) as lead consultant, along with the Value Planning Group (“VPG”) and The Planning Partnership (“TPP”) as sub-consultants, to undertake this Office Strategy analysis. Study Purpose
The City of Brampton needs to establish and implement policies to attract and retain office development. The main goal of the Office Strategy is to provide strategic policy directions to support the development of the office sector in the city. The Office Strategy will examine the regional/local office market context, influences on business investment decision making, the relative costs associated with office development in the city, and prepare policy recommendations and implementation strategies for enhancing the office market in Brampton.
1.2 Focus of Analysis
Primary Objectives
The main objectives of the study are to:
1. Understand locational patterns, recent trends, and identify the share of the office market that Brampton could position itself to capture, and what that office development might look like; 2. Understand the site selection drivers and business investment opportunities and constraints that affect office location decisions; 3. Recommend official plan policies related to office development; and, 4. Identify implementation strategies that the City may wish to employ to attract office development. Focus of Analysis
There are different types of office employees, and this Office Strategy is reflective of this reality. In general, the focus of our analysis in this report is on conventional office space in buildings greater than 20,000 sf (defined as Major Office Employment) – as distinct from public sector office uses, or professional/medical-type office space that principally caters to the residential population of a municipality (classified as Population-Related Employment). This is because the site selection criteria for conventional office space is different from medical/professional-type offices, or public sector office space. While population-related office uses grow in tandem with a municipality’s residential base, major office employment may draw from wider labour pool, and the site selection criteria for these users is therefore different. This dynamic will be explored in greater detail in the body of the report.
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1.3 Terminology
Definition of Major Office
Throughout this report, there are numerous references to “Major Office”/”major office” uses. This term has different meanings. In the Growth Plan, this term refers to Major Office as being “generally defined as freestanding office buildings of 10,000 m2 or greater, or with 500 jobs or more.”1 This is also the meaning of Major Office in The City of Brampton’s Official Plan. In its population projections, Hemson Consulting Ltd. describes Major Office Employment as “employment occurring in free- standing office buildings of 1,860 m2 (20,000 sf) or more.”2. In this report, the phrase Major Office/major office generally is used in regard to buildings that accommodate Major Office Employment, as described by Hemson. Meaning of Office Nodes
The phrase office nodes refers to a cluster of office buildings (or perhaps planned office development). The City’s Urban Structure identifies five locations for office space: Bram West, Fletchers Creek South, Bramalea Road South Gateway, and Bram East (which can all be loosely considered “nodes”), as well as the Downtown/Central Area (which is linear, and therefore not spatially reflective of a “node”). However, these locations may at times collectively be referred to as “nodes” for the purposes of identification in this report.
1 Places to Grow – Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, 2006. pp. 51. 2 Initial Report – Municipal Comprehensive Review for Employment Lands. Hemson Consulting Ltd. May 25, 2015. pp. 36. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 2
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2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS
2.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
This Office Strategy report commences with a review of the office market across the Greater Toronto Area, examining metrics such as inventory size, defined office submarkets/concentrations, and new supply. While the Strategy is intended as a forward-looking document, it is appropriate to first examine historic and recent market trends, and Brampton’s place in the overall office market landscape. This section also provides a summary of office space per capita in various competing markets, as well as a profile of office tenants in Brampton. Finally, the city’s vacant office land inventory is reviewed.
2.2 Office Space Inventory
Office Inventory – GTA
Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) tracks an inventory of almost 174 million sf of office space across Greater Toronto (all data as at year-end 2014).3 This inventory is roughly evenly divided between the Central Area (which includes Downtown and Midtown Toronto, totaling 88 million sf) and the Suburbs (86 million sf).
The office stock that C&W focuses on are buildings in excess of 20,000 sf, and generally are commercial office buildings (as opposed to professional/medical-type office buildings). Properties that are owner-occupied may not be included in the C&W survey statistics (such as the Loblaw headquarters building in Brampton, for example). Thus, there is some disconnect between the C&W market survey and the on-the-ground office environment – although the variance is considered nominal.
The following describes the boundaries of the GTA’s major office submarkets (a map is provided on the following page):
The Central Area office market is comprised of Downtown Toronto (the Financial Core and Downtown Fringe), as well as the Midtown Toronto market (which includes the Yonge Street office nodes at Bloor Street, St. Clair Avenue, and Eglinton Avenue – from south to north). GTA East is comprised of the office nodes along the Don Valley Parkway, as well as East York, the eastern portion of North York, Scarborough, Markham, and Durham Region. − C&W office concentrations include: Riverdale, Don Mills & Eglinton, Duncan Mill, Consumers Road, Steeles & Highway 404, Highway 7 & Highway 404, Scarborough, and Markham- Pickering – starting from nearest to Downtown Toronto and emanating northeast. GTA North encompasses the area north of Eglinton Avenue in Toronto into North York, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket. − C&W office concentrations include: Yorkdale, Keele & Highway 401, North Yonge Corridor, Dufferin & Finch, North York Fringe, Vaughan, and Richmond Hill/Newmarket/Aurora – emanating northward from the Midtown submarket boundary. GTA West essentially encompasses Oakville, Brampton, Mississauga, and Etobicoke.
3 Note that as a historic data collection anomaly, the C&W “Greater Toronto” data excludes the City of Burlington, which forms part of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). In this sense, the C&W data is more aligned with the Toronto CMA than the defined Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In portions of this report, we will refer to the term “Greater Toronto Area” (or GTA) when discussing the overall market area, although Burlington’s 3.1 million sf office inventory is excluded from this data. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 3
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− C&W office concentrations include: Oakville, Brampton, Meadowvale, Hurontario Corridor, Airport (within which the Airport Corporate Centre is a submarket), Mississauga City Centre, Highway 427 Corridor, Western Fringe, Sheridan, Cooksville, Bloor & Islington, and St. Clair West – starting in the west and moving east, and moving north to south through Mississauga’s many submarkets. The following is a summary of this inventory, by office concentration (Exhibits 1 and 2).
EXHIBIT 1 EXHIBIT 2
GTA OFFICE INVENTORY Office Concentration Inventory (sf) CENTRAL AREA 88,029,000 Downtown Toronto 71,365,000 Midtown Toronto 16,663,000 SUBURBS 85,760,000 GTA East 32,843,000 GTA North 14,793,000 GTA West 38,124,000 Total GTA 173,789,000
The following map (Exhibit 3) illustrates the boundaries of the major office submarkets, and identifies the location of the office concentrations throughout the region.
EXHIBIT 3
When considering office supply in a municipal context, it is important to note that some office nodes span across municipal boundaries. As a result, some of the suburban office concentrations lie in two municipalities (such as the Airport concentration, which encompasses a portion of the City of Mississauga as well as the City of Toronto; and the Highway 404 & Steeles concentration, which encompasses a portion of the City of Markham and the City of Toronto).
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In this report, depending on data limitations, we discuss office markets in terms of the C&W office concentrations, as well as the respective office markets at a municipal level. Overall, the objective is to consider Brampton’s office market relative to competitive office nodes across the GTA. Office Inventory – City of Brampton
In its quarterly market survey, C&W tracks 26 office buildings totaling 2.3 million sf across the City of Brampton. It is necessary to adjust this total upward to account for buildings not tracked in the survey. These properties generally consist of small office buildings, properties that are owner- occupied, and the office portion of certain mixed-use buildings. The adjusted office inventory that will be used for the analysis within this report totals 4,675,000 (rounded to 4.7 million sf). A map of existing office building locations across Brampton greater than 20,000 sf in size is provided (refer to Appendix A – Map 1).
2.3 New Office Supply
Construction Activity – GTA Suburbs
Using the C&W database, the surveyed office buildings located across the GTA suburbs (including suburban Toronto) have been organized by decade of completion and by office submarket. A total of 156 million sf of the inventory has a known year built (of the total 174 million sf inventory, representing 90% of the total).
As noted earlier, the office concentrations do not always conform to municipal boundaries. The exhibit below (Exhibit 4) identifies the major suburban office concentrations, as well as the municipality in which they are situated (or principally associated with), along with their period of peak construction activity, and new supply indicators.
EXHIBIT 4
OFFICE CONSTRUCTION Municipality/ Office Inventory Peak Decade New Supply Avg. Building % of Inventory Concentration (2014 Q4) of Office (2000-2015) Size (2000- Added Since (sf) Development (sf) 2015) (sf)* 2000 TORONTO Airport (excl. ACC) 4,200,000 1980s 220,000 - 5% Consumers Road 4,500,000 1970s 0 - 0% Hwy. 427 Corridor 2,500,000 1980s 0 - 0% North Yonge Corridor 9,000,000 1980s 550,000 - 6% BURLINGTON Burlington Dispersed 3,100,000 1990s 620,000 78,000 20% OAKVILLE Oakville Dispersed 3,200,000 2000s 1,730,000 66,000 54% BRAMPTON Brampton Dispersed 4,700,000 2000s 1,600,000 103,000 34%
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MISSISSAGA Airport Corporate Centre (ACC) 7,900,000 2000s 3,950,000 124,000 50% Cooksville 600,000 1980s 200,000 - 33% Hurontario Corridor 4,100,000 1980s 1,850,000 132,000 45% Meadowvale 5,700,000 2000s 2,990,000 142,000 52% Mississauga City Centre 3,500,000 1980s 60,000 - 2% Sheridan 900,000 1980s 100,000 - 11% VAUGHAN Vaughan Dispersed 1,900,000 1980s 810,000 63,000 43% RICHMOND HILL/MARKHAM Hwy. 7 & Hwy 404 9,400,000 2000s 4,010,000 148,000 43% Steeles & Hwy. 404 6,300,000 1980s 500,000 - 8% *Note: Minimum 5 buildings added
The following observations are drawn from an analysis of the data presented above:
The Highway 7 & Highway 404 office node that straddles Markham and Richmond Hill has attracted the largest amount of new supply since the year 2000, at over 4 million sf of construction completions. This accounts for 43% of the total inventory. The Airport Corporate Centre in Mississauga is just behind in second place, at slightly less than 4 million sf of completions. This represents one-half of the overall inventory in this node. The third most active market since 2000 was Meadowvale, which added almost 3 million sf, accounting for just over one-half of the total inventory of office space in the node. While the 1980s was the peak decade of construction for the Hurontario Corridor, it also recorded significant new supply in the 1990s and 2000s, and continues to attract development. There are many nodes which have seen little or no new supply during the past 15 years. The reasons for this vary, from limited remaining land for development, to less favourable locational attributes, to higher property taxes, to changing land use within the business park itself. This list includes the following: − Airport (excluding Airport Corporate Centre), Consumers Road, Highway 427 Corridor, Cooksville, Mississauga City Centre, and Sheridan. There were 158 new buildings completed across the GTA suburban market from 2000-2015, totaling 18.3 million sf. The average new suburban building completed from 2000-2015 measured approximately 115,000 sf. − The average building size in Mississauga and Richmond Hill/Markham is significantly higher than several of the suburban markets (Burlington, Oakville, and Vaughan) – roughly twice the size – while Brampton falls roughly in between, at just over 100,000 sf. There has not been a new suburban office node emerge since the 1980s. − Airport Corporate Centre has seen its inventory double since the year 2000. However, it was a growing market in the 1980s and 1990s, and has been accelerating in terms of development activity since that time. − Meadowvale had an initial period of development activity in the 1980s, followed by a lull through the 1990s. It has seen a strong resurgence in activity since 2000.
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− The Hwy. 7 & Hwy. 404 market has recorded the most new office supply of any suburban submarket since 2000. However, it also recorded substantial office development in the 1980s and 1990s (2.0 and 1.7 million sf, respectively). − While more than half of Oakville’s office market was constructed in the 2000s, it had recorded substantial development in the 1990s as well. While oriented along the QEW, the inventory cannot be described as a “node”; it is fairly dispersed in nature. Construction Pipeline – Total GTA
There has been a pronounced shift in the location of new office supply in recent years (Exhibit 5). From 2000-2008, the GTA’s suburban markets accounted for 91% of all the new supply (on a square footage basis). However, since 2008, buildings in Toronto’s Central Area (the Downtown and Midtown submarkets) that have been completed plus those currently under construction account for 62% of the new supply. There are various reasons for this, including:
A strong economy in the mid-2000s that saw strong office-type employment growth among Downtown tenants, which triggered falling office vacancy rates associated with leasing demand from firms seeking to expand in the market. Firms choosing to expand or relocate their office space in proximity to the thousands of young professionals occupying new residential condominiums in and around Downtown Toronto. Increasing highway congestion which is making commuting times longer to suburban office parks. The “South Core” (lands south of Union Station) having reached a critical mass of development, as well as acceptance as an office location, which has fostered additional growth. EXHIBIT 5
Construction Activity – City of Brampton
C&W has reviewed building permit data provided by City staff dating back to 2000. The focus of this review was an assessment of the new office construction, and the types and sizes of development. There have been 15 new office projects (with a cut-off of buildings over approximately 20,000 sf, to correspond with the C&W survey methodology). There are a range of building types (single versus multi-tenant), sizes, and tenures (owner-occupied, available for lease by a landlord, or condominium units). The development activity is profiled as follows (chronologically, beginning with the most recent by building permit date – Exhibit 6).
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EXHIBIT 6
NEW OFFICE CONSTRUCTION IN BRAMPTON (2000-2015) Building Name/ Description Address Owner Building Building # of Permit Year Size (sf) Storeys Canon Canada HQ 8000 Mississauga Rd. Canon Canada Inc. 2013 190,000 5 (Phase 1) City Hall Expansion – West Tower 41 George St. S. City of Brampton 2013 184,300 9 Air Canada Global Operations Centre 99 Ironbridge Rd. Air Canada 2012 79,400 2 TD Bank Bldg. 7685 Hurontario St. Kallo Developments/ 2012 78,000 7 7685 Hurontario Inc. The Commons at Main & Seven 60 Gillingham Dr. LDASK MBC Corp. 2010 63,600 5 Monterey Park 1 Gateway Blvd. Monterey Park Holdings 2010 50,400 3 Corp. 490 Bramalea Rd.* 490 Bramalea Rd. Real-T-Automatic Inc. 2010 27,400 5 Medtronic HQ 99 Hereford St. Orlando Corp. 2008 83,700 3 Sunny Meadow Medical Centre* 50 Sunny Meadow Blvd. 2012241 Ontario Ltd. 2008 54,700 3 Brampton Business Centre* 7900 Hurontario St. The Buffalo Group 2008 40,000 5 Developments Ltd. Springdale Professional Bldg.* 2250 Bovaird Dr. E. Landcore Development 2007 120,000 6 Corp. Golden Gate Plaza Professional 100 Pertosa Dr. 1552363 Ontario Ltd. 2005 19,500 2 Bldg.* Loblaw HQ 1 President’s Choice Cir. Orlando Corp. 2003 454,700 3 The Commons at 7 & 10 10 Gillingham Dr. LDASK MBC Corp. 2000 60,800 3 Lionhead Corporate Centre 8501 Mississauga Rd. Havenwood Properties 2000 36,900 4 (Central) Ltd. Total 1,543,000 *Note: Condominium units
The following are highlights of the analysis:
Of the 15 buildings, 10 are within a range of roughly 20,000 to 85,000 sf in size. Five are large single-tenant properties – Loblaw HQ, Canon Canada HQ, Brampton City Hall Expansion (West Tower), Air Canada Global Operations Centre, and Medtronic HQ. Five buildings are condominium office units. The total 1,543,000 sf of new office development recorded from 2000-2015 (through June) represents an annual average of approximately 100,000 sf. − This figure compares to an annual average of nearly 600,000 sf in Mississauga and roughly 300,000 sf in Markham/Richmond Hill, and is on par with the Oakville market – without accounting for inventory adjustments in these markets to include projects not tracked in the C&W survey. The average building size built in Brampton since 2000, coincidentally, is approximately 100,000 sf.
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2.4 Office Space per Capita
Comparison of GTA Municipalities
The following exhibit illustrates the distribution of office space relative to the population base within the GTA. All municipalities with an office inventory in excess of 500,000 sf are included. The population data is drawn from the 2011 Census, while the office inventory is the 2014 Q4 C&W market survey data (with the aforementioned adjustment made for the City of Brampton).
The City of Toronto has the highest proportion of office space per capita, at 61 sf. The average for all 10 municipalities is 44 sf per capita, but when Toronto is excluded, the suburban average is 28 sf per capita. Mississauga and Markham are home to significant office concentrations, and their rate is well above the suburban average. Oakville and Burlington are right around the suburban average. Brampton is significantly under-represented in terms of its share of office space relative to its population base, at just 9 sf per capita (Exhibit 7).
EXHIBIT 7
OFFICE SPACE PER CAPITA Municipality Population Office Office Space (2011) Space (sf) per Capita (sf) Toronto 2,615,000 159,300,000 61 Mississauga 713,000 35,251,000 49 Markham 302,000 14,034,000 46 Oakville 183,000 4,909,000 27 Vaughan 288,000 4,744,000 16 Burlington 176,000 4,324,000 25 Brampton 524,000 4,675,000 9 Richmond Hill 186,000 3,453,000 19 Oshawa 150,000 896,000 6 Pickering 89,000 835,000 9 Overall Average 44 Suburban Average (excl. Toronto) 28
Conclusions
The comparative analysis illustrates that the City of Brampton is relatively under-represented in terms of office space per capita. There are many reasons for this, which principally involve the site selection factors for office occupiers not favouring Brampton from a locational and infrastructure perspective. These will be elaborated on in a later section of this report.
2.5 Tenants in Brampton
Analysis of C&W Tenant Database
The C&W office tenancy database was used to identify the composition of office tenancies in Brampton. There is a notable absence in the number of large private sector office tenants in the market. The following summarizes highlights of this analysis:
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The largest office space user is Rogers Communications, with its almost 1 million sf facility (former Nortel building) at 8200 Dixie Road. The second largest office space user is Loblaw, with its 455,000 sf headquarters facility located at 1 President’s Choice Circle. The building was completed in 2007. The next largest office users are both public sector employers – the Region of Peel and the City of Brampton. The third largest private sector employer occupying office-type space is Medtronic of Canada, which is located at 99 Hereford Street. The building was completed in 2008. The Air Canada Global Operations Centre totals approximately 80,000 sf. The MDA Corporation facility, which is a quasi-office research and development-type use, totals just over 63,000 sf. There is no other office user that exceeds 50,000 sf in total size across the city. Analysis of City of Brampton Employer Survey
C&W has analyzed the City of Brampton’s Employer Survey, which was provided by the Economic Development Office. Respondents located in an office-type building (office freestanding, office multi, or office tower) totaled approximately 2.8 million sf in gross floor area. Clearly, there is a significant disconnect from the C&W office inventory, which totals approximately 4.3 million sf. This is principally attributable to many survey respondents having an unknown or undisclosed office area, which isn’t provided in the survey data. The following are some notable aspects of the analysis:
The amount of office space occupied by the Region of Peel and the City of Brampton is not identified in the survey data. These two public sector entities total approximately 8,700 total employees (including full-time and part-time staff), according to the Employer Survey, and supplemental data provided by City staff. Some large employers (>100 employees) are identified as occupying office-type space, but it is probable that a sizable portion of the workforce is not an office-type employee. Such examples include: International Truckload Services (transportation and warehousing), Kaneff Group of Companies (construction), and Blackwater Beverage Company (accommodation and food services). Conclusions
Although the data sets differ to some extent, the C&W tenancy data and the City of Brampton Employer Survey confirm some key aspects of the office users across the city. The prominent conclusions are as follows:
1. After Rogers Communications and Loblaw, the size (in terms of office space occupancy) of private sector office users in the local market drops dramatically. 2. The public sector is an important component of the local office space market.
These conclusions have a significant implication for office space demand (and new construction) in Brampton. A large user is required to be the lead tenant of a new office project. A new development typically requires roughly 60%-70% of the space to have a lease commitment in place in order to secure construction financing. With the relatively limited number of large office users in the local market, there are few users whose organic employment growth could trigger the demand for new office space. It is instead likely to be necessary for an office user located outside of Brampton to choose the city as the location for a new facility in order to initiate a new office development.
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2.6 Office Land Inventory in Brampton
Office Land Inventory
City staff provided the following data regarding the quantity and location of vacant office-designated lands across the city (Exhibit 8). The following reflects sites designated Office in the Official Plan (permitting major offices), plus other lands where the Secondary Plan designation permits significant amounts of office. It is intended to identify lands for major office and higher-order office development. The Bram West Secondary Plan Area is home to 17 sites that account for almost 75% of the overall total developable land for office uses (refer to Appendix A – Map 2).
C&W has analyzed new office building data from 2000-2015 across the GTA suburban markets, and has identified 202 new buildings. These buildings have an average site coverage of 0.9 times the lot area. Therefore, the 244 developable acres citywide could support an estimated 9.6 million sf of office space, if all 31 sites were developed to this site coverage. This does not account for infill office development potential, offices located in mixed-use areas, or conversion of existing buildings to an office use. In addition to the supply identified below, planning for Heritage Heights may introduce additional office-designated lands which would increase the City’s inventory of available, vacant sites to accommodate office development.
EXHIBIT 8
VACANT OFFICE-DESIGNATED LAND Secondary Plan Area # of Developable Developable Sites Area (ac) Area (ha) Bram West (40C) 11 132.4 53.6 Bram East (41) 9 36.8 14.9 Bram West (40B) 4 33.7 13.7 Countryside Villages (48A) 2 20.5 8.3 Bram West (40D) 2 12.6 5.1 Goreway Drive Corridor(39) 1 4.7 1.9 Airport Intermodal (37) 1 3.2 1.3 Bramalea Road South Gateway (38) 1 0.3 0.1 Total 31 244.3 98.9
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3.0 DEMAND DRIVERS
3.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
The following section of the report begins with an examination of the types of employment that generate demand for offices. Next, it reviews the office employment growth forecast for the City of Brampton, and translates this into a requirement for office space, providing an outlook for the short- term and long-term for the city, in terms of market capture potential.
3.2 Office-Generating Employment Types
Types of Office Users and their Needs
In assessing the potential for the City to attract private sector major office development in the future, we first examine the types of office-generating employment, in four broad categories. These office users have distinct needs that impact their location decision-making. Notably, public sector office uses (government and institutions) and medical and life sciences-related office space (which are linked to population-related employment) are not examined here, since the focus of this analysis is on the major office employment category of jobs, and is tied to the forecast of this component of overall employment.
1. Tradition large national or multi-national corporations
These users are among the largest employers in the region, and their head offices are highly sought after among municipalities seeking to attract office development. Such large office employers trigger spin-off demand for other business services to support their operations (such as accounting, legal, financial services etc.) which may choose to co-locate or have offices in proximity. These firms may draw from a region-wide labour pool to meet their staffing requirements. Therefore, transportation accessibility and public transit service is often very important in the site selection decision-making.
Large firms may have multiple office locations within a region (head office space, as well as “back office” support functions, or sub-regional sales/support offices). Prestige office locations such as the Central Business District (Downtown area) or established business parks (suburbs) are the typical location for such firms. The potential for visibility and signage (i.e. “branding”) are sought-after in any site selection decision.
Brampton has only a limited number of such national/multi-national large firms that require major office space. Rogers acquired the former Nortel facility in an opportunistic real estate move, capitalizing on low acquisition cost for an existing large, contiguous site. The Loblaw headquarters represented the consolidation of several GTA West locations on a site with good vehicular access (off Highway 407, short distance to Highway 401). The Canon headquarters is relocating from Mississauga (where it had outgrown its facility) to Brampton into a build-to-suit LEED-certified development.
2. Mid-sized local single location-style companies
Office users in this category have the capacity to occupy a major office development as the sole occupant, or could be the “anchor tenant” in a multi-tenanted building. These firms may also locate in professional buildings that are home to a range of users catering not only to business-to-business commerce, but also population-serving professionals such as financial service providers, real estate offices, and other small enterprises.
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3. Small office-using enterprises
The site selection criteria for a small business may be as simple as “where does the president live?” These businesses have the most flexibility – given their limited space needs – to locate within a multi- tenanted major office building (most costly option), to locate in flex office space within a business park (probably the least costly option), to locate in a commercial strip or streetfront environment. The location choices offer varying levels of accessibility, visibility, prestige, and cost – a trade-off that is balanced in the ultimate site selection decision-making.
Brampton has an extensive amount of office space that caters to these types of enterprises. The growth of these businesses is often on parallel with the overall population base, since many businesses are local-serving in nature.
4. Emerging innovation/cultural industries
A unique generator of demand for office space is the emerging innovation/cultural sector. Firms in these areas do not have conventional office space needs. Instead, they are often driven by a low- cost mantra, and could grow rapidly in a short time frame. The traditional office framework – a multi- year lease commitment to a space full of cubicles – is not in alignment with the needs of such businesses. As an alternative, these firms may seek space in converted former industrial buildings, or in live-work premises. Often catering to a younger work force, urban amenities and public transit access are sought-after.
Brampton’s industrial space market is the second largest in the GTA, and its healthy state (low vacancy, rents that support the ongoing use of buildings) make industrial conversions to office space an unlikely source of inventory. Like other GTA suburbs, Brampton lacks a cluster of “cool” historic buildings that could be converted – such as exist on the edges of Downtown Toronto, or Downtown Kitchener, for example. Priority Sectors
The priority sectors identified in the City’s Economic Development Strategy (Life Sciences, Food & Beverage, Advanced Manufacturing, Retail Administration & Logistics, and Information and Communication Technology) could be from any or all of the types of office employment categories discussed above. In fact, the new office development seen in Brampton during the past decade or more is reflective of the wide range of office types sought by businesses (owner-users and office tenants). Summary
Overall, this Office Strategy is focused on attracting and retaining major office users. It is not directed at the types of office space sought by small businesses, since this market fluctuates as the population of a municipality (or of a neighbourhood) increases/decreases. Municipalities are competing to attract major office tenants that can initiate new office development and generate spin-off additional economic activity – while assisting a municipality in meeting its provincially-mandated growth and density targets.
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3.3 Office Employment Forecast
Municipal Comprehensive Review – Initial Report Highlights
Hemson Consulting Ltd. prepared an Initial Report as part of the City’s Municipal Comprehensive Review for Employment Lands (May, 2015). Among the recommendations contained within this report is that the City should seek to minimize the conversion of employment lands in order to meet projected employment growth targets.4 The employment projections describe job growth in three segments: Employment Land Employment, Population-Related Employment, and Major Office Employment.
The report further states:
It would be very difficult for Brampton to make up for any shortfall in employment land employment with other types of employment. While growing in Brampton, major office remains a small proportion of total employment; indeed GTA-wide major office only represents about one-quarter of all jobs. As it is, the forecast for major office employment in Brampton is already somewhat optimistic given the major shift back to Downtown Toronto office locations after a long period of suburban-dominated growth. As well, Mississauga and Markham continue to possess dominant positions within the 905 office market area.5
C&W agrees with this statement, given the competition that Brampton faces to attract suburban office development versus the well-established office concentrations located in Mississauga, Markham, and elsewhere, as well as the resurgence of activity in Downtown Toronto. Major Office Employment Growth Projection
For the purposes of this report, we have utilized the City of Brampton’s Development Charges Background Study prepared by Hemson Consulting Ltd. (dated May 28, 2014). The report (and associated background work) identifies employment growth in the major office category (buildings 20,000 sf of larger) of 35,100 jobs from 2011-2041. This represents annual average of 1,170 major office jobs. Translating Office Employment Growth into Space Demand
In recent years, there has been a trend towards higher office employment densities. There are various factors contributing to this, such as:
More efficient office building design allowing greater utilization of floor plates; Higher occupancy costs (net rental rates, operating costs and taxes) contributing to reduced space allocation on a per employee basis by firms; Greater use of technology, reducing paper filing and storage requirements; and, Increased telecommuting and desk sharing among co-workers. In considering an appropriate benchmark for modeling the future office space that will be demanded by Major Office-type employment growth, it is important to examine more recent office building construction, rather than relying on the older stock of office buildings. In our view, the employment densities achieved during the past decade will be more representative of the densities that will likely occur during the forecast horizon compared to older office properties.
4 Initial Report – Municipal Comprehensive Review for Employment Lands. Hemson Consulting Ltd. May 25, 2015. pp. 3. 5 Ibid. pp. 21. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 14
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As part of the work on the recent Municipal Comprehensive Review of Employment Lands, for the City of Mississauga, C&W examined 69 office buildings greater than 1,850 m2 (20,000 sf) in size that were added across Mississauga since 2000. These buildings comprise an inventory of almost 817,500 m2 (8.8 million sf). The 2012 Mississauga Employment Survey was used to understand the number of office employees within these properties. The analysis concluded a benchmark of 209 sf per employee. Given the anticipated continuation of office space per employee compression, it is reasonable to project this benchmark falling to less than 200 sf per employee, on average, in the near future. This is the benchmark that will be utilized for analysis purposes within this report.
Hemson has projected Major Office employment growth of 35,100 jobs from 2011-2041. This employment growth can be translated into office space demand by a utilizing a benchmark employment density, as described above. A figure of 200 sf of gross leasable area per office employee translates to demand for just over 7 million sf of new office space in Brampton through 2041, or approximately 235,000 sf annually. This figure is equivalent to 15 Loblaw Headquarters buildings (1 Presidents Choice Circle) – or one every two years. Notably, there is a vacant designated supply of 244 acres of office lands throughout the city which can support an estimated 9.6 million sf of office space (if developed at a site coverage of 0.9 times the lot area). For comparison, the city has seen an annual average of approximately 100,000 sf of Major Office construction annually since 2000. Therefore, the Major Office employment projection calls for approximately 2.3 times the amount of office development recorded from 2000-2015 to occur from 2011-2041 (note that there is an overlap period from 2011-2015).
3.4 Office Demand Outlook
Introduction
This section provides an opinion of the short-term (next 10 years) and long-term (10-20 years) office space demand potential for the city. However, we caution that long-term projections have considerable risk and uncertainty, given changing real estate market dynamics, infrastructure investments, and economic cycles (among other considerations). Short-Term Outlook
For the purposes of this report, the short-term horizon is considered to be over the next ten years. Over this time frame, there is not anticipated to be any meaningful major transportation or transit infrastructure completed that would change the dynamics of the local office market. As well, new office concentrations that could emerge elsewhere in the GTA over time are not yet envisioned to be a factor influencing site selection decisions for tenants/office users. Therefore, a continuation of the “status quo” condition in Brampton is the baseline for our demand projection.
Guided by the office employment projections provided by Hemson (9,310 major office jobs added from 2011-2021), it is anticipated that Brampton could attract demand to support an additional approximately 1.9 million sf (gross leasable area) of major office space (or 190,000 sf annually). This represents almost a doubling of the annual new office demand seen from 2000-2015 (note that there is some timing overlap), and would necessitate attracting multiple major office users in order to realize this goal.
As noted, the Hemson projection begins in 2011; from 2011-2015, the city has added over 530,000 sf of new office space (including the new Canon Canada HQ). This equates to roughly one-quarter of the total projected space that is forecast to be required from 2011-2020, but already one-half of the projection period has elapsed (5 years). Therefore, the city is not on track to meet the short-term forecast driven by the Hemson major office employment projection.
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Long-Term Outlook
For the purposes of this report, the long-term horizon is considered to be over the next ten to thirty years (coinciding with the employment projections to 2041 produced by Hemson). The analysis assumes that two-way, all-day GO train service to Brampton’s three GO stations (Bramalea, Brampton, and Mt. Pleasant) will be implemented. It also acknowledges the future construction of the Hurontario LRT from Port Credit in Mississauga to Steeles Avenue at the Brampton/Mississauga boundary (but no future extension or alternative LRT routes are contemplated in our analysis).
The Hemson major office employment forecast calls for 24,590 jobs to be added from 2021-2041. Again using the benchmark density discussed above, this translates to demand for approximately 4.9 million sf (gross leasable area) of office space, or close to 250,000 sf per year. This is a figure that is 2.5 times the rate of new office space added from 2000-2015.
Forecasting real estate demand over the long term at a regional level has a level of certainty driven by the accuracy of the overall employment growth projection, which is linked with population growth. However, at a more micro level – such as for a single municipality such as Brampton – there is more room for error. The Greater Toronto Area is home to 25 municipalities, with each having a varied role in accommodating office space. Cushman & Wakefield Research tracks 37 office concentrations/submarkets throughout the GTA.
In our view, a long-term office demand outlook for the City of Brampton likely falls somewhere between the recent recorded market performance of 100,000 sf of new space added annually (seen from 2000-2015) and the figure indicated by the Hemson employment projection of 250,000 sf of new space required per year. The recommendations of this Office Strategy are to be seen as tools in attracting increased office activity in Brampton.
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4.0 SITE SELECTION
4.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
This section of the report examines the site selection characteristics that influence decision-making, including a detailed analysis of office space in proximity to GO stations. A review of the Nodal Study prepared by Strategic Regional Research Alliance is provided, highlighting key conclusions from this study that have bearing on office site selection across the region. In addition, we examine the potential emergence of new office clusters within the region, which would add further competition in the market among municipalities seeking to attract new office construction.
The section concludes with an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing each of Brampton’s planned office locations, along with a summary of the prospects for attracting office space and the form it may take. Along with this, we focus on the prospects of attracting office space to Heritage Heights, a community currently the subject of considerable planning for its future development.
4.2 Market Metrics of Successful Office Locations
Inventory
One measure of the success of an office submarket can be its size relative to other competing submarkets. In this context, the five largest suburban office concentrations are as follows:
1. Airport (including Airport Corporate Centre) – Mississauga/Toronto (21,100,000 sf) 2. Highway 7 & Highway 404 – Markham/Richmond Hill (9,400,000 sf) 3. North Yonge Corridor – Toronto (9,000,000 sf) 4. Steeles & Highway 404 – Toronto/Markham (6,300,000) 5. Meadowvale – Mississauga (5,700,000 sf)
For comparison, C&W tracks an inventory of 2.3 million sf of space across the City of Brampton. New Supply
Another indication of the success of an office concentration is the amount of new development is has attracted over time. The following are the top five suburban office concentrations by new supply added since 2000:
1. Airport (including Airport Corporate Centre) – Mississauga/Toronto (4,170,000 sf) 2. Highway 7 & Highway 404 – Markham/Richmond Hill (4,010,000 sf) 3. Hurontario – Mississauga (1,850,000 sf) 4. Oakville Dispersed – Oakville (1,730,000 sf) 5. Meadowvale – Mississauga (2,990,000 sf)
During this period, just over 1.5 million sf was added across the City of Brampton. Vacancy Rate
A further metric that may be used to assess the relative success of one office concentration versus another is the historic vacancy rate. The following profiles the suburban office concentrations with the lowest average vacancy rate since 2000:
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1. Sheridan – Mississauga (3.6%) 2. Meadowvale – Mississauga (7.2%) 3. Steeles & Highway 404 – Toronto/Markham (7.5%) 4. Vaughan – Vaughan (7.6%) 5. North Yonge Corridor – Toronto (7.9%)
For comparison, the overall suburban average vacancy rate was 9.0% during this period, and the buildings tracked in the C&W market survey in Brampton averaged 8.9%. Notably, the vacancy rate was higher in some of the larger office concentrations which have recorded the most new supply activity during this period. Therefore, vacancy should not be relied upon as the sole determinant of the success of an office area. Rental Rate
The final metric we have selected to assist in establishing the GTA’s most successful suburban office concentrations is rental rate. The Class A net rental rate is the specific measure of rent we have illustrated below, which reflects the asking rent for space that is available for lease. The following list identifies the top five office concentrations by average asking net rental rate since 2000:
1. Mississauga City Centre – Mississauga ($18.10 psf) 2. Meadowvale – Mississauga ($17.20 psf) 3. Oakville Dispersed – Oakville ($17.00) 4. North Yonge Corridor – Toronto ($16.70 psf) 5. Highway 7 & Highway 404 – Markham/Richmond Hill ($16.00 psf)
The results are indicative of the quality of the office space in these submarkets, which in some cases reflects a significant amount of new construction. In other markets, the amount of new construction has impacted vacancy levels (over the short term), and impacted achievable rents.
For comparison, the average asking Class A net rental rate for the GTA Suburbs during this period was $15.50 psf. Given the relatively small size of the inventory, C&W does not report rental rate data for Brampton. Conclusion
Meadowvale Corporate Centre (Mississauga) appears on all four of the lists above. Highway 7 and Highway 404 and North Yonge Corridor each appear three times. While Airport Corporate Centre appears twice, its higher vacancy and lower rental rates are impacted by the significant new supply additions it has absorbed over the past decade and a half.
Together, these submarkets are widely regarded by real estate market professionals as the most desirable locations for office space across the suburban market. These office concentrations all have superior accessibility given their proximity to multiple 400-series highways (or in the case of North Yonge Corridor – access to TTC subway). Apart from North Yonge Corridor, they are all automobile- dependent nodes in a business park/corporate centre setting. Each has a range of nearby restaurants, shopping and services to meet the needs of the daytime office worker consumer.
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4.3 Locational Decision-Making Factors
Factors Influencing Office Location Decision-Making
Office Users
Office developers succeed when locating projects in areas sought-after by tenants. Tenants are attracted to new projects, and then enticed to remain over the longer term on subsequent lease renewals (or new tenants are identified to replace occupants when leases expire). Buildings generate more revenue when rental rates grow due to increased leasing demand. Buildings at or above market occupancy and rental rate levels outperform their peers, and are accorded higher valuations.
The site selection priorities of smaller professional firms and larger corporate offices may vary, but such users are inclined to locate in environments that fulfill a range of needs, such as:
good highway access to provide accessibility to a broad labour pool; public transit access, providing commuting options for workers without a vehicle (particularly important for office functions predisposed to lower income earning staff); commuting time – which is tied to the highway and transit access discussed above; locations with proximity to a suitable labour pool (especially critical for major employers, or those with specific/specialized technical skills); proximity to clients and service providers, allowing ease of interactions; established amenities such as restaurants and shopping, entertainment, fitness and leisure opportunities, child care, etc.; parking type, cost, and availability – surface versus underground, and amount of parking provided. airport proximity (especially for international businesses); and, good visibility and signage potential, where possible, to enhance the corporate brand. Of course, building-specific considerations (such as cost of occupancy, building finish quality, expansion potential, parking availability, co-tenant mix, on-site amenities, etc.), are also key considerations, once a general office location is decided upon. Proximity to the President/CEO’s place of residence may also be a consideration.
Office Developers
In addition to meeting the site selection criteria of prospective tenants/users described above, office developers have additional considerations when considering where to make an investment decision. If the physical construction costs are thought to be uniform across a suburban region, then these factors include the following:
land costs (if land for development is not already owned); municipal fees (building permits, development charges, property taxes); and, planning approvals process (timing and approval certainty). Conclusions
The site selection needs of tenants are aligned with those of developers, since a successful long-term investment in an office building is predicated on addressing the needs of users from a locational perspective. It is therefore the building-specific attributes a developer creates that differentiates one project from the next.
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4.4 Office Development in Proximity to GO Stations
Introduction
The City of Brampton is home to three GO Stations (Exhibit 9) – Bramalea, Brampton, and Mount Pleasant – all situated on the Kitchener Line. While proximity to public transportation infrastructure may be a desirable site selection criterion for employers, such facilities are not automatic attractors of office space. In this section, we examine the GO Train network, and identify the stations (excluding Union Station in Downtown Toronto) where office development has been attracted versus those without office development.
Notably, only the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines offer two-way service; the remaining lines are inbound to Union Station in the morning and outbound in the afternoon/evening. Proposed service enhancements will eventually bring two-way train service to all lines.
EXHIBIT 9
Analysis of Office Space in Proximity to GO Stations
The following exhibit (Exhibit 10) summarizes our analysis, and is organized by GO Train line, starting with the station located furthest from Union Station.
EXHIBIT 10
OFFICE DEVELOPMENT NEAR GO TRAIN STATIONS Station Name Description Of Environs Nearby Office Uses? Lakeshore West Line Hamilton A Downtown, mixed-use area with some office uses Aldershot Urban fringe and residential area Burlington Retail-commercial and residential area Appleby Industrial, retail-commercial and residential area Bronte Industrial area Oakville Retail-commercial area with some office uses Clarkson Retail-commercial and residential area Port Credit Residential and retail-commercial area
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Long Branch Residential area Mimico Residential and industrial area Exhibition Residential and cultural area Milton Line Milton Retail-commercial area Lisgar Residential and retail-commercial area Meadowvale Office and industrial area – Meadowvale Corporate Centre Streetsville Residential and retail-commercial area Erindale Residential, office, and retail-commercial area Cooksville Residential and retail-commercial area Dixie Industrial and retail-commercial area Kipling Residential, industrial, and retail-commercial area with some office uses Kitchener Line Kitchener A Downtown, mixed-use area with some office uses Guelph A Downtown, mixed-use area with some office uses Acton Residential and retail-commercial area Georgetown Residential and industrial area Mount Pleasant Residential area Brampton A Downtown, mixed-use area with some office uses Bramalea Industrial area Malton Industrial and residential area Etobicoke North Industrial and retail-commercial area Weston Retail-commercial and residential area Bloor Residential area Barrie Line Allandale Waterfront Residential area Barrie South Residential area Bradford Retail-commercial, residential, and agricultural area East Gwillimbury Residential and rural area Newmarket Retail-commercial and residential area Aurora Retail-commercial and residential area King City Residential and rural area Maple Residential and retail-commercial area, with some office uses (Vaughan City Hall) Rutherford Industrial and residential area York University Industrial area Richmond Hill Line Richmond Hill Industrial and residential area Langstaff Retail-commercial and industrial area Old Cummer Residential area Oriole Residential and retail-commercial area
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Stouffville Line Lincolnville Agricultural area Stouffville Residential and retail-commercial area Mount Joy Residential and retail-commercial area Markham Residential and retail-commercial area Centennial Residential and recreational uses Unionville Retail-commercial and residential area Milliken Retail-commercial area Agincourt Residential and retail-commercial area Kennedy Retail-commercial, residential, and some office uses Danforth* Residential and retail-commercial area Lakeshore East Line Oshawa Industrial area Whitby Residential and recreational uses Ajax Industrial and residential area Pickering Residential and retail-commercial area, with some office uses Rouge Hill Residential area Guildwood Residential and retail-commercial area Eglinton Retail-commercial and residential area Scarborough Residential and retail-commercial area Danforth* Residential and retail-commercial area *Note: Danforth is a station on both the Stouffville and Lakeshore East lines.
Of the 62 GO Stations examined, only 11 have office development in proximity to the station. We consider “in proximity” to be within a roughly 1 kilometre radius of the station itself, meaning that the station location is in part a driver of the siting of the office building. We differentiate these 11 stations into three categories:
1. Downtown, mixed-use areas (Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph, Brampton)
In these locations, the office space is part of a mixed-use environment which also contains a range of residential, retail-commercial, and institutional land uses. Public buildings, such as a City Hall, are often an element of the built environment. While the GO Station is nearby, it is only one reason for the office space to have situated in this location. Generally, there is also local transit service in the immediate area.
2. Employment areas with other local transit linkages (Oakville, Meadowvale, Kipling, Pickering)
These GO station areas are characterized by some amount of nearby office space, and also other established employment uses, as well as retail-commercial space. Residential uses may be situated nearby, but are not the predominant land use. Generally, good access to local transit options is also a characteristic of these sites. The GO service is a contributing factor for the location decision- making for these office users, but is not the sole criteria; highway accessibility, local transit access, and area amenities also play key factors.
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3. Other (Erindale, Maple, Kennedy)
Erindale – nearby office space consists of three buildings (Erindale Corporate Centre) totaling almost 332,000 sf, situated on the south side of Burnhamthorpe Road West. The properties range in size from 57,400 sf to 187,000 sf, and in height from 4 to 11 floors. The buildings were completed between 1986 and 1990. Proximity to the GO Station, which offers all-day, two-way service, is considered a key element of the site selection decision for this multi-tenanted development.
Maple – the surrounding land uses consist principally of low density residential uses and retail- commercial development. However, Vaughan’s City Hall is situated to the southwest of the GO Station, across Major Mackenzie Drive. Future two-way GO service would improve accessibility to this location.
Kennedy – There is a modest amount of professional office space located to the west of the GO Station at the intersection of Kennedy Road and Eglinton Avenue East. A mixed-use character area, other nearby uses include low, medium, and high density residential; the Don Montgomery Community Recreation Centre; institutional uses; and retail-commercial establishments along Eglinton Avenue East. Nearby GO service, plus the TTC’s Kennedy Station on the LRT, are (were) certainly a driver of the location decision making for these office tenants. Conclusions
GO stations are situated in a range of land use environments. While some are located within employment areas, many are surrounded by mature residential and retail-commercial uses. The majority of GO stations do not have office space in the vicinity. Clearly, proximity to GO train service alone is not a sufficient precondition that lures suburban office users. The current reality that most lines offer only one-way service to Union Station (morning) and outbound service (afternoon/evening) is a key factor. However, along the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East lines – which do offer all- day, two-way service – only three out of the 20 stations have office space built nearby.
Given that the majority of lands nearby the GO stations are already built out, it is unclear whether future two-way service will trigger the redevelopment of industrial or retail-commercial sites to office uses. Further, the requirement to originate a trip from Downtown Toronto (Union Station) to a suburban office job may be an unreasonable travel burden for residents living in another GTA suburb – a connecting GO train trip from Stouffville to Union Station to Mount Pleasant, for example, would be arduous. Given the preceding analysis, the prospects for future two-way service unlocking considerable suburban office development potential are uncertain.
4.5 SRRA Nodal Study
Introduction
Strategic Regional Research Alliance (SRRA) published a research study entitled The Future of Office Development in the GTHA in March, 2015. SRRA is a not-for-profit organization, collaborating with both public and private sector organizations to provide strategic, non-partisan public policy research on the connections between infrastructure, land use, and future economic welfare of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).6 In this report, we present a synopsis of some of the analysis and recommendations that are made by SRRA, and in particular, focus on Brampton’s position within the region’s office nodes.
6 Source: SRRA. The Nodal Study – The Future of Office Development in the GTHA. 2015. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 23
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The Nodal Study analysis of the possible future pattern of office development across the region is based on three elements:
A high-level assessment of growth potential, informed by the availability of vacant sites; A review of each node’s performance over the past 10 years; and, The node’s positioning within the regional market, taking into account perspectives provided by employers interviewed for the project. Assessment of Nodes
The study catalogues the region’s office inventory into four groups, based on access to existing rapid transit and the impact of municipal tax variations. The focus was on determining which nodes could accommodate growth, and how attractive these nodes are to employers able to provoke development of a new office building (major office employers). The four classifications are as follows:7
1. Established nodes with a high degree of acceptability over the past 25 years.
Downtown Financial Core West 401 Corridor Brick & Beam Markham Richmond Hill 2. Nodes with the potential to be transformed into high density, mixed-use locations following the introduction of higher order transit.
Don Mills Don Valley East Scarborough Kennedy Consumers Road Main Liberty 3. Mixed-use environments that have lost favour with office users in the past 25 years, but which could be revitalized.
North York Oakville Hamilton Mississauga City Centre Burlington Brampton 4. Nodes with long term potential.
Duncan Mills Downsview Sheridan Vaughan The cluster of office development along the Yonge Street subway was excluded from the analysis because this area does not meet the criteria for future growth, either as a result of problems with employee access, unfavourable land development economics, lack of available sites, or a combination of these and other factors. As well, dispersed office buildings – both within Toronto and across the GTHA suburbs – not situated in a node were excluded from the analysis. This list is as follows:
416 Dispersed Yonge & Eglinton Yonge & Wellesley Yonge & York Mills Yonge & Bloor 905 Dispersed Yonge & St. Clair
7 Ibid. pp. 25-27. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 24
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Assessment of Brampton
The SRRA study identifies Downtown Brampton as a nodes with long term potential. The following description is provided:
Brampton has not yet fulfilled its potential as an office location. The majority of its office space is located in industrial parks for which the momentum began across the border in Mississauga. The office buildings in these areas are almost entirely dependent on auto access… The focus for the city’s goals for improved transit is local in nature, together with a push to improve two-way all-day GO service.8
We concur with the SRRA assessment and classification of Brampton relative to the region’s other office nodes. Brampton’s office space is relatively dispersed, and its Downtown has not been successful in attracting new private sector major office development. The three GO stations have not been a catalyst for office development. Instead, office buildings have located in automobile- dependent employment areas predominantly in the southern portion of the municipality. Issues Identified
From a site selection and growth management perspective, the study identifies several critical issues:
No single location will do – Each node has a unique set of conditions, from its mix of existing tenants, to land development economics and site availability, to land use policies, and more. Growth is only occurring in a small number of nodes – Although the region’s office inventory is growing, many nodes are growing slowly, or not at all. Significant new office supply has been limited to a limited number of nodes. − Brampton is a relatively slow growing municipality, from a new office development perspective. Longer commute times have multiple negative impacts – Commuting times and distances were identified as a significant concern by employers surveyed. Longer commuting times impact worker productivity and workforce retention. − Downtown Brampton’s distance from 400-series highways – relative to other well-connected suburban office nodes – and congestion on Highway 410 impact commuting times for a regional office workforce. Accessibility to 400-series highways is also an issue for the Heritage Heights community, until the GTA West Corridor and Halton-Peel Freeway are in place. − The absence of two-way GO Train service currently affects the ability to commute to Brampton via higher order transit, and lengthens travel times – especially inter-regionally. Transit accessibility is considered superior in some other suburban municipalities. SRRA Study Recommendations
Based on the results of the study, SRRA makes the following recommendations – which could influence planning and decision-making in Brampton, as well as region-wide, and at the provincial level:
Transit plans and land use must be harmonized in order to improve access and connectivity to office nodes. We need more comprehensive employer input into land use and transportation/transit decision making, since the site selection drivers of office users impact where future development will occur. Employers, government, and developers need to work together to establish policy guidance with respect to the location of major office development.
8 Ibid. pp. 86. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 22
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4.6 Emergence of New Office Concentrations
Introduction
In addition to well-established suburban office nodes and locations, future prospective office development in Brampton faces competition from emerging or future planned office sites. Office locations in varying stages of the planning process – all of them set within a mixed-use environment – are profiled in the following section. Buttonville Airport Lands (Markham)
The Buttonville Town Centre project – a partnership between Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. and Armadale Properties Ltd. – is a conceptual mixed-use development consisting of 7 to 9 million sf of retail, service commercial, restaurant and entertainment (900,000 – 1,200,000 sf); office, major institutional (2,600,000 – 4,000,000 sf), residential (3,200,000 – 3,600,000 sf), hotel (450,000 – 600,000 sf), and convention uses (100,000 sf).9 The site is located at the southeast corner of Highway 404 and 16th Avenue in Markham. Markham council has approved – in principle – the vision and plan for the redevelopment of the lands, although further planning approvals are required; the airport will remain in operation at least until fall 2016. Downsview Park (Toronto)
Downsview Park is in the process of being redeveloped by Canada Lands Co. into five “neighbourhoods”: Stanley Greene, William Baker, Sheppard, Chesswood, and Allen. The neighbourhoods differ in planned character – Stanley Green is entirely residential; Chesswood is entirely employment; Sheppard is planned for a mix of uses, and is home to the new TTC/GO station. Given its central location and transit accessibility, as well as nearby established employment uses, Downsview Park has some of the preconditions required to attract office development. Lakeview (Mississauga)
The City of Mississauga – through its Inspiration Lakeview planning process – is planning for the future redevelopment of the Lakeview Employment Area, south of Lakeshore Road East, and a short distance to the east of Cawthra Road. A Master Plan has been created for the lands to provide a mixed-use setting to accommodate 8,000 new residential units and 7,000 – 9,000 jobs.10 While the location is not ideal from a transportation and transit perspective (the QEW is situated to the north, with connection to Highway 427, and the Long Branch GO Station is some distance to the east), the Lake Ontario waterfront does provide an amenity for prospective office space users. Lever Brothers Site (Toronto)
First Gulf has acquired the former Level Brothers lands in the vicinity of Lakeshore Boulevard East and the Don Valley Parkway (east side). The intention is to create a mixed-use precinct with good transit linkages. Plans call for the demolition of most of the factory site, and the development of new buildings with a total of 15 million sf of office and commercial space, providing a potential of 70,000 jobs.11
9 Source: www.buttonvilletowncentre.com 10 Source: City of Mississauga. www7.mississauga.ca/Departments/Marketing/Websites/InspirationLakeview/downloads/Inspiration-Lakeview-Masterplan.pdf 11 Source: http://greatgulf.com/news/entry/first_gulf_and_great_gulf_support_the_removal_of_the_gardiner_expressway_ea CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 23
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Markham Centre (Markham)
Markham Centre is designated as an Urban Growth Centre in the Provincial Growth Plan. Downtown Markham is planned to accommodate 3.4 million sf of office space, along with 2 million sf of retail and restaurants, and 10,000 residential units.12 The location is envisioned as a mixed-use environment with good transit access via the Unionville GO Station and VIVA service along Highway 7, and is accessible to Highway 407. Port Lands (Toronto)
Toronto’s Port Lands consist of a range of employment uses, although it is principally industrial in nature, and considered vastly underutilized. The Port Lands are in need of significant infrastructure improvements to “unlock” the redevelopment potential of the area, which is considered highly appealing, given its proximity to Downtown Toronto and the extensive amount of waterfront land available. Flood protection infrastructure and significant hard services investments (water, wastewater, road, bridges, etc.) are required, along with transit to link to the Downtown area. The Port Lands are viewed as a potential future office location given the proximity to Downtown, and the City of Toronto’s desire to establish a mixed-use precinct. SmartTrack Station Sites (Toronto)
The proposed SmartTrack transit line could generate demand for new office space at various station locations. Considerable additional planning is required to determine the suitability of office development at the station locations, as well as decision-making regarding how many stations will be required. Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (Vaughan)
The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is located at the northern terminus of the TTC’s Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension. Envisioned as Vaughan’s new Downtown, the mixed-use area is planned to accommodate at least 1.5 million sf of office space, 750,000 sf of retail, and 12,000 residential units. The 365,000 sf KMPG Tower is currently under construction. In addition to the TTC Subway and York Region’s VIVA transit service, the site offers easy access to Highways 400, 407, and 7. Conclusions
Planned office locations throughout the GTA discussed above will emerge as competition to the market’s existing office parks and corporate centres. These locations offer varying locational attributes such as transportation and transit access, proximity to amenities for workers, and a range of nearby land uses. Most of these sites are more centrally located within the GTA compared to Brampton’s planned office nodes, which is an advantage in drawing from a region-wide labour market. In conclusion, the competition among municipalities to attract office users is intensifying.
4.7 Evaluation of City of Brampton’s Planned Office Locations
Introduction
In this section, we examine Brampton’s existing and planned office concentrations (refer to Appendix A – Map 3) in the form of a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). We conclude with an opinion as to the role of each area in potentially accommodating office demand, and in what form.
12 Source: Downtown Markham. http://www.downtownmarkham.ca CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 24
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Central Area
The geography of Brampton’s Central Area (Exhibit 11) includes the historic Downtown to the west, and includes the Queen Street Corridor which stretches east to Bramalea Road. Highway 410 (roughly) bisects the Central Area. The area is mixed-use in nature, and is home to a range of smaller and mid-sized office properties, along with Brampton’s City Hall complex and the Region of Peel’s headquarters facility.
EXHIBIT 11
CENTRAL AREA SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Mixed-use environment offers restaurants, shopping, leisure, and other amenities for tenants. GO Station (Brampton) at Main Street near Queen Street West (historic Downtown). Züm bus rapid transit service along Queen Street and Hurontario Street. Public sector office presence is well established (City and Region). Weaknesses Difficult to access via automobile due to traffic congestion, and only one major highway option (410). Fragmented land ownership – in some areas it may be difficult to assemble a suitable amount of land to accommodate major development. Floodplain presents an environmental constraint to new development. Opportunities Planning for and development of a mobility hub around the GO Station. Future provision of all-day, two-way service along the GO rail corridor. Queen Street LRT/BRT project identified in The Big Move (Metrolinx project). Queen Street Master Plan study is underway. A Peel Memorial Centre (PMC) Market and Economic Development Opportunity Study is underway – there will be an opportunity to leverage medical and life sciences-related office in the vicinity of PMC. Threats High density residential development may take place on sites that could be suited to accommodate office buildings.
Bram West
Bram West’s (Exhibit 12) office designated lands are centred at Steeles Avenue West and Mississauga Road, in the southwest part of the city. It is adjacent to Highway 407, and functions like a northern extension of Mississauga’s Meadowvale Business Park. Notably, Bram West is home to the 455,000 sf Loblaw headquarters office building, which was completed in 2007, and will be the site of the future 190,000 sf Canon headquarters(refer to Appendix A – Map 4).
EXHIBIT 12
BRAM WEST SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Highway accessibility via 407 and nearby 401 (near the convergence of these highways). Established corporate presence and business park environment. Züm bus rapid transit service along Steeles Avenue. Potential for highway signage/visibility from Highway 407. Weaknesses Faces strong competition from nearby Meadowvale Business Park, which is more readily accessible. Opportunities Future population/labour force growth in northwest Brampton (Heritage Heights). As Meadowvale Business Park reaches build-out, ongoing demand from tenants/users may transfer to Bram West. Threats Future provision of all-day, two-way service along the GO rail corridor could make other office locations in Brampton more preferred.
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Fletcher’s Creek South
The office designated lands within Fletcher’s Creek South (Exhibit 13) are located along Hurontario Street, between Steeles Avenue West and Highway 407. The TD Bank building (7685 Hurontario Street, completed in 2012) and the A. Grenville & William Davis Court House are prominent buildings in the area (refer to Appendix A – Map 5).
EXHIBIT 13
FLETCHER’S CREEK SOUTH SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths A natural extension of the office-commercial environment along Hurontario Street in Mississauga. Proximity to Highways 407 and 410. Züm bus rapid transit service along Steeles Avenue (to the north). Potential for highway signage/visibility from Highway 407. Weaknesses Limited undeveloped land designated as office. Opportunities Future Hurontario LRT offering connections to Cooksville and Port Credit GO Stations. Continued office development to the south along Hurontario in Mississauga could eventually see demand flow north into Brampton (akin to Meadowvale Corporate Centre flow into Bram West). Presence of A. Grenville & William Davis Court House could support demand for associated professional services requiring office-type space. Could utilize surface parking for future development lands (although surface parking would likely require costly replacement as structured parking). Threats Automobile-oriented commercial/retail uses are a successful land use in this area, and this use may continue to absorb prospective office development sites. Future provision of all-day, two-way service along the GO rail corridor could make other office locations in Brampton more preferred.
Bramalea Road South Gateway
The Bramalea Road South Gateway (Exhibit 14) area is largely industrial in nature, with some commercial uses fronting the arterials. There is currently no major office space of significance. The secondary plan identifies office and mixed-use lands (which permit office) on all four corners of the Steeles Avenue East and Bramalea Road intersection, and north along Bramalea Road. The Bramalea GO Station is located on the southwest corner (refer to Appendix A – Map 6).
EXHIBIT 14
BRAMALEA ROAD SOUTH GATEWAY SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Adjacent GO Train station (Bramalea). Proximity to Highways 407 (although it is only a partial interchange at Bramalea Road) and 410. Züm bus rapid transit service along Steeles Avenue. Potential for highway signage/visibility from Highway 407. Weaknesses Little “sense of place” currently, and absence of amenities for prospective office users. A poor urban environment for offices which is not conducive to attracting such development. Given the expansive industrial nature of the area, the site is not optimal for professional services catering to a nearby residential base. Height restrictions associated with nearby Lester B. Pearson International Airport impact the scale of development that is feasible in this vicinity.
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Opportunities Future provision of all-day, two-way service along the GO rail corridor. Redevelopment of Canadian Tire property (large warehouse/distribution facility) on southwest corner of Steeles Avenue East and Bramalea Road. Threats Other established office locations within the city continue to attract new development, rather than siting in an unproven office location such as the subject.
Bram East
Located in the southeast portion of the city, Bram East (Exhibit 15) has had considerable undeveloped land until residential uses emerged during the past decade, along with some complimentary commercial-retail uses. There is no major office development, although a site is being marketed at 8750 The Gore Road for a 55,000 sf, 5-storey office building (northwest corner of Queen Street East and The Gore Road) (refer to Appendix A – Map 7).
EXHIBIT 15
BRAM EAST SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Proximity to Highways 427 and 407. Züm bus rapid transit service along Queen Street. Weaknesses Considerable undeveloped land to the south along Highway 50 and to the east (in Vaughan) impacts the current “sense of place”. The area is currently not a “destination”. Feels physically removed from the built-up area of the city. Opportunities Due to location, could serve as a “gateway” to the city. Future development on vacant lands is an opportunity to create an employment cluster well served by amenities in a mixed-use setting. Nearby large and growing employment area to the east in Vaughan may present opportunities to provide business services from Bram East. Threats Allowing significant conversion of employment lands in this area could jeopardize its future potential as a business location.
Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from the preceding market review and SWOT analysis:
1. Demand for office space in Brampton has been scattered, not concentrated. The 15 new office developments since 2000 are dispersed throughout the city (refer to Appendix A – Map 8). 2. Current office areas are generally automobile-dependent with limited amenities nearby. Lack of concentrated office nodes makes it a challenge to offer tenants the needed nearby amenities such as shopping, restaurants and leisure opportunities – a high quality urban environment. 3. Better performing office areas have best highway accessibility. As the review of successful GTA suburban office nodes highlighted, it is no surprise that the City of Brampton’s most successful office locations (Bram West at Highway 407/Steeles Avenue West at Mississauga Road, and Fletcher’s Creek South along Hurontario Street between Highway 407 and Steeles Avenue West) are those located in the south, near Highway 407 and accessible to Highway 401. Relatively poorer highway accessibility hinders office development prospects for the Downtown area. 4. Existing character of planned office areas is varied. Planned office locations have different roles at present – some have no office space at all, while others have attracted development in recent years, with various sizes of buildings. 5. Planned transit enhancements will benefit some office locations. Future LRT service should benefit Fletcher’s Creek South, along with other office nodes connecting to the LRT via local transit, by providing enhanced transit linkages and improving labour force accessibility.
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The following (Exhibit 16) summarizes our conclusions regarding each of the planned office areas, with regard to their current and future role in accommodating office growth, the timing of such growth, and the type of office space that could be attracted.
EXHIBIT 16
OUTLOOK FOR PLANNED OFFICE AREAS Office Area Summary Central Area – Role: Challenging to construct a major office tower given physical constraints in the Downtown Downtown area. Could accommodate smaller office developments and multi-tenant product. Transit linkages north-south and east-west are key in providing labour force accessibility to this area. Type: Smaller and mid-sized offices seeking a mixed-use setting and Downtown amenities. Timing: Demand could accelerate once Hurontario LRT is operational and local transit linkages are enhanced. Central Area – Queen Role: Differs in role from Downtown, while still part of Central Area. Queen Street Corridor Street Corridor is not home to significant existing private sector office space. Other land uses will have greater marketability (commercial-retail and residential). Could accommodate smaller office developments and multi-tenant product. Improved transit could facilitate change. Type: Smaller and mid-sized offices seeking a mixed-use setting. Timing: Considered a longer-term prospect. Superior office locations exist elsewhere in the city. Bram West Role: Can accommodate freestanding major office buildings, including corporate headquarters. Considered the “prestige” office location in the city – functions like an extension of Meadowvale Corporate Centre in Mississauga. Type: Mid-sized and large office buildings in campus setting or in high-rise form. Timing: At present, and throughout the forecast horizon. Fletcher’s Creek Role: An important office corridor that acts as an extension of Hurontario office corridor in South Mississauga. Office buildings at Hurontario Street and County Court Boulevard form one of only two true “clusters” of office space in the city (the other being Downtown Brampton). Challenge is to identify sites for development/redevelopment to highest and best use. Type: Full range of office types and sizes. Timing: Current, but opportunities will intensify once Hurontario LRT is operational. Bramalea Road Role: While a large employment area, it is not currently home to any office space. With South Gateway limited vacant land available, the area could see office space on redeveloped sites in the future, if warranted by market demand. Proximity to the Bramalea GO station is an asset. Type: No precedent for office space at this location. Could accommodate a range of office types in the future, provided suitable redevelopment sites are identified. Timing: Considered a longer-term prospect. Enhanced GO service and future redevelopment at the large Canadian Tire warehouse site presents opportunities. Bram East Role: Although extensive undeveloped land exists and is permitted for office development, no office space currently exists in this area. In the future, it could serve as a “gateway” location, and accommodate office in a campus-style setting. Policy should continue to reflect this area as a location for office space, but it is recognized that other locations identified above will likely have greater near-term potential. Type: Potential for a full range of office types and sizes. Timing: Considered a longer-term prospect. Superior office locations exist elsewhere in the city.
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4.8 Focus on Heritage Heights
Introduction
Heritage Heights is the name of the greenfield future community formed by two secondary plan areas: Huttonville North (SPA 52), and Mount Pleasant West (SPA 53). It lies within northwest Brampton, and is bounded by Mayfield Road (north), the Credit River (south), Mississauga Road (east), and Winston Churchill Boulevard (west). Heritage Road bisects the area. The area is currently subject to secondary planning by the City (refer to Appendix A – Map 9).
As part of the City’s Municipal Comprehensive Review process, in September 2014, staff was directed to review the opportunity to create or supplement Office Nodes, including an assessment of the development potential for major office space in Heritage Heights. This section of the report is intended to address this requirement. The following presents an overview of the SWOT analysis for Heritage Heights (Exhibit 17), in the same fashion as was prepared earlier for the City’s existing designated office areas.
EXHIBIT 17
HERITAGE HEIGHTS SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Proximity to GO Station (Mt. Pleasant), located at Bovaird Drive West between Chinguacousy Road and Mississauga Road. Züm bus rapid transit service from GO Station to Queen Street. Weaknesses An unproven destination for office development. Considerable commuting distance from existing major highways. Although GO station is nearby, there is a need to make a bus connection. Opportunities Future major highway infrastructure to “unlock” the economic potential of the community – GTA West Corridor and Halton-Peel Freeway. Future provision of all-day, two-way service along the GO rail corridor. As population of the area grows, it will require professional services – businesses which are typically office occupiers. Establishment of a cluster of employment uses at the planned Osmington Regional Centre may be leveraged into some magnitude of office development. Threats Perception of other office sites in the city being a superior location limits the amount of office development that might occur locally. Long-term horizon of highway infrastructure emplacement causes planned mixed-use sites to be built as non-office uses.
Drive Time Analysis
Using Magnify Maps, which is mapping software linked to socio-economic data, a 30 and 45-minute (non-rush hour) drive time area was identified for four locations across the GTA suburbs. Heritage Heights was compared to three established office submarkets in order to identify the (2015 estimated) population and labour force within the drive time thresholds, which is considered to be a reasonable commuting time. The results of the analysis are as follows (Exhibit 18):
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EXHIBIT 18
DRIVE TIME ANALYSIS Market/Submarket Name Centre Point of Population (2015) Labour Force (2015) Mapping (30 Min / 45 Min) (30 Min / 45 Min) Heritage Heights Heritage Rd. and 2,690,000 6,280,000 2,180,000 5,200,000 Bovaird Dr. Mississauga – Airport Corporate Centre Matheson Blvd. & 4,480,000 6,760,000 3,710,000 5,580,000 Explorer Dr. Oakville – Central Oakville Dorval Dr. & QEW 3,360,000 6,180,000 2,780,000 5,110,000 Richmond Hill/Markham – Hwy. 404 Corridor Hwy. 404 & Hwy. 7 4,940,000 6,380,000 4,090,000 5,260,000 A significant portion of the 45-minute (non-rush hour) drive time to the north and west of Heritage Heights is rural in nature. The other three locations also have a significant share of the 45-minute (non-rush hour) drive time area extending beyond the urban boundary of the GTA. As a result, the drive time area for Heritage Heights has a population base and labour force size comparable to the other three locations.
When a 30-minute (non-rush hour) drive time range is considered, the labour pool for Heritage Heights declines significantly. The labour force (at 2.18 million) is only 42% of the size of the 45- minute labour force pool. This decline is much more pronounced than the other three locations (Hwy. 404 Corridor, 54%; Airport Corporate Centre, 66%; and Central Oakville the least affected, at 78%). This indicates that the additional 15-minute (non-rush hour) travel time to Heritage Heights has a more pronounced effect on the size of the available labour pool compared to the other three locations. The following mapping (Exhibit 19) illustrates the 45-minute (non-rush hour) drive time range for the four locations.
EXHIBIT 19
Heritage Heights Airport Corporate Centre
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Oakville Richmond Hill/Markham
The 45-minute (non-rush hour) drive time analysis indicates that the size of the labour force for Heritage Heights is comparable to other established office locations throughout the GTA suburbs, and is therefore not a definitive barrier to the prospective attraction of future office space in such a location. Since Heritage Heights falls within the drive time range of all four locations, the future build out of the community itself does not factor into these calculations (although it of course increases the population and labour force in the immediate proximity). When a 30-minute (non-rush hour) drive time is considered, the available labour pool diminishes significantly – and in a more pronounced way than the other three locations – confirming that Heritage Heights is a relatively outlying location. Corporate Office Space Outlook
Brampton has historically not attracted a significant share of the GTA’s new office supply. As noted in the per capita office space statistics provided above, the city lags well below the suburban average. Brampton has similarities with Oakville and Vaughan in that the existing stock of office buildings is generally not located in nodes, but rather is dispersed throughout the municipality. This is the opposite of Mississauga (Airport Corporate Centre, Meadowvale, Hurontario Corridor, Mississauga City Centre) and Richmond Hill/Markham (Highway 404 & Steeles, Highway 404 & Highway 7), which have sizable office concentrations.
Given the outlying location of Heritage Heights – not only within Brampton, but in particular the overall GTA suburban market – it is not likely to emerge as an office node. The provision of major transportation and transit infrastructure improvements – including the GTA West Corridor, the Halton- Peel Freeway, and two-way regional express rail service by GO Transit – would significantly improve accessibility to Heritage Heights. However, major office space in such a location would be pioneering, and is considered unlikely. Significant amenities for office workers would need to be integrated within the Heritage Heights community, including restaurants, shopping, and leisure opportunities. While major office should be permitted as a land use in Heritage Heights, it is not likely to be a significant component of the local employment base – even with substantially improved transportation and transit accessibility that is envisioned – given the competitive landscape across the GTA.
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Professional/Medical-Type Space Outlook
Site Selection Criteria
The site selection criteria for professional/medical buildings differ from major corporate offices. Small and medium sized business services firms (such as investment advisors, accountants, lawyers, real estate brokers, etc.) tend to locate near the residential population which are their target customers. This could include a commercial space in a retail strip plaza; the main or upper level of a neighbourhood shopping centre; a streetfront retail-commercial unit; or a conventional office building (as an owner-occupier or tenant of a small property, or as part of a multi-tenanted property). Similarly, medical-type office professionals such as doctor’s offices, dental offices, medical imaging clinics – and pharmacies associated with the preceding tenancies – often cluster together in a professional/medical-type office building, to offer complementary services to their clientele (in fact, it is not uncommon for some of these occupiers to have an investment in the building itself, as a real estate partnership). Such buildings often locate along major arterial routes in mixed-use areas offering easy access and visibility. As well, proximity to a hospital is often an added consideration.
Per Capita Demand
Demand for professional/medical-type office space comes in reaction to a growing residential base, as these businesses are generally population-serving uses. Accordingly, one approach to projecting future demand is by determining a benchmark for professional/medical-type office space per capita. Across a large urban area, this is challenging, given the broad “trade area” that these building may draw from. Similarly, proximity to a hospital can skew the inventory upward in such locations. To resolve these issues, C&W has used the Town of Bolton as a case study.
Located immediately north of the City of Brampton in the Town of Caledon, the population of the Town of Bolton was 25,954 according to the 2011 Census. The town is surrounded by rural land on all sides, making it a self-contained market, which benefits our analysis. There are three professional buildings in the community, which together total 76,200 sf. Based on this information, there is approximately 3 sf of professional/medical office space per capita in the community.
12295 Highway 50 – a two-storey, 28,300 sf building completed in 1982. 30 Martha Street – a three storey, 20,600 sf building completed in 1986. 170 McEwen Drive – a two storey, 27,300 sf building completed in 2006. The 3 sf of professional/medical-type office space per capita benchmark can be applied to Heritage Heights. Heritage Heights is being planned to accommodate approximately 43,000 people, according to City staff. This suggests that approximately 129,000 sf of professional/medical-type office space could be supported, upon build out. Importantly, this will need to be phased in over time as the population base grows. Notably, the planned Osmington Regional Centre at Mississauga Road and Bovaird Drive is a logical location for this type of use, as well as other mixed-use areas within the community.
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5.0 DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
5.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
In this section of the report, the role of a vibrant office market within a municipality is explored. As well, an examination of the municipally-controllable elements of office development costs is provided, in considering the economics of office construction. A prototypical office construction cost model is provided for review. Next, the report examines community improvement planning and its role in encouraging office development. Finally, we examine the municipal revenues in the form of property taxes, development charges, and building permit revenue associated with the anticipated office demand associated with office employment growth projections contained in this report.
5.2 The Role of Office in Balanced Growth
Value of Office Space
The presence of an established and growing office market within a municipality provides a range of benefits – both financial and non-financial. “Balanced growth” can refer to municipal finances, providing a range of local employment opportunities, or other interpretations. Among the benefits of attracting new office development include the following:
More balanced tax base – Office properties contribute to the property tax base of a municipality, lessening the burden on residents to contribute towards municipal services. Spin-off economic activity – The generation of retail and entertainment/cultural jobs required to serve as amenities for office workers. Office nodes tend to also contain a cluster of retail and other amenities to cater to the nearby workforce. Improved activity rate – The “activity rate” is the ratio of jobs to the overall population within a municipality. Providing increased opportunities to work close to home is a goal in creating a more “complete community”. Reduced traffic congestion – One of the effects of providing opportunities to live and work in proximity is reduced commuting time (hence, reduced congestion). Increased public transportation ridership – Office jobs tend to be a high density type of land use, with a high concentration of workers (compared to industrial or retail employment, for example) – and often cluster together in nodes. This facilitates opportunities to serve office nodes via public transportation with ridership levels that are supportive of such service levels. Further, office nodes can create a destination for the transit system in a direction opposite to residential uses, which provides balance within the system. Achieving density targets – as noted above, larger scale office developments tend to be among the highest employment density types of job. This helps a municipality achieve its provincially- mandated density targets in accommodating growth, whether in greenfield locations or in identified urban centres.
5.3 Analysis of Municipally-Controllable Development Costs
Introduction
A comparison of municipally-controllable costs will illustrate building permit fees, development charges, and other fees/expenses in Brampton relative to other GTA municipalities. This will provide an understanding of the financial opportunities and constraints that affect office location decisions by developers.
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Development is also subject to the fulfilment of parkland dedication requirements, which may require the payment of cash-in-lieu of parkland payment prior to the issuance of a building permit. This is not considered in our comparative analysis, since land values can vary greatly depending on the location of a property, and because the parkland dedication may be able to be accommodated on the subject lands (rather than representing an actual cash element in a development pro forma). Building Permit Fees
The following exhibit (Exhibit 20) presents a comparison of building permit fees for office development across various GTA suburban municipalities. In relative terms, the fees for the City of Brampton are in line with the average for the seven markets examined (which are the most active municipalities, in terms of suburban office development activity).
EXHIBIT 20
BUILDING PERMIT FEE COMPARISON Municipality $ per sf $ per m2 Effective Date Brampton $1.44 $15.52 2015 Burlington (1) $1.71 $18.40 Current Oakville (2) $2.02 $21.78 2015 Mississauga $1.49 $16.00 January, 2015 Vaughan $1.23 $13.25 Current Richmond Hill $1.18 $12.70 April, 2015 Markham $1.37 $14.77 Current Average $1.49 $16.06 Note 1: 2-10 storeys in height. Note 2: 1-9 storeys in height.
Development Charges
The current development charge rate (effective October 5, 2015) for office buildings in the City of Brampton is $256.24 per m2 ($23.81 per sf). Of this charge, 18% is municipally-controllable; the remainder is attributable to Regional charges and School Board charges (Peel District School Board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board). The components of the development charge calculation are illustrated in the exhibit below (Exhibit 21).
EXHIBIT 21
DC CALCULATION – BRAMPTON Component $ per sf $ per m2 % of Total City of Brampton $4.30 $46.25 18% Region of Peel $18.50 $199.12 78% Education – Public $0.45 $4.84 2% Education – Catholic $0.56 $6.03 2% Total $23.81 $256.24 100% Note: DC rates effective Oct. 5, 2015
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The exhibit below (Exhibit 22) compares the development charge rates for office development across various GTA municipalities. Notably, the development charge rate for office development in Brampton is only slightly greater than the average of these seven suburban municipalities.
EXHIBIT 22
DC COMPARISON Municipality $ per sf $ per m2 Effective Date Brampton $23.81 $256.24 October 5, 2015 Burlington (1) $18.33 $197.30 June 8, 2015 Oakville (1) $21.40 $230.30 June 8, 2015 Mississauga (2) $28.62 $308.05 Current Vaughan (3) $25.71 $276.70 July 1, 2015 Richmond Hill (4) $25.47 $274.11 July 1, 2015 Markham (5) $21.78 $234.47 July 1, 2015 Average $23.59 $253.88 Note 1: Within the Built Boundary. Note 2: Plus Storm Water Management charge of $91,727.94 per hectare. Note 3: Special Area Development Charges may also be applicable. Note 4: Area-specific charge are also in place. Note 5: Plus City-Wide Hard charge of $227,133 per net hectare. Area-specific charge are also in place.
Conclusions
The comparative review of building permit fees and development charges indicates that Brampton’s municipally-controllable fees are within the average among the most active seven suburban municipalities that are seeing new office development. Therefore this cannot be considered a contributing factor influencing the site selection considerations for suburban office developers.
5.4 Construction Cost Analysis
Overview of Cost Elements
We have prepared the simplified office development construction cost estimate illustrated below (exhibit 23) utilizing the Altus Construction Cost Guide 2015. This annual publication provides guidance regarding the “hard” (i.e. physical) construction costs of various forms of development. The “soft” costs – such as land, architectural and engineering fees, design consultants, permits and development charges, and other such costs – are not included in the Altus costing. However, these fees generally amount to 20% to 30% of hard costs – as a rule of thumb. For the land value, we have relied upon two recent office land transaction in the city.
The purpose of this office development cost estimate is to illustrate the share of the overall cost that constituted by municipally-controllable costs, which include building permit fees and development charges (and parkland dedication, where this element cannot be accommodated on excess site area) – answering the question of “what share of development costs can be influenced by a municipality?” The costs identified below pertain to a hypothetical 4-storey, 80,000 sf office building, with surface parking, and average quality building finishes.
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EXHIBIT 23
OFFICE CONSTRUCTION COST ANALYSIS Cost Item Low High Average ($ per sf) ($ per sf) ($ per sf) Land Cost (1) $40 $45 $43 Hard Costs – Building Shell (2) $170 $210 $190 Hard Cost – Interior Finish (2) $75 $105 $90 Soft Costs (3) $74 $110 $92 Developer Profit (4) $36 $71 $54 Total $394 $541 $469 (1) As land sale comparables, the Air Canada Global Operations Centre lands (99 Ironbridge Road) sold for $800,000 per acre ($45 psf buildable), and the Canon HQ (8000 Mississauga Road) lands sold for $1,300,000 per acre ($43 psf buildable). Source: RealNet. (2) Includes cost of surface parking. Source: Altus Construction Cost Guide 2015. (3) Low = 30% of Hard Costs; High = 35% of Hard Costs; Average = 33% of Hard Costs. (4) Low = 10% of All Costs; High = 15% of All Costs; Average = 13% of All Costs.
Conclusions
In Brampton, municipally-controllable costs attributable to new office development – building permit fees of $1.44 psf and City of Brampton development charges of $4.30 psf – constitute roughly a 1.2% share of the overall development costs. Therefore, the City has little control over the cost of development. Overall, building permit fees and total development charges (including those levied by the Region of Peel and the local School Boards) account for a roughly 5% share of the overall cost of office development in Brampton.
5.5 Development Incentives and Other Municipal Tools
Community Improvement Planning
CIP Overview
Community improvement planning is one of the many sustainable community planning tools found in the Ontario Planning Act. It can help municipalities address some of the challenges associated with economic development, as it provides a means of planning and financing development activities that effectively use, reuse, and restore lands, buildings and infrastructure. Community Improvement Plans (CIPs) are one of the ways (not the only way) a municipality can have a direct fiscal impact on private sector development/redevelopment activities.
CIPs are being developed to address growth management challenges, site contamination, intensification, energy efficiency, mixed-use and transit/bicycle oriented development, accessibility, and the emerging needs of an aging baby-boom generation. Some municipalities are using Community Improvement Plans as an incentive for encouraging development that meets recognized environmental standards, such as LEED®, while others use them to attract certain kinds of employment uses.
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Broadly speaking, CIP elements can be categorized into two types:
1. Those aimed at promoting reinvestment in an existing property. 2. Those that trigger redevelopment of a property (or development on a vacant site).
Among the incentive-based programs targeted at property owners (grant, loan, and property tax assistance-driven mechanisms) that may be appropriate for Brampton include:
Accessibility enhancements Brownfield environmental assessment, remediation, and redevelopment Commercial building façade improvements Downtown revitalization Preservation and adaptive reuse of heritage and industrial buildings Property tax assistance for remediation purposes Space conversion for commercial uses Structural improvements to buildings (i.e. Building Code upgrades) There are also other non-CIP activities that need to be considered by the City as part of the “package” of incentives, including development charges, application fees, parking standards, and parkland dedication requirements. The key will be to determine which program, or package of programs, will be sufficient to achieve the desired development/redevelopment objectives. The focus of this examination will be on those CIP elements which may be most appropriate for the City to pursue in attracting new office development.
Central Area Community Improvement Plan
The Central Area Community Improvement Plan (CIP) was approved by Council in November 2007, came into force in January 2008, and was amended in June 2010. The CIP establishes a toolbox of programs designed to support specific planning objectives by aligning financial incentives with the identified planning goals. Individual incentive programs are established when needed by way of approval of Implementation Guidelines and a corresponding budget. Yearly update reports are provided giving a status on the CIP and its programs and new program development.
The following are elements of the Central Area Community Improvement Plan:
Development Charge Incentive Program (DCIP) – This is the largest of the CIP program elements, in financial terms. The Development Charges Incentive Program seeks to support intensification and mixed-use development in targeted areas within the Central Area, by providing relief from City Development Charges. The level of DC reduction is established by way of a scoring system. The higher the project scores against the set of criteria (location, preferred type of development, high quality physical environment, and community benefit and sustainability), the greater the discount. Implementation Guidelines set out the rules, eligibility criteria, process requirements, monitoring, and other matters related to the governance of the program. Façade Improvement Program – The aim of the Facade Improvement Program is to support the ongoing revitalization of the historic Downtown core, by way of providing supporting grants to offset costs related to façade improvements undertaken by landowners and businesses. Improved building appearances enhance the overall attractiveness of the area for new business, for shoppers, and for people wishing to live, work and/or conduct business in the area. Building Improvement Program – The aim of the Building Improvement Program is to support the ongoing revitalization of the historic Downtown core, by way of providing supporting grants to offset costs related to improvements to building systems and tenant space, and encouraging reinvestment and improvements to buildings in the program area.
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To date, funding under the Central Area CIP has been largely related to residential projects, some of which contained a modest commercial space component. Condominium/apartment developments account for 13 projects (1,778 units, plus approximately 71,000 sf of commercial space [6,575 m2]), while townhouse developments account for a further six projects (173 units). Five small office projects accounting for roughly 29,000 sf of space (2,700 m2) have received a modest $94,000 out of the total $17.9 million in overall funding (0.5% of the total). Tax Increment Financing
Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy to spur redevelopment, infrastructure emplacement, and other community-improvement projects, as a means of “value capture”. Through the TIF mechanism, a municipality can dedicate future tax revenues to be derived from the investment being subsidized toward an economic development objective in the community. TIF subsidies are not appropriated directly from the budget of a municipality, but the municipality incurs a loss in the form of foregone future tax revenue. The timing of phasing in the full property tax of a property is part of the structure of the TIF mechanism. The intent is to entice development/redevelopment and foster change in the market, which will hopefully be a catalyst to even more growth. Other Planning Tools
The preceding sections have focused on incentive-based planning tools to stimulate office development. However, it is worth noting that among the municipally-driven programs that may also be appropriate for Brampton include:
Infrastructure works – particularly public transit service enhancements, to improve workforce accessibility to planned office areas. Municipal property acquisition, land assembly, and sale of lands – identifying key parcels that may be suited for office development. Public space, parks, and recreation works – to improve the public realm in places where office- type development is desired. Signage, streetscape, and landscaping improvements – additional public realm improvements, to make the local environment appealing for office tenants.
5.6 Municipal Revenues
Introduction
Based upon the new office construction forecast presented earlier in this report, this section identifies the prospective municipal revenues associated with such development. The timing of this analysis is from 2016-2041. Over this horizon, Hemson projects office employment growth which Cushman & Wakefield has translated to a need for approximately 6 million sf of gross leasable area. To utilize this figure in a calculation of municipal revenues, it is necessary to “gross-up” this amount of office space to account for space within an office building that is built, but not leasable (such as lobbies and common areas), since these charges are based upon total floor area/gross floor area. For modeling purposes, we have used a benchmark gross-up of 7% (for every 100 sf of leasable office space, there is an additional 7 sf of unleasable space constructed), to reflect efficient, new building construction. The “grossed up” amount totals 6.45 million sf from 2016-2041.
Note that this preceding figure reflects private sector office employment (Major Office Employment); public sector office-type uses (which would be exempt from certain charges) are not included in this calculation. It also excludes office space that may be constructed for population-related uses (such as medical/professional offices). For modeling purposes, an inflation rate of 2.0% is assumed, along with a discount rate of 2.0% (indicated by City staff).
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The following elements are examined:
building permit revenue – based on the estimated floor space; development charges – based on the estimated floor space; and, property taxes – based on an estimate of building value and the property tax rate. Projected Building Permit Revenue
Projected building permit revenue is determined by multiplying the new office space added each year by the building permit fee (currently $1.44 psf). The building permit fee is increased at a rate of 2.0% annual inflation in future years. Future cash flow is discounted at a rate of 2.0% to derive a present value.
Present Value: $9,300,000 Projected Development Charge Revenue
Projected development charge revenue is determined by multiplying the new office space added each year by the development charge (currently $4.30 psf). The development charge is increased at a rate of 2.0% annual inflation in future years. Future cash flow is discounted at a rate of 2.0% to derive a present value.
Present Value: $27,770,000 Projected Property Tax Revenue
The average assessed value of new office space is assumed to be $210 psf, based on a review of a sample of recently completed properties in Brampton (Loblaw HQ at 1 President’s Choice Circle, Medtronic HQ at 99 Hereford Street, and 7685 Hurontario Street. Applying the current commercial tax rate (0.648306%) indicates a charge of $1.36 psf. The projected property tax revenue is determined by multiplying the cumulative new office space added each year by the property tax rate, which is increased at a rate of 2.0% annual inflation in future years. Future cash flow is discounted at a rate of 2.0% to derive a present value. Existing office buildings (constructed 2015 and earlier) are excluded from this calculation.
Present Value: $113,470,000 Cumulative Municipal Revenue from New Office Construction Forecast
The preceding analysis indicates the following value (all figures have been rounded to the nearest $10,000) from projected new office construction from 2016-2041: Present Value: $150,540,000
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6.0 PLANNING POLICY
6.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
The following section provides a review of Provincial and Regional planning policy. It also examines the Brampton Official Plan (BOP), along with select secondary plans, and zoning pertaining to office uses in select locations. The section concludes with a review of Official Plan policies related to office uses in other municipalities.
The purpose of the following policy review is to:
Provide a summary of the requirements of Provincial and Regional planning policies with respect to the accommodation of office and major offices uses in a broader growth management and urban structure context; To understand how the current Brampton planning policy regime – including the Official Plan (BOP), and selected Secondary Plans and zoning regulations – respond to those planning policy directives, and to identify where office uses and major office uses are accommodated within the City’s planned urban structure, and how they are to be developed; and, To review a number of other municipal Official Plans, and to analyze their approach to growth management, and the accommodation of office and major office uses within their associated planned urban structures.
6.2 The Provincial and Regional Planning Policy Framework
The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS)
The Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) provides an overall planning policy framework applicable across Ontario. It is a requirement that the City of Brampton’s planning documents, and planning decisions, are consistent with the PPS.
The PPS does not provide any specific policy direction with respect to major office, or office uses. Rather, it speaks more generically about the role and importance of employment uses. For example, Policy 1.1.1 states:
“Healthy, liveable and safe communities are sustained by:…”
“b) accommodating an appropriate range and mix of residential…employment (including industrial and commercial), institutional…recreation, park and open space, and other uses to meet long-term needs;”…
This general concept with respect to the accommodation of a range and mix of employment generating land uses is further articulated and supported in Policy 1.3.1, which states:
“Planning authorities shall promote economic development and competitiveness by:
a) providing for an appropriate mix and range of employment and institutional uses to meet long-term needs;
b) providing opportunities for a diversified economic base, including maintaining a range and choice of suitable sites for employment uses which support a wide range of economic activities and ancillary uses, and take into account the needs of existing and future businesses;”…
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The PPS also provides some general direction with respect to an appropriate planned urban structure in Policy 1.2.4, which states:
“Where planning is conducted by an upper-tier municipality, the upper-tier municipality, in consultation with lower-tier municipalities shall:…”
“b) identify areas where growth or development will be directed, including the identification of nodes and corridors linking these nodes;”…
Expanding upon the guidance for establishing an urban structure, the PPS goes further in Policy 1.7.1, which states:
“Long-term economic prosperity should be supported by:”…
“c) maintaining and, where possible, enhancing the vitality and viability of downtowns and mainstreets;”… Places to Grow: P2G for the Greater Golden Horseshoe
Places to Grow (P2G) is applicable to all municipalities within the Greater Golden Horseshoe. It is a requirement that the City of Brampton’s Official Plan, and subsequent land use planning decisions, conform to P2G. Much like the PPS, P2G provides policy guidance for a planned urban structure, and generally, how employment-generating land uses are to be allocated within that structure. P2G also talks more specifically about the role of the various types of employment uses, and provides some direction on the allocation and location of “major office” uses.
Fundamental to P2G is Schedule 3, which identifies population and employment forecasts for the Region of Peel to the year 2041. Of interest to this analysis, and while Schedule 3 does not provide this data, it is based on detailed employment forecasts by employment type that are part of a background report to P2G prepared by Hemson Consulting Ltd. While those forecasts are at a Regional scale, they certainly identify significant employment growth in all of the major office, population-related, and employment land employment categories. It is correct to say that the City of Brampton is expected to accommodate substantial employment growth in the office sector, which includes office development at all scales and of all types.
With respect to the urban structure, P2G states:
In Chapter 1 Introduction, P2G provides policy directions that “direct growth to built-up areas where the capacity exists to best accommodate the expected population and employment growth”… P2G provides further directions that “promote transit-supportive densities and a healthy mix of residential and employment land uses”… to “preserve employment areas for future economic opportunities”… Chapter 2 Where and How to Grow, reiterates those themes, and adds more detail with respect to defined elements of the urban structure, including Downtown Brampton, which is a defined Urban Growth Centre. P2G states: “This Plan envisages increasing intensification of the existing built-up area, with a focus on urban growth centres, intensification corridors, major transit station areas, brownfield sites and greyfields”… P2G goes on to state: “The revitalization of urban growth centres is particularly important, not only because they can accommodate additional people and jobs, but because they will increasingly be regional focal points.” Also in Chapter 2, P2G states that “it is important to ensure an adequate supply of land for employment areas and other employment uses.” These statements set the stage for P2G, identifying a number of key themes:
Direct growth to built-up areas; Promote a mix of employment opportunities; Promote development at transit-supportive densities;
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Promote the intensification of the urban growth centre, intensification corridors, major transit station areas, brownfield sites and greyfields, paying particular attention to the urban growth centre; and, Protect employment areas and ensure an adequate supply of land for employment areas and other employment uses. These key themes are substantially similar to the themes promoted within the PPS. The key themes are subsequently supported by a number of policies within P2G, including policies that deal with employment-generating land uses, and specifically, major office and office uses. For example:
Section 2.2.4.4 c) states that “Urban growth centres will be planned”… “to serve as high density major employment centres that will attract provincially, nationally or internationally significant employment uses”… Section 2.2.5.1 states that “major transit station areas and intensification corridors will be designated in official plans and planned to achieve – b) a mix of residential, office, institutional and commercial development”… Importantly in Section 2.2.6.4, P2G very explicitly states that “major office and appropriate major institutional development should be located in urban growth centres, major transit station areas, or areas with existing frequent transit service, or existing or planned higher order transit service”… P2G also provides some useful definitions. First, the definition of Employment Area is: “Areas designated in an official plan for clusters of business and economic activities including, but not limited to, manufacturing, warehousing, offices, and associated retail and ancillary facilities.” Second, there is also a definition for major office: “Major office is generally defined as a freestanding office building of 10,000 square metres or greater, or with 500 jobs or more.” Region of Peel Official Plan (RPOP)
The Region of Peel Official Plan (RPOP) is consistent with the PPS and conforms to P2G. It is a requirement that the City of Brampton’s Official Plan (BOP) conform to the Region of Peel Official Plan.
Figure 4 of the RPOP includes population and employment forecasts for the City of Brampton to the year 2031. It anticipates substantial employment growth for the City – 314,000 jobs by 2031. The RPOP does not provide employment projections by employment type.
Schedule D of the RPOP identifies that the City of Brampton is included within the “Urban System” and includes a “Conceptual Urban Growth Centre” and a “Regional Intensification Corridor”, which runs along Hurontario Street. Both of these structural elements are similarly identified in the City’s Official Plan. Schedule D4 further identifies the “Built-Up Area” and the “Designated Greenfield Area” – both of which have an important role to play in accommodating growth within the City of Brampton.
Within the defined “Urban System”, Section 5.3.3 of the RPOP states that: “Urban growth centres and the Regional Intensification Corridor, as shown on Schedule D, are major locations of intensification that include compact forms of urban development and redevelopment providing a range and mix of housing, employment, recreation, entertainment, civic, cultural and other activities”… “The urban growth centres and Regional Intensification Corridor are also focal points for investment in region- wide public services and infrastructure, including major transit infrastructure.”
The RPOP also identifies that “In addition to the urban growth centres and the Regional Intensification Corridor that are identified in this Plan, there are also urban nodes and corridors in Peel that are identified in the area municipal official plans and Metrolinx has also identified a series of mobility hubs in Peel and throughout the GTHA in the Regional Transportation Plan. All of these urban forms support intensification and public transit.” The various rapid transit corridors and mobility hubs in Brampton are identified on Schedule G.
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Policy 5.3.3.1.3 states that it is an objective of Council “To achieve Urban Growth Centres that incorporate a range and mix of residential and employment opportunities.” Policy 5.3.3.2.1 goes on to state that it is a policy of Council to “provide opportunities for compact forms of urban development and redevelopment with high density employment uses such as: commercial, office and major institutional”…within the defined urban growth centres.
It is also a policy of Council, as stated in policy 5.3.3.2.6, to identify Hurontario Street as a corridor that provides “a high intensity, compact urban form with an appropriate mix of uses including commercial, office, residential, recreational and major institutional”…
Policy 5.3.3.2.8 further states that other Regional Intensification Corridors may be identified for “the establishment of a high intensity, compact urban form which provides a mix of commercial, office and major institutional”…
This series of policies indicate that it is the intention of the Region to promote the urban structure of urban centres, connected by a series of intensification corridors throughout Brampton and Mississauga. This urban structure does not limit the ability of office uses to be established in any urban centre or corridor, subject to the policies and designation of the local municipal official plans. This approach to accommodating intensified development is consistent with the PPS and is in conformity with P2G. In addition, this urban structure is also further articulated in the City of Brampton’s Official Plan (BOP), as is required by the RPOP.
Schedule D also identifies, within the “Designated Greenfield Area”, the “North West Brampton Urban Development Area.” The “North West Brampton Urban Development Area” includes an “Existing GO Rail Station” and a “Potential Mobility Hub – Gateway” on Schedule G. Section 5.3.4 of the RPOP provides a policy framework for this identified area that is to be further articulated by local Secondary Plans. The “North West Brampton Urban Development Area” is expected to accommodate urban greenfield development, but the RPOP is not specific about the mix of uses that will be accommodated – although it is anticipated that some component of the forecast employment growth will be included.
Section 5.5 of the RPOP deals with Growth Management. It includes relatively typical policies that follow the themes of the PPS and P2G, and sets targets for growth accommodation in the “Designated Greenfield Areas”, and through intensification. The policies that are specific to the elements of intensification include:
Policy 5.5.3.1.7, which states that it is an objective “To intensify employment areas to optimize lands for future growth.” Policy 5.5.3.1.8, which states that it is an objective “To achieve a diverse and compatible mix of land uses including residential and employment uses to support vibrant neighbourhoods.” Policy 5.5.3.2.7, which states that it is a policy of Council to “Require the area municipalities to develop intensification strategies that, among other things, identify intensification areas such as urban growth centres, intensification corridors, urban nodes, major transit station areas and other intensification areas to support a mix of residential, employment, office, institutional and commercial development where appropriate, and to ensure development of a viable transit system.” With more specific reference to employment areas, the RPOP states that:
“Employment areas are key centres of economic activity designated in area municipal official plans. These lands will remain important for the Region to maintain a healthy economy and will accommodate uses such as manufacturing, warehousing, offices, and associated retail and ancillary facilities.”
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Other policies that are specific to employment areas are as follows:
Policy 5.6.1.5 states that it is an objective “To concentrate higher density employment uses in appropriate locations such as urban growth centres, the Regional Intensification Corridor, mobility hubs, nodes and corridors and in other areas served by transit.” Policy 5.6.1.6 states that it is an objective “To plan for, protect, and preserve employment areas for employment uses.” Policy 5.6.2.6 states that it is a policy of Council to “Protect and support employment areas for employment uses as defined in area municipal official plans. For the purposes of this policy, employment areas are those that contain lands designated:”… “Office, Industrial and certain Business Corridor lands, as further defined in the BOP.” Policy 5.6.2.9 states that it is a policy of Council to “Encourage high density employment uses such as major office and appropriate major institutional development to locate in urban growth centres, in proximity to major transit station areas, mobility hubs and areas with existing frequent transit service, or existing or planned higher order transit service.” This set of objectives and policies indicate that office uses are generally permitted within the key elements of the urban structure, including urban growth centres, the Regional Intensification Corridor, mobility hubs, nodes and corridors, and in other areas served by transit. Office uses are also anticipated and permitted within employment areas and in fact, office agglomerations are, in themselves, considered to be employment areas. Just like in P2G, the major office category of development is really only mentioned in one specific policy (5.6.2.9), where an “encouragement” statement identifies the desire that “high density employment uses such as major office and appropriate major institutional development locate in urban growth centres, in proximity to major transit station areas, mobility hubs, and areas with existing frequent transit service or existing or planned higher order transit service.” In the RPOP the use of the word “encourage” in this policy indicates that it is a desire and not a requirement. Summary Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from our review of Provincial and Regional planning policy related to office employment uses:
1. The PPS, P2G, and RPOP share key themes, and provide a policy framework for achieving those themes. P2G goes a step further by providing regional population and employment growth forecasts and somewhat more detail/direction for the accommodation of employment uses within the planned urban structure. P2G does become somewhat more specific by identifying where office uses, and particularly where major office uses, are to be promoted. 2. RPOP takes the forecasts from P2G and further subdivides and allocates those forecasts to the constituent municipalities of Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon. To a great extent, RPOP mimics the policy approaches and, in some cases, the wording of P2G. The approach to growth management and the planned urban structure promoted in RPOP is in conformity with the requirements of P2G. 3. Overall, office uses, including major office uses, are employment uses that are permitted within employment areas, urban growth centres, intensification corridors, and major transit station areas. In general, office uses are a very desirable land use that can achieve the higher densities that are desired throughout the planned urban structure. 4. There is no specific prohibition of any office use, major or otherwise, within any employment land category, or mixed-use category. The only policy directive that provides any additional guidance with respect to the location of major office uses is Section 2.2.6.4 of P2G and 5.6.2.9 of RPOP where major office development should be, or is encouraged to be, located in urban growth centres, major transit station areas, or areas with existing frequent transit service, or existing or planned higher order transit service. The use of the word “should” or “encourage” in these policy statements indicates that it is a desire and not a requirement.
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5. With respect to the application of this policy framework in the City of Brampton, there is substantial flexibility for Brampton to establish its own specific strategy for the accommodation of office uses, and major office uses within its urban structure. While P2G and the RPOP establish the quantum for employment-generating development within Brampton, the City can determine how to allocate the various types of employment – including major office employment – in terms of quantum by type, and the locations for each type of employment.
6.3 City of Brampton Existing Planning Regime
Brampton Official Plan (BOP)
Policy Review
The City of Brampton’s Official Plan (BOP) applies to all lands within the municipality. It is a requirement that the BOP conform to RPOP and P2G. It is also a requirement that the BOP be consistent with the PPS. The following is a summary of some of the key policies of the BOP that are related to growth management, the planned urban structure, and the accommodation of office and major office development.
In Section 2, Context of the 2006 Official Plan, there are relatively general statements about employment growth, and a description about how Brampton has evolved, economically, over the past 40 years. There is recognition that office and service facilities have grown, but at a slower pace than traditional manufacturing. The Plan states: “This Plan aims to encourage an appropriate mix of industrial and manufacturing employment with office development opportunities in strategic locations.” pp. 2-5.
The Plan further recognizes that “excellent existing and future access via road, rail, and air, ensures a good competitive position for Brampton in attracting commercial, office, and industrial establishments.” pp. 2-6.
In Section 3.2, Sustainable City Structure, and on Schedule 1 – City Concept, the Plan identifies the key elements of the City’s urban structure where employment generating land uses, including office uses, are to be located, including:
The Central Area that includes the Urban Growth Centre; Major Transit Station Areas (there are five of these on Schedule 1); Mobility Hubs (there is one “Anchor Mobility Hub,” which is within the Central Area, and three “Gateway Mobility Hubs”); Intensification Corridors (which correspond to the arterial road network, and include Intensification Corridors, Secondary Intensification Corridors and Primary Intensification Corridors); and, Employment Areas (there are a number of Employment Areas identified, including those that are developed, and Greenfield Employment Areas). In addition, Schedule A – General Land Use Designations identifies an Office Designation, Business Corridor Designation, and an Industrial Designation that denote land areas within the Employment Areas that are to include clusters of business and economic activities including, but not limited to: manufacturing, warehousing, offices, and associated retail and ancillary uses. Office uses are also permitted on lands designated Retail on Schedule A2 (policy 4.3.1.4, pp. 4.3-2).
Both Schedule 1 and Schedule A identify the North West Brampton Urban Development Area which is expected to, over time, accommodate opportunities for mixed use, including employment areas that are targeted for higher order, high density employment uses.
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Overall, there are multiple opportunities for the development of office uses within the Brampton urban structure; however, the accommodation of Major Office uses (Major Office generally means freestanding office buildings of 10,000 square metres or greater, or with 500 jobs or more) are specifically identified in:
The vision for the Central Area and Urban Growth Centre, which includes “Major office, as well as other high density employment uses…” The Major Transit Station in Bram West, where the Plan states that “the Major Transit Station Area in Bram West will be developed and reinforced as the city’s major office centre outside of the Central Area where the highest densities of office development are planned.” (policy 3.2.4, pp. 3-11) All of the other elements of the urban structure noted here include the intention to accommodate office uses within them, but, at least in Section 1, 2 and 3, there is no explicit permission for Major Office development, except as noted above.
Central Area Policies – In Section 4.1, policy 4.1.2, the Central Area will serve as the major location for freestanding or mixed-use development including: “A full range of office, retail and service activities.” Further, policy 4.1.3 states: “The City shall encourage Major Offices, hotels, convention centres and institutional uses to locate within the Central Area.” (pp. 4.1-3). In policies 4.1.7 and 4.1.8, the Plan provides a full slate of empowering policies to consider financial and other development incentives that would be aimed at stimulating or supporting desired development within the Central Area. Commercial Policies – In paragraph 3 of Section 4.3, the Plan States that: “In addition to the Central Area, there are a number of designations for office development in the Official Plan as shown in Schedule “A”. These areas form part of the City’s employment areas and contribute to the achievement of the employment forecasts set out within Section 2 of this plan. Some of these areas are also identified as mobility hubs and major transit station areas on the City Concept schedule, as they are strategically located with respect to the transportation system and other important site attributes.” (pp. 4.3-1). − Policy 4.3.1.4 states that “office uses are permitted within Retail designations as set out in this Section…” (pp. 4.3-2). − Policy 4.3.1.6 identifies that the development of some office/mixed-use projects will be governed by a hierarchy of maximum density guidelines, to be specified in Secondary Plans. (pp. 4.3-3). − Policy 4.3.2.8 indicates that within the Retail designation of the Plan, “mixed-use development is encouraged that envisions retail and community/institutional uses at grade, integrated with office and residential uses developed at upper storeys.” (pp. 4.3-7). − Policy 4.3.6.1 indicates that “small-scale business, retail, office, or service commercial sites or clusters, ranging up to approximately 2 hectares in size, that do not fit the Local Retail definitions, may also be designated in predominantly residential Secondary Plans without needing an amendment to this Plan.” (pp. 4.3-12). Business Corridor Designation – In Section 4.4.1 that deals specifically with the Business Corridor designation, policy 4.4.1.2 indicates that office uses are permitted, subject to size and locational criteria. In addition, the policy states that Major Offices may be permitted if they are suitably designated in a Secondary Plan, and are also located within a Mobility Hub, or Intensification Corridor. Further, Major Offices may be permitted on appropriately designated Business Corridor lands if they are not within a Mobility Hub, or Intensification Corridor, subject to an Official Plan Amendment that has had appropriate regard to the potential impact of such a development on the Central Area. (pp. 4.4-4)
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Industrial Designation – The preamble to Section 4.4.2 refers to “Corporate head offices”, and policy 4.4.2.2 cites “employment growth to include limited amount of… office…” In Section 4.4.2 that deals specifically with the Industrial designation, policy 4.4.2.5 states that within Secondary Plan that primarily permits industrial land uses, sub-designations may be included that permit: “ancillary office uses, corporate office uses in association with and industrial function, and industrial-serving business uses within industrial malls.” (pp. 4.4-9). Further, within a Secondary Plan that permits industrial, business, or similar uses, sub-designations may be included that permit: “ancillary office uses, corporate office uses in association with and industrial function, industrial serving business uses within industrial malls, and freestanding office uses, subject to a City review on the basis of criteria…” (pp. 4.4-11). Office Designation – Section 4.4.3 of the Plan states: “A number of Office designations on Schedule “A” of the Official Plan may presently have lower order commercial or employment uses, but have the potential to transition into areas with an office concentration and, as such, should be protected for such a purpose, where appropriate.” (pp. 4.4-18) “Although other smaller scale offices may locate in Retail and Employment land designations of this Plan, such uses are inherently more flexible and do not require the same critical mass of office space to maintain their attractiveness for such uses.” (pp. 4.4-18). − Policy 4.4.3.2 states that: “Major Offices are encouraged to locate in Office designations, as well as the Central Area. Major Offices are also encouraged to locate in Regional Retail, Industrial, and Business Corridor designations that are within Mobility Hubs and Intensification Corridors shown on Schedule 1.” (pp. 4.4-19). − Policy 4.4.3.7 and Schedule “A” identify the four designated Office Centres, which are expected to accommodate Major Office buildings: » The Mississauga Road Corridor Office Centre in the Bram West Secondary Plan – Bram West shall be developed and reinforced as the major office activity area for the City, outside of the Central Area/Urban Growth Centre, and is planned to permit the highest densities for office development. This is an important recognition of the importance of this area in the Brampton urban structure hierarchy; » The Bramalea Road South Gateway Office Centre – This area is recognized as an urban gateway to the city from the south. The development of this area for significant concentrations of office buildings is based on the planned expansion of the Bramalea GO Station to include all-day, two-way train services; excellent accessibility to Highway 407; and, the functional integration of public transit facilities; » The South Fletcher’s Courthouse Area Office Centre – This area accommodates a significant agglomeration of institutional buildings including the Provincial Offences Office, Courthouses, and the Peel Regional Police Headquarters, in addition to a number of other office buildings; and, » The Bram East Office Centre – The Bram East Area shall be designated in a Secondary Plan to provide a minimum of 100,000 square feet of office development, directed to prominent intersections along Queen Street. Summary Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from our review of the City of Brampton’s Official Plan:
1. The BOP conforms to RPOP and P2G, and is consistent with the PPS. The BOP has appropriately incorporated an urban structure that includes centres and corridors, and promotes transit-supportive development, and the development of complete communities in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Overall, mixed-use development, at generally higher densities, is accommodated and promoted.
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2. It is anticipated that Brampton will need to accommodate substantial new growth to 2041, including significant growth in employment in general, and in the major office and population- related sectors of that employment growth. To accommodate that growth, the City’s Official Plan identifies that a full range of office uses are broadly permitted throughout Brampton, within: a. The Central Area; b. Major Transit Station Areas; c. Mobility Hubs; d. Intensification Corridors; e. Employment Areas; f. Retail Areas; and, g. Residential Secondary Plans.
While office uses are permitted in all of these land use/transportation system contexts, there are varying levels of management provided through scale, urban design, locational, and functional criteria.
3. More specifically, Major Office buildings are encouraged to locate in the Office designations identified on Schedule “A”, as well as the Central Area. Major Offices are also encouraged to locate in Regional Retail, Industrial, and Business Corridor designations that are identified on Schedule “A” that are also within the Mobility Hubs and Intensification Corridors that are identified on Schedule 1. 4. This Official Plan is not a directive-focused plan, but rather is opportunity focused. In terms of implementation, the BOP is focused primarily on providing – and in some cases protecting – the opportunity for the private sector to respond to the market with respect to the range of permitted uses, and, specifically with respect to various forms of office spaces, to where any particular office user may wish to locate. The Official Plan is considered to be a flexible and market- responsive Plan, with minimal use of land use-specific development targets, either through Floor Area targets or employment yield targets. 5. The Official Plan makes little reference to the differences among employment land employment, population-related employment, and major office employment. As a result, it does not focus on allocating those types of employment within its planned urban structure. Further, the Plan does not attempt to predict the employment mix that is desired or anticipated within the city. Again, this is seen to be part of a flexible and market-responsive planning approach. 6. There is recognition in the Plan that office and service facilities have grown over time, but at a slower pace than traditional manufacturing. 7. It is important to note that financial or other development incentives were not specifically identified in the BOP, except within the Central Area. This approach identifies a municipal priority for the revitalization of the Central Area, which is also identified as a priority in Provincial and Regional planning policy directives. 8. The City of Brampton still has substantial greenfield opportunities that will permit the accommodation of various types of growth over time, with the ability to react to changes in employment and development trends as they happen. The urban structure also requires substantial maturing, and through that process, the identified centres and corridors will begin to intensify. That intensification will result from a range of planning, financial, investment, and infrastructure emplacement decisions by both the public and private sectors over the long term. 9. Since office development typically has a much higher employment density compared to other lands uses – and since office is generally a compatible infill use (compared to industrial/manufacturing-type uses, for example) – pressures related to ongoing land absorption have relatively less of an impact on planning for future office development. More specifically, providing for a volume of available office lands is less critical than providing for a suitable range of viable office locations.
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10. While the City’s flexible and market-responsive planning approach is considered a positive attribute, there may be some concern that the multitude of opportunities are too broad and lack focus. For example, if significant office development is permitted almost everywhere, there may be a lack of focus for investment strategies or marketing. This lack of focus: a. May frustrate the creation of critical mass, and the robust urban environments that attract office users; and/or, b. Can be seen as problematic because there are too many choices, and the City will need to spread itself too thin with respect to establishing the appropriate and successful investment environment. 11. The City should maintain the flexible and market-responsive planning approach in the BOP. Office uses are appropriate in Mobility Hubs and Intensification Corridors, and also in the other designations, as identified in the BOP. The key question is should there be a focus for office development, and/or should there be a locational priority for office and major office development in Brampton, and how the city can become a more attractive destination for office employers. The BOP, and planning policy in general, is not the panacea for attracting office development. Being flexible to respond to the market is a positive attribute of the BOP; however, the City should establish a priority for office and major office development in key locations within the existing planned urban structure. The implementation of a priority for implementation would not necessarily change the market-responsive approach of the BOP, but rather would implement other planning, financial, investment, and infrastructure emplacement initiatives that would make certain key locations more attractive than others for office/major office development.
6.4 Review of Select Secondary Plans
Overview
The Brampton Official Plan includes Secondary Plan policies for five targeted office nodes/concentrations, including:
Mississauga Road Corridor Office Centre in Bram West Sub-Areas B, C and D; South Fletcher’s Creek Court House Area Office Centre, and other office sites along the Hurontario Street corridor; Bramalea Road South Gateway Office Centre at Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road; Bram East Office Centre at the City’s eastern boundary at Highway 50 and Queen Street East; and, Downtown Brampton Office Centre at Queen Street and Main Street. The relevant Secondary Plan policies for each office concentration are outlined below. Bram West Secondary Plan (SPA 40 A, B, C, D)
The Bram West Secondary Plan Area is divided into four Sub-Areas, which collectively cover an area roughly bounded Highway 407, Winston Churchill Boulevard, Mavis Road/Chinguacousy Road, and the Credit River. Office designations are primarily concentrated along the Mississauga Road Corridor, from Highway 407 to the Credit River in Sub-Areas B, C and D. While Sub-Area B is entirely focused on employment uses and envisioned to serve as a “distinctive gateway employment area”, the other Sub-Areas are primarily residential – aside from the office designations that are concentrated along the Mississauga Road Corridor.
Office Centre Designation
The Sub-Area chapter policies for Office Centre are nearly identical, although each area includes some site-specific exceptions or additions.
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Permitted Uses
Permitted uses within the Office Centre designation include office uses, research and development facilities, ancillary light manufacturing uses, hotels, conference/convention centres, within which limited accessory retail and business support services may be permitted to a maximum percentage of floor space (not specified). Open space uses such as parkettes and stormwater management facilities are also permitted, while warehousing, distribution and outdoor storage uses are not be permitted (Bram West Secondary Plan Chapter 40(b), Section 4.1.1 and 4.1.2; Chapter 40(c), Section 3.5.3 and 3.5.4(v) & (vi); Chapter 40(d), Section 4.26 and 4.2.7(v) & (vi)). A transit terminal facility is also permitted in the Office Node designation of Sub-Areas C and D (Chapter 40(c), Section 4.2.4; Chapter 40(d), Section 4.2.6). Many of the exceptions to the list of permitted uses are focused on permitting a broader range of commercial uses at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Steeles Avenue. The exceptions include:
In Sub-Area B, an expanded list of service commercial uses (e.g. banks, medical offices) are permitted at the southwest corner of Steeles Avenue and Mississauga Road, subject to a superior standard of design consistent with the primary gateway character of Mississauga Road. On this site, restaurants (not including freestanding restaurants or drive through restaurants) that comprise no more than 10% of the total gross leasable area on the site are also permitted. Personal service shops, community clubs, and religious institutions are expressly not permitted (Chapter 40(b), Section 4.1.5). In Sub-Area C, existing permissions for highway commercial uses are recognized for the northeast corner of Steeles Avenue and Mississauga Road, subject to the highest standard of urban design consistent with the primary gateway character of the Mississauga Road Corridor. On the southeast corner of the same intersection, the existing gas bar and convenience store is recognized as a legal non-conforming use, and conditions are provided for permitting the redevelopment of the gas bar with a drive through use (Chapter 40(c), Section 3.5.7 and 3.5.8). Sub-Area D includes an expanded list of prohibited uses, including outdoor displays (Chapter 40(d), Section 4.2.7(vi)) and hotels/motels (Chapter 40(d), Section 4.2.1). Sub-Areas C & D also include Special Policy Areas (7, 10, and 11) within the Office Centre designation. − Special Policy Area 7 within Sub-Area C applies to the lands in the northeast quadrant at Mississauga Road and Steeles Avenue. These lands shall be primarily developed for office uses (notwithstanding existing permissions for highway commercial uses). Further details are to be provided through the implementing zoning by-law and through block planning (Chapter 40(c), Section 3.5.9). − Special Policy Area 7 within Sub-Area D applies to the lands in the northwest quadrant at Mississauga Road and Steeles Avenue. The City has identified a target of 1,600 jobs for these lands, subject to the capacity of the surrounding road network. Future development on these lands will be subject to superior urban design standards, zoning by-law development standards, and site plan approval (including for a pedestrian connection to provide local residents with access to future transit services). A tertiary plan may also be required (Chapter 40(d), Section 4.5.2). − Special Policy Area 10 is located within Sub-Area C on the south side of Steeles Avenue, west of Mississauga Road. The intent of the SPA is to permit a broader range of uses than is otherwise permitted, including restaurants, retail, and service commercial uses that serve adjacent workers and residents. To promote a built form compatible with a primary gateway location, retail warehouses are not permitted; specialty food or grocery stores are limited to a combined maximum of 20,000 sf (1,858 m2), and an automotive retail store shall have a minimum GFA of 20,000 sf (1,858 m2). Additional urban design guidance is provided for these uses to support an urban environment (Chapter 40(c), Section 3.5.10).
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− Special Policy Area 11 is located within Sub-Area C, at the northwest corner of Highway 407 and Financial Drive. Notwithstanding the Office Centre land use permissions, prestige industrial uses may permitted on these lands, subject to site plan approval conditions, as specified in the Secondary Plan (Chapter 40(c), Section 3.5.11). Design & Built Form
From a design and built form perspective, the Office Centre policies are also nearly identical among the Bram West Sub-Areas. The common design policies under Chapter 40(b), Sections 4.1.2, 4.1.3, 4.1.4(a); Chapter 40(c), Sections 3.5.4, 3.5.5, 3.5.6; and, Chapter 40(d), Sections 4.2.7, 4.2.8, 4.2.9, state that:
Lands shall be developed in accordance with the policies of Part 1, Section 4.2.10 and other relevant policies of the Official Plan. Development is encouraged to contribute to a “distinctive gateway character” by including enhanced streetscaping, architecture and urban design. Buildings along the Mississauga Road frontage should promote an office character including building mass and vertical definition (site plan control applies, except in Sub-Area B). The visual impact of parking, trucks service, and delivery areas shall be minimized. Large lots/blocks are encouraged along arterial roads. Development is to minimize impacts on surrounding natural areas, and be integrated and compatible with adjacent (residential) land uses. Block Plan Policies
The Sub-Area C Chapters 40-1 and 40-2 also includes Block Plan Policies for lands on the east side of the Mississauga Road Office Corridor and adjacent lands.
Chapter 40-1 policies apply to the area north of Steeles Avenue. The Office Centre-related policies are focused on providing additional design guidance, and requirements for developers to contribute land and financial resources to the development of the city’s gateway features and streetscape enhancements, in accordance with the City’s Gateway Beautification Program. In addition, permissions are provided for freestanding retail and services commercial uses up to a maximum GFA of 2,000 m2 (and with no outdoor storage or display areas), and freestanding restaurant uses up to a maximum GFA of 1,000 m2. Chapter 40-2 policies apply to the area south of Steeles Avenue, and include additional design guidance, requirements for the implementing zoning (i.e. with regard to minimum height, GFA, FSI, and limitations on ancillary uses), and requirements for developers to contribute land and financial resources to the development of the city’s gateway features and streetscape enhancements, in accordance with the City’s Gateway Beautification Program. Other Office-Related Designations
In addition to the Office Centre designation, the Bram West Secondary Plan Sub-Area Chapters also include the following office designations, which are more commercial in nature: Office Node Commercial and Specialty Office & Service Commercial. Sub-Area B also includes an Office Centre One designation with broader permissions for prestige industrial uses. Office uses are also permitted in other employment, commercial, and residential designations throughout the Bram West Secondary Plan Areas, including: Prestige Industrial, Standard Industrial, Service Commercial, Business Park, and Mixed-Use. In some cases, office permissions within these designations are subject to conditions.
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Employment Targets
The overall plan for Bram West includes job targets for three employment areas:
Employment Area 1 captures parts of Sub-Area B and Sub-Area C along the Mississauga Road Office Corridor, including the lands designated Office Centre and Office Centre One. 14,600 jobs are targeted for Employment Area 1. These would primarily be office jobs. Employment Area 2 captures Sub-Area B, with the exception of the lands designated Office Centre and Office Centre One. 8,000 jobs are targeted for Employment Area 2. These would be a mix of industrial and office jobs. Employment Area 3 captures the employment lands in Sub-Area A (and extends east of Heritage Road). 8,100 jobs are targeted for this area. These would be primarily industrial jobs. Fletcher’s Creek South Secondary Plan (SPA 24)
The Fletcher’s Creek South Secondary Plan is bounded by Highway 407 in the south, Steeles Avenue West in the north, the Mavis Road extension in the west, and Kennedy Road in the east. The area primarily includes residential, public open space, and institutional designations, with mixed office and commercial designations along the Hurontario Street corridor (Highway 10) (Fletcher’s Creek South Secondary Plan, Schedule SP24, Plate No. 43).
In anticipation of future LRT, the Secondary Plan recognizes that the Hurontario Street corridor is intended to accommodate mixed-use intensification, in accordance with the Hurontario/Main Street Corridor Master Plan, October 2010.13 Within the Master Plan, Fletcher’s Creek South is identified as part of the Brampton Gateway character area, with maximum heights of 20 storeys for the Court House Area Office Centre (Hurontario/Main Street Corridor Master Plan, Figure 8.3.2).
The Secondary Plan area includes lands along Hurontario Street that are designated Employment Area on Schedule 1 (City Concept), and Office on Schedule A (General Land Use Designations) of the Official Plan. The Secondary Plan, however, does not include “core” office designations, such as Office Centre. Office designations within the Fletcher’s Creek South Secondary Plan area include:
Specialty Office – Service Commercial; Specialty Office – Service Commercial Special Policy Area 1; and, Convenience Commercial & Specialty Office – Service Commercial. The policies for these designations provide site-specific direction for permitted land uses and GFA limits, as summarized below.
Specialty Office-Service Commercial Designation
The Specialty Office – Service Commercial (SO) designation is the most dominant office designation in South Fletcher’s Creek. This designation is centred on the Court House Area, which is located on the east side of Hurontario Street, and defined by the County Court Boulevard ring road.
Lands within this designation are intended to be developed in a park-like setting, and predominantly used for offices related to business services, financial institutions, insurance, real estate, professional and governmental functions, hotels, and related facilities. Retail and personal service uses necessary to serve the employees of the Specialty Office-Service Commercial area may be permitted (Fletcher’s Creek Secondary Plan, Section 7.7.1 and 7.7.2).
13 The Hurontario LRT is currently planned to terminate at the northern boundary of the Fletcher’s Creek South Secondary Plan until the City determines an appropriate alignment north of Steeles Avenue. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 52
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Additional individual sites are designated SO on the west side of Hurontario Street. Site-specific policies for these sites are included under the SO designation policies, as follows:
Lands on the west side of Hurontario Street south of Ray Lawson Boulevard shall be reserved for a hotel and office development (Section 7.7.3). Lands on the west side of Hurontario Street, and north of Lancashire Lane, shall be developed primarily for office purposes, with a maximum FSI of 1.0. Ancillary retail shall not exceed 10% of the GFA. Policies are included with regard to phasing (pending the completion of an internal road network) and comprehensive development (Section 7.7.4(A)). Collectively, the development of lands designated SO within Fletcher’s Creek shall be limited to a maximum 83,610 m2 (900,000 sf) of new additional office space (after January 1 of 1991), until the McMurchy Street Extension (Malta Avenue) is completed north to Steeles Avenue. Following the completion of that street extension, new office construction in the designated area may exceed that GFA limit (Section 7.7.5).
Specialty Office – Service Commercial Special Policy Area 1
One site, located on the southwest corner of Hurontario Street and Lancashire Lane, is designated Specialty Office – Service Commercial Special Policy Area 1. Lands within this designation shall be used for a mix of office and service commercial uses, including a significant office component (with minimum office GFA to be specified in the zoning by-law).
The policies call for high quality, pedestrian-oriented design, with appropriate built from transitions to commercial and residential uses (Section 7.7.6).
Convenience Commercial and Specialty Office – Service Commercial Policies
One site is designated Convenience Commercial and Specialty Office – Service Commercial on the southeast corner of Hurontario Street and County Court Boulevard. Development on these lands shall not exceed 5,686 m2 of retail commercial floor area and 11,620 m2 of office commercial floor area (Section 7.3.1). Bramalea Road South Gateway (SPA 38)
The Bramalea Road South Gateway Secondary Plan area includes lands that are approximately within 400 metres of the Steeles Avenue East and Bramalea Road intersection, just north of the Kitchener GO rail line. The area is envisioned to become a mixed-use centre and urban gateway to the city, however, it is designated solely for employment and commercial uses, including within Office, Mixed-Use (Office & Retail), and Mixed Industrial/Commercial designations (Bramalea Road South Gateway Secondary Plan, Schedule SP38). Office designations are centred on the main intersection, and on the west side of Bramalea Road, south of Steeles Avenue.
Permitted densities range from a peak of 3.0 FSI at the intersection of Steeles and Bramalea, down to 1.5 FSI on the directly adjacent lands (mostly with frontage on Steeles Avenue), to 0.5 and 0.6 on the remaining lands within the Secondary Plan area (primarily those lands not fronting on Steeles Avenue) (Schedule SP38(C)).
Office Designation
The principal permitted uses within the Office designation include business, professional, or administrative office buildings. Restaurants and business support activities are also be permitted, provided that they do not exceed 15% of the total GFA of the principal permitted uses (Section 5.1.2.1). The lands designated Office at the intersection of Bramalea Road and Steeles may develop to a maximum FSI of 3.0 (12 storeys/36 m), while the Office lands south of the intersection on the west side of Bramalea are restricted to just 0.6 FSI (Section 5.1.2.2).
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Mixed-Use (Office & Retail) Designation
The principal permitted uses within the Mixed-Use (Office & Retail) designation include business, professional, or administrative office buildings, hotels, and motels. Convenience and personal service retailing, restaurants, recreational, institutional, and business support activities, are also permitted – provided that they do not exceed 15% of the total GFA of the principal permitted uses (Section 5.1.3.1). Notwithstanding the list of permitted uses, 75 Bramalea Road, 100 East Drive, and 106 East Drive shall continue to be used for the full range of uses permitted by the existing zoning by- law (including warehousing and ancillary retail and office uses) (Section 5.1.3.4).
Within the Mixed-Use (Office & Retail) designation, densities are restricted as follows:
Office and hotel/motel uses located along Bramalea Road between East Drive and Orenda Road may be developed at a maximum FSI of 0.6 (8 storeys/24 m) (Section 5.1.3.2); Office and hotel/motel uses located along the Bramalea Road frontage south of Orenda Road and Steeles Avenue and the south side of Orenda Road and its extension east of Bramalea Road may be developed to a maximum FSI of 1.5 (8 storeys, 24 m) (Section 5.1.3.3); and, Lands municipally known as 75 Bramalea Road, 100 East Drive, and 106 East Drive may be developed to a maximum FSI of 0.6 FSI, with maximum building heights of 4 storeys at the northern edge of 75 Bramalea Road, and 6 storeys as the distance increases from Dearbourne Avenue towards East Drive (Section 5.1.3.4). Mixed Industrial/Commercial
While the Mixed Industrial/Commercial designation (along Orenda Road) is focused on industrial uses, office uses are also permitted (Section 5.2.1 and 5.2.2). The office uses would be of a low intensity, given the maximum FSI limit of 0.5 (4 storeys/12m) for lands within this designation (Section 5.2.3).
Urban Design Guidelines
Urban design guidelines that apply to all land use designations are provided within the Bramalea Road South Gateway Secondary Plan. The policies focus on landscaping, streetscaping, density and massing, and signage (Section 6.2). Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan (SPA 36)
The Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan focuses on Queen Street, from Centre Street to Bramalea Road. Much of the area is identified as “Central Area Mixed Use”, which is a designation that is intended to “accommodate mixed-use developments incorporating any combination of commercial, retail, office, residential, hotel, open space, recreational, institutional, a full range of entertainment and cultural uses…” There is certainly an office/major office focus in the Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan, and there is a tremendous amount of development potential included within the policies of the Plan. It is important to note that Queen Street is a major east-west spine in the city which is connected to Highway 410, a major north-south spine. Queen Street is expected to accommodate evolving high order transit facilities that will enhance its accessibility and attractiveness for development over time.
Central Area Mixed Use Designation
In the “Central Area Mixed Use Designation”, significant development potential is assigned, and that development potential is subdivided between residential permissions and all other permitted uses, including office components. Generally, the floor space index ranges from 2.0 FSI to 3.5 FSI, with a maximum of 1.0 to 2.0 FSI permitted for residential uses.
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Primary Office Node
Within the “Central Area Mixed Use” Designation, located in the south-west quadrant of Queen Street and Highway 410 is a “Primary Office Node”, with a density regime permitting up to 5.0 FSI, with a maximum of 2.0 of the FSI permitted for residential uses. This area (approximately 21.2 hectares) is intended to be the only primary location for office development within the Central Area of the City of Brampton. Section 5.7.1 identifies the “Primary Office Node” as Special Study Area 1, requiring further study to enhance the land use/transportation planning vision for the area.
Notwithstanding the very favourable designation and development permissions established by the Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan, land uses within the Primary Office Node are characterized as low density, low scale retail commercial and semi-industrial. There is a hotel and a number of drive-through restaurants. The area has certainly not developed in line with the Primary Office Node policies.
Office Node
Also within the “Central Area Mixed Use Designation” is the Bramalea Centre, which is identified as an “Office Node”. The principle permitted uses within the “Office Node” Designation “include business, professional or administrative office buildings, hotels and motels, and all uses consistent with the Regional Commercial and District Commercial designations of the General Plan.” This area, and its planned future recognizes the major commercial and existing office functions of the Bramalea Centre. Residential uses are not primary to this area. Bram East Secondary Plan (SPA 41)
The Bram East Secondary Plan area is bounded by Goreway Drive in the west, Highway 50 in east, Castlemore Road in the north, and Claireville Conservation Area in the south. North of Queen Street East/Ebenezer Road, the area is primarily designated for residential uses. Employment uses in a variety of designations are concentrated south of Ebenezer Road, between McVean Drive in the west and Airport Road in the east (Bram East Secondary Plan, Schedule SP41(a).
A number of land use designations permit office development, and specifically, there is an Office Node designation along with Special Policy Areas 1, 12 and 18 which permit office uses in conjunction with other employment generating land uses. Many of the other non-residential designations also permit office uses.
Office Node Designation
Permitted uses within the Office Node designation include business, professional, or administrative offices, hotels, motels, financial institutions, accessory and personal service retailing, a supermarket, food and beverage establishments, recreation, institutional, convenience retail uses, business support activities, and compatible industrial uses. Permitted retail and service commercial uses are limited to 20% of an office block’s GFA. In addition, outside or open storage of materials or goods is not permitted in the Office Node designation (Section 3.2.5 and 3.2.6).
Density for office development is expected to be between 0.5 and 1.5 FSI, which is reflective of a suburban style of office development (Section 3.2.6). The resulting built form would be between 2 and 6 storeys in height.
In addition, Section 3.2.7 of the Secondary Plan includes design guidance for achieving “a distinctive gateway character” within the Office Node designation. The policies address parking, and higher quality architectural and landscape design, and call for further development standards to be specified through the implementing zoning by-law.
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Special Policy Areas
Special Policy Area 1 (Office) is located on the northwest corner of McVean Drive and Queen Street East. Development within this site is to include a “predominance” of office uses and associated commercial uses (Section 3.2.17). Special Policy Area 8 (Office Node – Mixed Commercial/Industrial) is located on the northeast corner of Queen Street East and The Gore Road. Within this area, office development is to be located along Queen Street East, with other permitted uses set back from the street. Under Section 3.2.11.1, a minimum of 9,290 m2 of office space must be built before the development of retail and service commercial uses is permitted. Special Policy Area 12 (Office Node & Mixed Commercial/Industrial) is located on the southwest corner of Highway 50 and Queen Street East. Similar to Special Policy Area 8, the policies call for office development to be focused on Queen Street East (with other permitted uses set back), and for the City to encourage office development by restricting retail/service commercial uses until a minimum amount of office GFA has been developed. The minimum amount of office GFA is not specified (Section 3.2.11(a) & (b)). Downtown Brampton Secondary Plan (SPA 7)
The Downtown Brampton Secondary Plan area generally includes the lands centered on Queen Street and Main Street, bounded by the Etobicoke Creek in the east, Fletcher’s Creek to the west, Vodden Street to the north and Harold Street to the south. The area is envisioned as a mixed-use, urban district.
Downtown includes a mix of residential, open space, and commercial designations, including a Central Area Mixed-Use designation along Queen Street and north of Queen Street on Main Street, with an Office Node overlay that is centred at the intersection of Main Street and Queen Street (Downtown Brampton Secondary Plan, Schedule SP7(A)). The Office Overlay is bounded by the CNR line to the north, John Street to the south, and runs from Chapel Street/Nelson Street Extension west to George Street.
The greatest densities are planned along Main Street from approximately Queen Street to Church Street, and on Queen Street between Haggert Avenue and McMurchy Avenue, where the maximum FSI is 3.5. A maximum FSI of 2.0 is specified along much of the remainder of Queen Street, and the section of Main Street north of Church Street on the west side (Appendix A of the Secondary Plan). The remainder of the area is not subject to FSI maximums. Table 1 of the Secondary Plan, further specifies: a) overall maximum FSI, and b) maximum residential FSI.
Central Area Mixed-Use Policies
Lands within this designation are “intended to accommodate” mixed-use developments incorporating any combination of commercial, retail, office, residential, hotel, open space, recreational, institutional, a full range of entertainment and cultural uses including, but not limited to, movie theatres, art galleries, live theatre and museums which are managed as a unit (Section 5.1.2.1). FSI permissions (as outlined above) are described in text as part of the policies for this designation (Sections 5.1.2.2 to 5.1.2.6).
Office Node Policies
Permitted uses within the Office Node designation include business, professional, or administrative office buildings, hotels and motels, and all uses consistent with the Regional Commercial and District. Office development in this area is required to be compatible with the local historic character of the area, while achieving a maximum density of 3.5 FSI (on lands designated Central Area Mixed-Use within the Office Node) (Section 5.1.3.1).
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Special Policy Area 3
The Downtown includes sections along both Main Street and Queen Street within the Central Area Mixed-Use designation and Office Node that are also subject to Special Policy Area Number 3, due to their location within the floodplain (Schedule SP7(C2)). As such, these lands are subject to “Technical Requirements for Managing Flood Risk” under Section 5.6.3 II of the Secondary Plan. For example, underground parking is discouraged (see for other requirements – e.g. procedural requirements requiring documentation and plans).
Under Section 5.6.3 III, Special Policy Area 3 includes the following Sub-Area Policies within the Office Node overlay:
Sub-Area 3A is located on the western edge of the Office Node overlay, and is intended to accommodate a mix of uses, including a maximum of 900 new residential units and a total maximum of 41,000 m2 of non-residential uses. The urban design principles for this Sub-Area address character (a compact urban setting with potential for more intensive development), built form (high density, with a 4-6 storey street wall and point towers above), open space and public realm, and sustainability (Section 5.6.3.3(a)). Sub Area 3B covers the blocks to the southwest of the Queen Street and Main Street intersection. This area is intended to accommodate major institutional office uses, with associated civic and retail uses. A maximum of 185 new residential units and a total of 45,000 m2 of non-residential uses are planned. The urban design principles for this Sub-Area address character (mixed-use civic centre), built form (continuous building edge, midrise buildings with 3-6 storey podiums), open space, and sustainability (Section 5.6.3.3(b)). Sub-Area 3C covers the blocks to the northwest of the Queen Street and Main Street intersection, which are significantly constrained by flood risk. Nonetheless, the area is intended to be revitalized. The primary uses within Sub-Area 3C shall be commercial (including office), and certain institutional and cultural uses, including a maximum of 88,000 m2 of non-residential uses (with no more than 11,000 m2 devoted to commercial uses providing overnight accommodation). Existing residential uses are permitted. The urban design principles for this Sub-Area address character (heritage, arts, culture, and entertainment centre), built form (preserve historical built form, pedestrian-oriented development, 2-4 storey facades, step backs at 45 degree angle), open space and public realm, and sustainability (Section 5.6.3.3(c)). Urban Form Policies
Section 8 of the Downtown Brampton Secondary Plan also includes “urban form” policies, including character principles (e.g. with regard to a primary node, landmarks, view corridors, and gateways), direction to prepare district design guidelines, enabling policies for a Streetscape Improvement Area, heritage resource management policies, and the designation of the Downtown as a community improvement area. In addition, Appendix B of the Secondary Plan includes Interim Design Guidelines and Special Streetscape Improvements. Summary Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn from our review of the relevant Secondary Plans:
Policy Context
1. The Bram West Secondary Plan Sub-Area Chapters include consistent policies for Office Centre in the three Sub-Areas (B, C, D) that are targeted for concentrated office development. The Office Centre policies address permitted uses, and provide high-level design guidance intended to support a more urban character that is consistent with a “distinctive gateway character” along Mississauga Road.
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Given it’s distance from Downtown, and within an otherwise suburban context (including more traditional employment lands and low density residential neighbourhoods), the Mississauga Road Office Corridor within the Bram West Secondary Plan area is unlikely to attract high intensity office uses (and their associated labour force). The area can, however, be expected to continue attracting more suburban-style employment uses. The planning policies in the Bram West Secondary Plan provide appropriate guidance that allow the Bram West Area to continue to attract an array of more suburban office development forms, including the popular low to mid-rise campus-style complex that includes a significant supply of on-site parking. More specifically, however, the planning framework requires – but does not specify – GFA caps on retail development and the extensive list of exceptions that permit low-rise retail development at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Steeles Road detract from the intended character of the main intersection of this Office Node. 2. The Fletcher’s Creek Court House Area Office Centre and other office designations along the Hurontario Street Corridor are planned to attract office uses in an urban built form. Significant GFA permissions are outlined for office uses within the Secondary Plan. The policies also address phasing and design (in brief, and not for all sites). While built form guidance is not provided within the Secondary Plan, the intended built form is identified in the Hurontario LRT Master Plan (2010), which calls for maximum building heights of 20 storeys in the Court House Office Centre and adjacent sites. While the Secondary Plan area is already largely built out, there is still potential to absorb significant office growth in the future – particularly on the Court House Area site, and particularly once the McMurchy Street Extension (Malta Avenue) is completed north to Steeles Avenue. This area is evolving as a significant mixed-use node, with a significant office agglomeration. The policies in place are supportive of the emerging more urban built form, and future intensification that will support anticipated future high-order transit facilities along Hurontario Street should complement the ongoing evolution. The City should proceed with harmonizing the Secondary Plan policies and schedules, and area zoning, with the LRT Master Plan, to provide a clear and predictable planning framework for more intensive office development throughout Fletcher’s Creek South. The City may also consider enhanced FSI and height permissions when, and if, significant structured parking becomes financially feasible over time in this area. 3. The Bramalea Road South Gateway Office Centre currently covers a relatively small site compared to the other office areas. Like Fletcher’s Creek, it too is largely developed (i.e. not a greenfield site), but has redevelopment potential that will be heightened with the introduction of enhanced transit service at the Bramalea GO station (a designated Gateway Mobility Hub), which is located within the Secondary Plan area. Frequent, 15-minute service on the Kitchener GO line is expected to be running within the next 10 years, and will provide a speedy (less than five minutes) connection to Downtown Brampton, as well as connecting to Union Station in Toronto. Enhanced connectivity will be a major attractor for potential major office employers, and their labour force. The Bramalea Road South Gateway Secondary Plan includes targeted policies for lands at the intersection of Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road. The office-related policies focus on maximum heights and densities (ranging from 3.0 to 0.6 FSI). Caps on ancillary commercial uses are included, at 15% of the total GFA. The current planning regime has produced the existing built form and industrial character of the area. Existing policies will remain appropriate for this area if a continuation of the status quo is considered appropriate. However, proximity to the existing GO Station provides opportunities for a much more urban, office-focused node, which would require a substantial reworking of the Bramalea Road South Gateway Secondary Plan. In addition, major opportunity sites are located in adjacent secondary plan areas, including within the Steeles Industrial Secondary Plan Area (#25). These lands, which are located adjacent to office lands and in proximity to the GO Station, are similarly constrained by low density commercial and employment designations.
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To realize the redevelopment potential around this Mobility Hub, the City should consider expanding the Bramalea Road South Gateway boundaries and revisiting the land use strategy in the surrounding area. Under Metrolinx’s Mobility Hub Guidelines, comprehensive transit- supportive planning should be undertaken within 800 m of the transit station (including for the station’s primary, secondary and tertiary zones). Major office uses should dominate this area, and be complemented by an appropriate mix of supporting uses, including residential. 4. The Bram East Secondary Plan includes office policies for lands located south of Queen Street East/Ebenezer Road and west of Highway 50. The policies specify permitted land uses, and place restrictions on retail and service commercial uses, which are limited to 20% of the GFA of an office block. In some locations, permissions for retail and service commercial uses are linked to a requirement to develop office uses first. Permitted densities are also specified for office uses, at a maximum FSI of 1.5, which promotes a low to mid-rise suburban built form. The Secondary Plan policies, which include a density cap of 1.5 FSI, are specifically intended to facilitate the development of land uses that do not compete with the high density uses planned for Downtown. An updated Bram East Secondary Plan is required. The update to the Secondary Plan should consider a policy approach that provides a clear vision with respect to the City’s intentions for these lands, with a greater focus on its planned function and the forms of development that are desired. A clearer policy approach is also required that addresses how retail and commercial uses can be appropriately integrated with the desired office uses. 5. The Downtown Brampton Secondary Plan includes policies for the Central Area Mixed-Use designation, as well as overlay Office Node policies and Special Policy Area (Number 3) policies for lands within the floodplain. SPA Sub-Areas 3A, 3B and 3C fall within the Office Node. Limited guidance is provided for the Office Node, including a short list of permitted uses, and a maximum FSI of 3.5 to facilitate higher intensity urban development. The SPA policies do, however, include caps on residential units and non-residential GFA, and further guidance on character. General urban form policies and Interim Design Guidelines are also provided for the Downtown. The existing policy regime is considered relatively typical of an historic downtown that is expected to evolve and intensify its urban character. Office uses, including major office uses, are permitted in many locations, reflective of the broader opportunity-focused approach to achieving an appropriate range and mix of uses. Downtown Brampton is envisioned to include a significant office presence within an urban, high intensity, mixed-use environment. The Secondary Plan includes land use and density permissions, as well as design guidance, to support this vision. Notwithstanding its capacity to absorb a significant portion of future office development, the Downtown will and should include an even greater balance of residential growth, as well as a mix of commercial and cultural uses to support the type of vibrancy that is expected of our major centres. 6. The Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan identifies significant development opportunity in a number of locations along Queen Street for the accommodation of office development, including key locations identified for major office agglomerations, with a particular focus on a Primary Office Node, located at Queen Street and Highway 410. The planning approach taken in this Plan is in line with the generally flexible opportunity based strategy employed throughout Brampton. It is important to note that Queen Street is a major east-west spine in the City which is connected to Highway 410, a major north-south spine. Queen Street is expected to accommodate evolving high order transit facilities that will enhance it accessibility and attractiveness for development over time. Overall, along the entire Queen Street Corridor, significant development potential is assigned, and that development potential is subdivided between residential permissions and all other permitted uses, including office components. Generally, FSI ranges from 2.0 FSI to 3.5 FSI, with a maximum of 1.0 to 2.0 FSI permitted for residential uses.
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The “Primary Office Node” has a density regime permitting up to 5.0 FSI, with a maximum of 2.0 of the FSI permitted for residential uses. This area (approximately 21.2 hectares) is intended to be the only primary location for office development within the Central Area of the City of Brampton. Section 5.7.1 identifies the “Primary Office Node” as Special Study Area 1, requiring further study to enhance the land use/transportation planning vision for the area. Notwithstanding the very favourable designation and development permissions established by the Queen Street Corridor Secondary Plan, the area has certainly not developed in line with the Primary Office Node policies. Overall, and while office uses should continue to be an important component of the Queen Street Corridor, the City should consider an updated policy approach for the identified “Primary Office Node” that provides a clear and revised vision for the future. The new policy approach should reconsider the planned role of this site as “the only primary location for office development within the Central Area of the City of Brampton.” It has clearly not achieved that vision.
Overall, the Secondary Plans implement the opportunity-based approach to the accommodation of office and major office uses throughout the city. More typical suburban forms of office development, including low to mid-rise office campus development, can, and should, continue to be permitted in the Bram East and Bram West Secondary Plan Areas. In addition, Fletcher’s Creek South, Bramalea Road South Gateway, and the Downtown (albeit with limited capacity to accommodate significant office floor space) provide opportunities for the accommodation of office/major office uses in a more intensified and urban built form. Given their locations, built form characteristics, and planned transit accessibility, these areas should be the focus of the City’s urban office accommodation strategy.
6.5 Zoning Regulations for Select Office Nodes
Introduction
The following section provides a review of the zoning regulation in place for select office nodes. Mississauga Road Corridor Office Centre (in Bram West)
Currently, the Mississauga Road Corridor sites that are designated for office uses are mostly zoned for Office Commercial uses as well. Selected sites along the corridor are also zoned for non-office uses, including Recreation Commercial (e.g. golf course along the highway), Highway Commercial (at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Steeles Avenue), and Agricultural, Floodplain, and Residential Rural Estate.
Office Commercial (OC)
This is the most common zone along the corridor (within the area designated Office Centre in the Secondary Plan). All parcels zoned OC in this are subject to special sections. Provisions for OC (not including special sections): − Permitted uses: office, bank/financial institution. − Maximum height 3 storeys. − High landscaping requirements – 60% of front and exterior side yard. − Large setback – minimum of 15 m front yard depth. Under the general provisions for commercial uses, the parking requirement for office uses is 1 space/25 m2. The zoning for this part of the Bram West Area, as well as the rest of the Secondary Plan Area, typically conforms to the policies of the Secondary Plan. There are also a number of site-specific provisions that are reflective of development applications that have been approved over time.
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South Fletcher’s Creek Court House Office Area Centre (and other office sites located along the Hurontario Street corridor)
The existing zoning for designated office lands within South Fletcher’s Creek does not generally support higher density office development. The area is primarily zoned for low and mid-rise retail and service commercial uses.
Service Commercial (SC)
Institutional and Open Space zones comprise much of the Court House Office Area, with the exception of lands along the south side of County Court Boulevard, which are zoned primarily Service Commercial (SC). All seven SC sites are subject to special sections. General provisions for the SC zone permit a wide range of commercial uses, including retail, service, and office. While office uses are permitted, there is no particular focus on office uses. The maximum permitted building height within the SC zone is 3 storeys. The Special Sections permit a tailored list of uses for each site, with some focusing on office uses, others on recreational/civic uses, and most on retail and service commercial uses. Permitted heights range from 2 to 6 storeys (most are 3 to 4 storeys). Some sites are subject to GFA caps for selected uses, and/or tailored parking requirements. Commercial One (C1)
Two sites within the areas designated for office uses within the South Fletcher’s Creek Secondary Plan area are zoned C1. Permitted uses include a limited range of retail and service commercial uses with no outside storage, as well as office uses. The maximum building height is two storeys. Both sites are subject to special provisions – some of which are subject to greater GFA caps and taller building heights. Institutional Two (I2-2552)
The I2 designation applies to much of the Court House Office Area Centre. A range of public uses, such as government offices, area, art gallery, college, university, hospital, community centre, etc. However, the entire site is subject to Special Section 12-2552, which only permits administrative office or facility of a public authority. Under the Special Section, the site is subject to all other I2 zone provisions, including a maximum building height of 3 storeys, maximum site coverage of 33.3%, and a parking requirement of 1 space per 25 m2. The zoning for the Fletcher’s Creek South Area typically conforms to the policies of the Secondary Plan. There are also a number of site-specific provisions that are reflective of development applications that have been approved over time. The zoning is reflective of a typical suburban form of development that is in a low to mid-rise built form, with substantial surface parking requirements. It is expected that, over time, as high order transit facilities are established along Hurontario Street, taller, more intense forms of development (supported by structured parking) will be facilitated by new zoning regulations. Bramalea Road South Gateway Office Centre (at Steeles Avenue and Bramalea Road)
Currently, the Bramalea Road South Gateway Office Centre is zoned primarily for industrial uses, with a few sites zoned for highway commercial uses. Zones include:
Highway Commercial One (Hc1) + Special Sections Highway Commercial Two (Hc2-219)
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Industrial One (M1) Industrial One A (M1a) +Some With Special Sections Industrial Two (M2) + Some With Special Sections Industrial Three A (M3a-170) Bram East Office Centre (at Highway 50 and Queen Street East)
Current zoning for lands designated for Office Uses within the Bram East Office Centre do not support the development of a significant office cluster. Aside from three parcels which are zoned for office uses in buildings up to 12 storeys in height, the remainder of the sites are zoned for lower density commercial and industrial uses.
Office Commercial (OC)
Parcels located at the northwest corner of The Gore Road and Queen Street are zoned OC. All are subject to special sections. Provisions for OC (not including special sections): − Permitted uses: office, bank/financial institution. − Max height 3 storeys (which is increased in a number of Special Sections up to 12 storeys). − High landscaping requirements – 60% of front and exterior side yard. − Large setback – min. 15 m front yard depth. Under the general provisions for commercial uses, the parking requirement for office uses is 1 space/25 m2. Service Commercial (SC)
A large site located on the southwest corner of Queen Street and Highway 50 is zoned SC-2094. General provisions for the SC zone permit a wide range of commercial uses, including retail, service, and office. While office uses are permitted, there is no particular focus on office uses. The maximum permitted building height within the SC zone is 3 storeys. Special Section SC-3094 also permits some industrial uses, and introduces restrictions and development limited development standards for selected uses along the Highway 50 and Queen Street frontages. In addition, GFA caps for retail uses are linked to office development The zoning for the Bram East Secondary Plan Area typically conforms to the policies of the Secondary Plan. There are also a number of site-specific provisions that are reflective of development applications that have been approved over time. The zoning is reflective of a typical suburban form of development that is in a low to mid-rise built form, with substantial surface parking requirements. Downtown Brampton Office Centre (at Queen Street and Main Street)
Lands within the Downtown Office Node are currently zoned primarily for retail, service, recreational and cultural uses. Office uses are permitted, but there is no particular focus on office uses.
Downtown Commercial One (DC1)
Most lands within the downtown Office Node are zoned DC1. Permitted uses include a wide range or retail, service, recreational, and cultural uses. Office uses are permitted, but there is no particular focus on office uses. Minimum heights apply to buildings within 12 metres of the street line. Maximum building heights are up to 68 metres.
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All car parking must be located in a parking garage; above ground parking may not abut the street line. Under the general provisions for commercial uses, the parking requirement for office uses in the Central Area is 1 space/44 m2. Downtown Commercial (DC)
Several sites throughout the downtown Office Node are zoned DC. As with DC1, permitted uses include a wide range of retail, service, recreational, and cultural uses. Office uses are permitted, but there is no particular focus on office uses. Compared to DC1, DC also permits garden centres, taverns, taxi or bus stations, custom workshops, and motor vehicle or boat sales/rental/repair. Maximum building height is 11 storeys. The zoning for the Downtown typically conforms to the policies of the Secondary Plan. There are also a number of site-specific provisions that are reflective of development applications that have been approved over time. Summary Conclusions
The following summarizes our key findings from the review of zoning regulations for selected office nodes:
1. As is typical, and for the most part, the zoning by-laws reviewed showed a tremendous conformity with the corresponding Secondary Plan policies. 2. Notwithstanding that consistency, there are often Special Sections that deal with site-specific exceptions to the regulatory regime, and reflect site-specific developments. The trend appears to be for taller buildings at greater densities. 3. It is expected that the zoning for the Fletcher’s Creek South Area will begin to permit taller, more intense forms of development (supported by structured parking) as high order transit facilities are established along Hurontario Street. 4. The Bramalea Road South Gateway Area zoning will need to be reconsidered if that area is to become a significant and urban office node in the City of Brampton. 5. An updated Bram East Secondary Plan is required. The update to the Secondary Plan should consider a policy approach that provides a clear vision with respect to the City’s intentions for these lands, with a greater focus on its planned function and the forms of development that are desired. Zoning permissions should reflect the new Secondary Plan.
6.6 Other Municipal Plans
Introduction
As part of this policy review, a number of other municipal Official Plans were reviewed to understand what those jurisdiction have done with respect to the key issues of growth management, urban structure, and the accommodation of employment forecasts – and specifically, office uses. The following section summarizes this review. Mississauga Official Plan
The Mississauga Official Plan identifies population and employment growth forecasts to 2031. Forecast growth is to be accommodated primarily in intensification areas, focused on the urban structure of nodes and corridors and including the Downtown, Major Nodes, Community Nodes, Corporate Centres, Intensification Corridors, and Major Transit Station Areas.
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Office uses are generally permitted in all of the intensification areas and mixed-use designations, subject to context-specific local planning studies. Major office development will be encouraged to locate in the Downtown, Major Nodes, Corporate Centres, Intensification Corridors, and Major Transit Station Areas, as well as the Office designation. Secondary office development will be encouraged in Community Nodes. Secondary office uses are also permitted in the Business Employment and Industrial designations. Livable Oakville
In this Plan, growth forecasts are expressed as population and employment – there is no further definition of the various types of employment growth. The Plan promotes an urban structure that focuses intensification in defined growth areas that are supported by transit. The Plan includes employment areas that are further subdivided into four specific land use designations: Office Employment, Business Employment, Industrial, and Business Commercial.
The Office Employment designation specifically permits major office and office uses. The Business Employment designation permits offices, but does not mention major offices as a permitted use. The Industrial designation permits major office uses within 500 metres of the Bronte GO Station, and permits offices on lands designated Industrial within Bristol Circle – so, office uses are very specifically controlled in the Industrial designation. Offices may be permitted within the Business Commercial designation. Within the identified growth areas:
Midtown Oakville – permits mixed-use development including employment uses. Expected that major office uses would be directed to Midtown Oakville; Uptown Core – permits mixed-use development with an emphasis on residential, office, and commercial development. Major office uses are not identified as explicitly permitted; Palermo Village – permits a mix of residential and commercial land uses. Office uses are permitted. Major office uses are not identified as explicitly permitted; Kerr Village – permits a mix of residential and commercial land uses. Office uses are permitted. Major office uses are not identified as explicitly permitted; Bronte Village – permits a mix of residential and commercial land uses in a historic context. Office uses are permitted. Major office uses are not identified as explicitly permitted; and, Downtown Oakville – permits a mix of residential, entertainment, cultural, office, and commercial land uses in a historic context. Major office uses are not identified as explicitly permitted. Overall, Livable Oakville deals with growth management in a similar way as Brampton. The planned urban structure is more focused on centres, and does not include corridors – likely based on a lack of high-order transit, other than the existing GO Train Stations. Office uses are broadly permitted within the employment areas and within the various growth areas. Major office facilities are to be focused within the Office Employment designation, in Midtown Oakville, and within 500 metres of the Bronte GO Station. This approach to the location of the major office element of expected growth is more specific than in Brampton, and more specific than is required by provincial policy directives. Markham Official Plan
Markham’s Plan identifies population and employment forecasts to 2031. Markham’s Official Plan directs mixed-use, higher density growth to prioritized intensification areas and redevelopment areas served by rapid transit.
Regional Centres – Markham Centre and the Langstaff Gateway are planned to contain the highest concentration and greatest mix of uses and activities in Markham, including employment uses.
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Regional Corridors/Key Development Areas – Key development areas are identified along the Yonge Street and Highway 7 Rapid Transit Corridors. They will be planned as urban main streets that are compact and mixed-use. Local Centres and Corridors – Local centres and corridors contain a mix of activities similar to Regional centres and corridors, but on a smaller scale. All of these elements of Markham’s urban structure promote mixed-use development. The Markham Official Plan provides land use designations that may be applied within each of these elements. All of the applicable designations include office uses as a permitted use. Markham’s Official Plan also identifies a number of land use designations that are focused primarily on employment-generating land uses. This Plan also specifically provides a breakdown of the employment forecasts by employment type, which is unique in the Official Plans reviewed in this exercise. In hand with this specificity, the Markham Official Plan also has very explicit policies for office uses. The Markham Official Plan states that it is a policy of Council:
Section 5.1.4.1 “To direct major office development to the Business Park Office Priority Employment and Mixed-Use Office Priority designations within intensification areas along rapid transit corridors.” Section 5.1.4.2 “To require that new office development in the Business Park Office Priority Employment and Mixed-Use Office Priority designations be in the form of mid- to high-rise buildings, and be serviced by underground or structured parking, where feasible.” Section 5.1.4.3 “To encourage the introduction of office uses as a component of the Mixed-Use and Commercial land use designations.” Section 5.1.4.4 “To provide for office uses as an accessory use or limited ancillary use complementary to primary industrial uses where permitted in an appropriate Employment Lands designation.” A Complete and Healthy Kitchener
Population and employment forecasts are provided in Section 2.B.2. Employment growth is not subdivided into the various employment types. The planned urban structure includes an urban growth centre and major transit station area, as well as a hierarchy of Nodes: city node, community node, and neighbourhood node. The Plan also identifies urban corridors and arterial corridors. With respect to employment uses, there is also an industrial employment area category. All of the structural elements include multiple land use designations, and it is the various land use designations that determine the range and mix of permitted land uses.
Major office uses are explicitly permitted within the Urban Growth Centre. Office uses are permitted within the Mixed-Use designation, the Commercial designation, and the Business Park Employment designation – major office uses are specifically prohibited in the Business Park Employment designation. Limited ancillary office uses are permitted in the General Industrial Employment designation.
Overall, A Complete and Healthy Kitchener deals with growth management in a similar way as Brampton. The planned urban structure is fairly detailed, and includes a full array of urban centres and corridors, much like Brampton. Office uses are broadly permitted within the applicable land use designations, as they are applied in various structural elements throughout the city. Major office uses are explicitly permitted within the Urban Growth Centre. This approach to the location of the major office element of expected growth is more specific than in Brampton, and more specific than is required by provincial policy directives.
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Official Plan for the City of Ottawa
The City of Ottawa is not subject to the provisions of P2G. Notwithstanding that, the Official Plan sets out a detailed growth management strategy for the intensification of the defined urban area, focused on the Central Area, Mixed-Use Centres, Employment Areas, Enterprise Areas, Developing Communities, and Mainstreets. In a general sense, these areas are typically centred on the Ottawa Rapid Transit Network, major roads, busy commercial streets and large tracts of vacant land.
The Ottawa Official Plan goes further to identify a series of minimum density targets for a number of areas throughout the city. The minimum density targets are categorized into the Central Area, Mixed- Use Centres, Town Centres, Arterial Mainstreets, Community Cores, and Transit-Oriented Development Areas. These minimum density targets identify the existing density (in 2006) to 2031 and post-2031. Generally, the minimum density targets are significant, and represent a major commitment to intensification. In many cases, these targets are well beyond the density targets identified in P2G, or any local municipal Official Plans in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Office uses are permitted in virtually all of the mixed-use intensification areas as they are defined in the Plan, including both the Employment Area and Enterprise Area designations. Summary Conclusions
The following summarizes our key findings from the review of Official Plans from other select municipalities:
1. Overall, there is a tremendous degree of consistency of approach among all of the reviewed Official Plans, including the RPOP and BOP. The themes of Provincial policy directives all seem to be included and interpreted to result in appropriate growth management within a planned urban structure that includes centres and corridors that are focused on transit. 2. With respect to employment uses – and particularly office and major office uses – there is a general consistency of approach, with subtle differences in where office and major office uses are appropriately located. Overall, however, each municipality identifies multiple opportunities for the accommodation of office and major office land uses. Some are more directive than others, but overall the intent is to accommodate offices in as many locations as office developers may wish to locate, in being accommodating to market demand (a “market-responsive” approach). 3. The two notable variances in policy planning among the various municipalities are as follows: a. The City of Markham, in dealing with their forecast employment growth, identified how that growth would be allocated among major office employment, population- related employment, and employment land employment categories. While it is known that the Province does their projections utilizing these categories, it is not typical to include the breakout by category in the actual policy documents at the Provincial, Regional, or local municipal level. b. The City of Ottawa was very specific about identifying density targets for the various elements of its intensification hierarchy. Not only very specific, but they also reflect very high density targets. This is particularly interesting because the municipality is not subject to P2G, and consequently, are not compelled by policy to provide such detail, or to achieve such high densities.
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7.0 OFFICE STRATEGY
7.1 Introduction
Introduction and Overview
An Office Strategy is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It must be tailored to the particular on-the-ground realities of a local market. The preceding sections of this report have examined office market conditions across the GTA and locally, and reviewed the demand drivers and site selection criteria for prospective tenants and developers. As well, we have reviewed aspects of office development economics that influence development decisions, along with planning policy associated with office uses. The opportunities and challenges faced by the City have been identified and analyzed. This final report section culminates with a recommended Office Strategy and set of tools the City may utilize to realize it goal of being the preferred GTA Northwest location of choice for office development. Context for the Office Strategy
Brampton’s planned urban structure identifies five concentrations of office/major office development. However, there is no identified priority for the development of these nodes. The Official Plan allows the City to respond to office development opportunities as they arise throughout the Planned Urban Structure. This opportunity-based approach is considered appropriate in Brampton. It maximizes the ability of the City to attract office development of a range of types and configurations, in a range of locations.
Each of these planned office locations has a different context (built form, public realm, land availability, and access to existing or planned high-order transit). These contextual considerations affect the opportunity for each location to attract a concentration of office/major office development. In the earlier evaluation of Brampton’s planned office locations, we provided an outlook for each of these locations as far as accommodating future office space, and the potential timing and form of this development. Office Employment Types
It is important to recognize that there are different types of office employees, and that an Office Strategy must be reflective of this reality. In general, the focus of our analysis in this report has been on conventional office space – as distinct from professional/medical-type office space that principally caters to the residential population of a municipality. This is because the site selection criteria for medical/professional-type offices is quite different from conventional offices, as discussed earlier. Additional population-related office type uses (medical services, public sector office uses, and small businesses providing office-based services to the residential base) will emerge as the population of the community grows over time. Our Office Strategy is focused on conventional major office buildings (those greater than 20,000 sf) for which Brampton competes with other municipalities across the region to attract. We have refined the range of office-using employees into several categories, with each having a different character:
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1. Major Office Users – Major office users are large businesses which may be local, regional, national, or even international in scale. Their office may serve as a headquarters function, or as a regional/local branch office as part of a broader network. Major office users can also include the public sector (local and regional municipal headquarters, provincial and federal buildings, and other related facilities). Given the number of employees at a single location, these users may need to draw from the regional labour force. Therefore, transportation and transit accessibility is an important criteria in their site selection. Visibility and signage are additional considerations to support the branding/image of the company. In the future, as highways become more congested, the locations which can also provide transit options will be even more attractive. 2. Local Office Users – Smaller-scale businesses with a space requirement in the range of, say, 1,000 – 20,000 sf, have somewhat different locational requirements compared to major office users. Local office users may only draw from a labour force located quite close to the business premises (which might be situated close to the business owner’s residence). As such, accessibility to labour outside of Brampton is less of a concern. These office users often provide services to the local community, and grow with the population. If these businesses are population-serving (rather than having business-to-business interactions), they may seek to locate in non-conventional office space in mixed-use settings such as streetfront commercial, professional space within shopping centres, or small, freestanding buildings. 3. Industrial-Related Office – These office users are found adjacent to/in proximity to industrial employment areas, and primarily have business-to-business interactions with industrial firms located in these employment areas. These types of offices grow in employment areas and expand as the industrial base they serve increases. 4. New Economy Office – Firms in the New Economy (industries focused on the information technology sector, e-commerce, communications, social media, culture – and the intersection of traditional business and the preceding areas of business, etc.) are replacing the traditional industrial economy across Canada and elsewhere. These businesses seek low occupancy costs at start-up, and may prefer office space in non-traditional environments (such as converted industrial spaces, for example). They often require a mix of office space and warehousing/shipping, which can be located in traditional office districts or industrial employment areas. The rapid growth associated with the successful firms emerging in these industries can make real estate decision-making a challenge. As the target workforce for these firms is generally younger than traditional businesses, their interest in work-life balance, workplace and area amenities, and workspace design, must be considered. The demographics of these industries are driving location decisions which provide more workplace amenities, design, and public transportation accessibility. Planning for these industries will require adjustments to the traditional role of employment lands.
In summary, a municipality must balance the needs of various types of office users in land use planning, and recognize that the traditional Central Business District or office business park model alone is inadequate in the evolving office market, and may not be enough to retain and/or attract office employers to Brampton.
7.2 Constraints to Attracting Office Development
Overview of Constraints
Through our office market assessment, and in discussion with local real estate market participants (landlords, developers, and real estate brokers), we have generated a list of notable constraints that have impacted Brampton’s ability to attract a greater proportion of the GTA’s suburban office development activity. These are as follows (in no particular order):
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1. No Significant Clustering or “Critical Mass” – While this is somewhat a “chicken or the egg” discussion, the City does not have a significant cluster of activity that serves as an identifiable node or concentration of office space. The office space in the Downtown area is generally found in smaller buildings (apart from City Hall). Fletcher’s Creek is a modest office concentration; its 8 buildings (those over 20,000 sf in size) only amount to approximately 467,000 sf of total office space (10% of the city’s total). While this is also true of other municipalities (such as Oakville and Burlington, which have a dispersed office base, although oriented along the QEW), it impacts Brampton’s ability to plan for public sector investment, such as transit enhancements or public realm improvements. It also impacts the perception of the City as a destination for major office space. 2. Perceived as an Industrial Market – The tremendous success of Brampton’s industrial market – the second largest inventory in the GTA – has an impact on its image as an office destination, and the perception that it doesn’t have office space. While it is true that Mississauga is the GTA’s largest industrial market in terms of inventory, the city is also home of some of the suburbs largest office nodes. Multiple highway access and a large and growing labor pool are some of the reasons for this dynamic. With Brampton having large tracts of land, and proximity to intermodal terminals and Pearson International Airport, the municipality has seen its employment lands rapidly absorbed for industrial uses over the past thirty years. 3. No “Natural” Locations for Office – The major highway/arterial nodes of Highway 410 and 407 and Highway 410 and Queen Street have evolved to a range of employment and commercial uses, rather than a major office-focused destination. The good highway accessibility that is afforded to these locations – and which has been important in the evolution of the suburban office market across the GTA over the past three decades – is considered inferior at most of Brampton’s other planned office nodes. The result is that office employers have not considered any node in Brampton to be a location which meets their needs. 4. Inferior Highway Access – Brampton’s planned office nodes are impacted by relatively inferior multiple highway access when compared to the most successful suburban office locations across the GTA (Mississauga’s Airport Corporate Centre and Meadowvale Corporate Centre; Highway 404/Highway 7 in Markham Richmond Hill). In particular, Brampton’s Downtown is fairly distant from major highway accessibility. 5. Inferior Transit Access – Not unlike other suburban municipalities, the city has suffered from inadequate high speed transit connections to other parts of the GTA. While this will evolve with the introduction of Regional Express Rail by Metrolinx, the fact that Brampton (until very recently) has had only one-way (morning inbound to Union Station, and reversed in the afternoon) GO Train service has impacted the ability of its GO Stations sites to attract office development. Summary
While various locational and market-driven constraints do exist, we have developed an Office Strategy that is intended to minimize or overcome these constraints, while leveraging some of the city’s most important assets, from an office employment perspective. The following section presents the strategic directions for the planned Office Nodes across the city.
7.3 Strategic Directions for Planned Office Nodes
Overall Strategic Directions
The following guidance reflects our recommended strategic direction for the City to pursue in seeking to be the GTA Northwest’s preferred office location, while recognizing the strengths and challenges associated with the local market:
1. For the next 10 years – absent any significant decision-making related to higher-order transit in the municipality – the current approach to accommodating office development should prevail. The City will continue to respond to opportunities/applications, with an economic development focus of attracting development to the Bram West and Fletcher’s Creek “Office Nodes”.
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2. In addition, for the next 10 to 15 years, the City should focus on the intensification of the Downtown/Central Area. The ability to accommodate Office/Major Office Development should continue, but the primary focus should be on creating an intense residential community with a mix of uses that leverages the proximity to the GO Station, and the character/facilities of the Downtown and broader Central Area (its historic context, community facilities, park space, etc.). The Queen Street Corridor includes some older, existing industrial buildings (in the vicinity of McMurchy Avenue) and numerous auto-oriented commercial uses that could, over time, convert to an office-based New Economy location. Although this area will benefit from medical and life sciences-related office uses following the completion of Peel Memorial Centre, it is not foreseen as a primary location for the accommodation of large-scale private sector conventional (i.e. corporate) office development, given its locational attributes from a site selection perspective. 3. The City should consider the Bramalea Road South Gateway area as a key opportunity for the establishment of an expanded major office node, leveraging the existing GO Station, and its planned service level enhancements. It is anticipated that this office node would complement the more residential and mixed-use focused Downtown node. While the office designations are currently focused at the intersection of Steeles Avenue East and Bramalea Road, this permission should be expanded significantly – with details to be determined through ongoing planning for this area. Although the emergence of this node may occur over the medium term, the planning for this transition should begin now. This location should be described – along with the Mississauga Road Corridor Office Centre in the Bram West Secondary Plan – as being developed and reinforced as a major office activity area for the City, outside of the Central Area/Urban Growth Centre. 4. With the anticipated establishment of the Hurontario LRT (terminating at Steeles Avenue), the Fletcher’s Creek “Office Node” will become better connected. It will complement the more residentially-focused “Downtown Node” further to the north along Main Street. The Fletcher’s Creek “Office Node” also has the potential to connect, along Steeles Avenue, with Bram West and the Bramalea Road South Gateway Area. 5. Bram East, given its location, accessibility, and overall site selection attributes, is considered a longer-term opportunity. An updated Bram East Secondary Plan is required. The update to the Secondary Plan should consider a policy approach that provides a clear vision with respect to the City’s intentions for these lands, with a greater focus on its planned function and the forms of development that are desired. A clearer policy approach is also required that addresses how retail and commercial uses can be appropriately integrated with the desired office uses. 6. The Queen Street Corridor includes some older, existing industrial/warehouse buildings that could, over time, convert to an office-based New Economy location. This area is not foreseen as a major element of the Office/Major Office Development Strategy at this time. The planning policy regime for the identified “Primary Office Node” along the Queen Street Corridor in Secondary Plan Area 36 should be reconsidered, and provided with a clear and revised vision for the future. The new policy approach should reconsider the planned role of this site as “the only primary location for office development within the Central Area of the City of Brampton.” It has clearly not achieved that vision. 7. Heritage Heights is a long-term opportunity that should be protected going forward. There will be demand for population-related office-type uses in this area (such as medical and professional/business services). While conventional office should be permitted as a land use in Heritage Heights, it is not considered a probable location for an office node to develop – even with substantially improved transportation and transit accessibility that is envisioned – given the competitive landscape across the GTA, and even elsewhere within the city. Heritage Heights is being planned to accommodate approximately 43,000 people, which may support approximately 129,000 sf of professional/medical-type office space, upon build out of the community. 8. While smaller scale, population-related employment that requires office space may continue to emerge along major arterials and in Intensification Areas, it is likely that larger-scale major office development will target Office Nodes. The prioritization of these nodes for future office growth will encourage a critical mass that is supportive of amenities for office workers.
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Creation of a New Office and Mixed-Use Employment District: Bramalea Road South Gateway
Create a New Employment District
Brampton currently provides opportunities for “campus style” major office users, with access to a good supply of surface parking on site. This form of major office development is likely to continue to be popular in Brampton as other municipalities (including Brampton) become more urbanized. What Brampton lacks is a highly accessible (by transit and highway) and visible location for a more urban form of major office development. There is presently no place for a major office node to emerge that builds on an existing urban context that will attract an agglomeration of large office employers. An urban environment needs to be created in order to compete with other areas that provide the type of setting sought by office users (and their employees).
To change the dynamics of the office environment in Brampton, the City requires a distinct and competitive alternative within the regional marketplace. This Office Strategy promotes the creation of a new employment district with a vision to attract major employment in the New Economy. It is intended to leverage some of the city’s best assets, including: proximity to Pearson International Airport; Regional Express Rail connectivity; Highway 407 connections to other 400-series highways in the region; and relatively low cost land with large parcels suited to redevelopment/intensification.
The size of the current employment area allows for the planning and development of a substantial new multi-purpose business environment, which will offer regional highway and public transit options for major employers. Further study by City staff is required to create a vision for the area; identify the potential extent of this expanded office node; and to identify the appropriate mix of land uses, densities, building heights, public space, and other aspects of the built environment. An opportunity exists now to leverage the relatively “clean palette” of land uses to create a regionally-competitive, multi-functional setting, which addresses the needs of future employers. Bramalea Road South Gateway has large tracts of land to accommodate good transit-oriented planning, while also accommodate automotive-dependent users. While these lands area already developed, as facilities age or become dysfunctional/obsolete, their uses will transition.
While new office development will take place on properties that transform to a higher and better use, certain properties with an existing employment function may transition to an adaptive re-use. In particular, New Economy businesses seeking lower cost office spaces may occupy former industrial buildings that are no longer functional (lower ceiling, insufficient site area for truck movement/storage, etc.). Bramalea Road South Gateway provides opportunities to accommodate a range of office employment functions (“multi-functionality”) in an evolving mixed-use environment.
The Bramalea Road South Gateway will require a new branding/re-naming, to focus economic development and marketing efforts, and create a unique identify in the office marketplace. However, this report does not attempt to provide advice on this new brand identify, which should be arrived at through careful consideration and the involvement of various stakeholders.
Transformative Approach
The vision of this Office Strategy is to create a true concentration of office space – a major office hub for the city. It will be critical to engage local area land owners in a vision for this transformation to generate long-term value. It is essential to initiate this change in the near-term, prior to properties in the area changing use and seeing property owners undertaking significant capital reinvestment for functions that are not aligned with the City’s long-term strategy.
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Well-Positioned Location
Bramalea Road South Gateway is envisioned to complement future residential intensification in Brampton’s Downtown and Central Area. These areas will be one Regional Express Rail station apart, providing excellent accessibility. Workforce access will be greatly improved for office employers seeking to draw from the broader Greater Toronto Area due to all-day, two-way connectivity to Union Station in Downtown Toronto via Regional Express Rail. An enhanced transit service level connecting Bramalea Road South Gateway to the Hurontario LRT at Steeles Avenue will be vital. Immediate Highway 407 access is an important attribute for the area, which links to Highways 427, 400, and 404 (in the east) and Highways 410 and 401 (in the west). Overall, the site will become the most accessible office node in the city. Given ongoing concerns around highway congestion, in time, there will be a transition among suburban office users from auto dependency to a more transit-focused environment. Supported by Planning Policy
P2G envisages intensification of major transit station areas – major transit station areas are to be planned to achieve a mix of residential, office, institutional and commercial development. In the RPOP, it is an objective to intensify employment areas to optimize lands for future growth. These planning principles are aligned with the evolution of Bramalea Road South Gateway into a major office and mixed-use precinct. Strategy to Overcome Constraints and Meet the Needs of All Office Employment Types
These strategic directions are intended to address all of the key constraints that have impacted Brampton’s ability to attract a greater share of GTA suburban office development in the past. By creating a new mixed-use corporate centre vision, the issue of the city lacking a significant cluster/critical mass of office and related employment space is addressed. The Bramalea Road South Gateway location has several key locational attributes that will make it a desirable location for office space – namely, a Regional Express Rail station, adjacency to Highway 407 and connections to the regional 400-series highway network, and proximity to Pearson International Airport. While Brampton’s perception as primarily an industrial market is well established, redevelopment and adaptive re-use of properties in the Bramalea Road South Gateway area will begin to change the image of this location. Improved transit (Regional Express Rail, and local transit connections) will ensure that this area is highly accessible by public transit or automobile.
While the Office Strategy is tailored to overcome the city’s perceived constraints to attracting office growth, it is also designed to accommodate growth in all forms of office employment. The large land parcels in the area provide flexibility to accommodate major office development, as well as mixed-use developments that can cater to local office users. New Economy-type users can also be attracted to the area by virtue of its existing industrial base, which will over time transition to a higher and better use, either through redevelopment of the property, or adaptive re-use. Industrial-Related users will still have a home in Bramalea Road South Gateway to serve the large and well-established employment area.
7.4 Implementation Plan and Performance Measures
Introduction
Policy planning tools establish the environment for change. Financial incentives reduce the cost (and therefore risk) of development. Each are discussed in the Implementation Plan for the City’s Office Strategy. As well, we provide performance measures for City staff to monitor success.
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Implementation Plan
Our Strategy is based on transitioning from today’s market to a new market offering which will meet the needs of future employers. Recognizing that the region’s employment base will change is an important first step. Further, understanding the value of repositioning the planning required to meet these needs will require that the City and the private sector embrace the value of a new plan and build a consensus – first around the market viability of the concept, and then a mid-term strategy to put in place the policy requirements to fulfill the goal. The timeline for success must recognize the implementation schedule of Regional Express Rail and be in place when the service is delivered.
The confluence of good highway access and visibility, with public transit, economic incentives, and the multi-functional planning for new economy employers, will allow employers to embrace this opportunity – provided they are also engaged in the process. Market “buy in” by employers is very important when attempting to implement a transformative strategy, and we highly recommend this as an essential element in the early stages of developing this concept.
Planning Policy Tools
Current Official Plan policies and zoning regulations generally support the opportunity-based approach previously described as appropriate and market-responsive. Outside of the key Office Nodes, policies and regulations that link the development of office uses with other complementary uses should be relaxed. It would appear that these types of policies that tend to force office development have not been effective, are not market-responsive, and may serve to frustrate other positive development activities. Alternatively, an incentive-based approach may achieve appropriate levels and forms of office development throughout the city.
With respect to the Bramalea Road South Gateway area, it should be comprehensively considered through the development of a new Secondary Plan that will review the long-term geographic extent of the node, mix of land uses, built form, and urban design opportunities and constraints. Other important elements for implementation will be public sector activities that will attract a private sector response, including:
Infrastructure emplacement – the City should, based on the approved Secondary Plan, build the necessary infrastructure that will accommodate growth in anticipation of growth – roads, sewer, water, stormwater facilities, updated utilities, local transit improvements, even parking lots and structures. This will establish the environment for change. Public sector investment should result in a private sector response. Prezoning – the City should prezone properties to remove the risk and time loss associated with the subsequent development approvals process, based on the approved Secondary Plan. This will reduce the risk of the approval process. Be shovel-ready to accommodate interested major office users. Build the key elements of the urban environment – the City should establish the framework for the desired urban environment – urban streetscapes and open space elements will provide clues to the emerging urban environment that will attract major office users. This will establish the environment for change. Sell the dream to interested major office users. Enhance the transit experience – fundamental to the success of this major office node is the expansion of the transit service to the area (and linkages to the broader community), and enhancement of the transit riding experience. This will establish the environment for change. Community Improvement Plan
One of the key tools for the provision of financial incentive programs is the approval of a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) under Section 28 of the Planning Act. Through a CIP, the City may consider a whole host of public realm enhancements and the creation of financial incentive programs that will assist in fostering change in the area. A CIP is recommended for the Bramalea Road South Gateway precinct. CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 73
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The financial incentive elements that comprise the CIP should be developed in consultation with property owners in the area. While it our opinion that financial considerations have not been a barrier to attracting office development in Brampton in the past, we suggest a pilot project over the early years of the Bramalea Road South Gateway transformation to gauge the success of whichever incentive programs are adopted, in order to begin to generate a critical mass of office occupancy on the area.
Reduction in Municipally-Controllable Fees
Our preceding analysis of the City’s building permits fees and development charges indicate that they are within the average range compared to competitive suburban office markets. Therefore, we conclude that these fees have not been a barrier to office development. However, to incentivize office development, the City should consider lowering these fees in order to attract larger-scale development (say, for properties greater than 50,000 sf). This would improve the office development economics, and these savings could be attractive to prospective office occupiers. Performance Measures
As discussed in this report, the city has attracted an annual average of approximately 100,000 sf of new office space since 2000. The competitive new office supply (excluding condominium product) has represented a roughly 6% share of the GTA suburban new supply since 2000. These figures can be considered a baseline volume for future performance tracking.
The purpose of this Office Strategy is to increase the volume of new office space to align with Hemson’s major office employment forecast, which calls for approximately 6.4 million sf of new office space from 2016-204 – or an annual average of close to 250,000 sf. Tracking future new supply additions against this performance metric is another gauge of the City’s success in attracting office growth.
Tracking of the revenues associated with new office construction is another metric that can be used to gauge the success of the Office Strategy. This report includes a scenario for considering the municipal revenues associated with office development that is guided by Hemson’s major office employment growth forecast. These municipal revenues are from three sources: building permit fees (a one-time revenue input, linked with new construction itself), development charges (again, a one- time revenue input, linked with new construction itself), and property tax revenues (ongoing).
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APPENDIX A – MAPS
Map 1 – Office Buildings in Brampton over 20,000 sf
Map 2 – Vacant Office Designated Land
Map 3 – Office Designations
Map 4 – Bram West – Secondary Plan Area 40
Map 5 – Fletcher’s Creek South – Secondary Plan Area 24
Map 6 – Bramalea Road South Gateway – Secondary Plan Area 38
Map 7 – Bram East – Secondary Plan Area 41
Map 8 – Office Construction in Brampton 2000-2015
Map 9 – Heritage Heights
CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
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VACANT OFFICE DESIGNATED LANDS PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES Drawn By: RB * Based on 2014 Employment Lands Inventory File: EMPLOYLANDS_V_OFFICE_SEPT2015.gws Date: 2015-10-06 Sheet: VACANT_OFFICE
CITY OF BRAMPTON – OFFICE STRATEGY
APPENDIX B – ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL REVENUES
CITY OF BRAMPTON CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
Analysis of Municipal Revenues
Office Space Demand based on Hemson Major Office Employment Projection Period12345678910111213 Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 New Gross Leasable Area (sf) 186,200 186,200 186,200 186,200 186,200 186,200 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 Gross-Up Factor (sf) 13,034 13,034 13,034 13,034 13,034 13,034 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 New Office Space Projection - Marginal (sf) 199,234 199,234 199,234 199,234 199,234 199,234 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 New Office Space Projection - Cumulative (sf) 199,234 398,468 597,702 796,936 996,170 1,195,404 1,458,517 1,721,630 1,984,743 2,247,856 2,510,969 2,774,082 3,037,195
Building Permit Fees ($) $1.44 $psf $1.47 $1.50 $1.53 $1.56 $1.59 $1.62 $1.65 $1.69 $1.72 $1.76 $1.79 $1.83 $1.86 $292,635 $298,488 $304,457 $310,546 $316,757 $323,093 $435,217 $443,921 $452,800 $461,856 $471,093 $480,515 $490,125
Development Charges ($) $4.30 $psf $4.39 $4.47 $4.56 $4.65 $4.75 $4.84 $4.94 $5.04 $5.14 $5.24 $5.35 $5.45 $5.56 $873,840 $891,317 $909,143 $927,326 $945,873 $964,790 $1,299,607 $1,325,599 $1,352,111 $1,379,153 $1,406,736 $1,434,871 $1,463,568
Property Taxes ($) $1.36 $psf $1.39 $1.42 $1.44 $1.47 $1.50 $1.53 $1.56 $1.60 $1.63 $1.66 $1.69 $1.73 $1.76 $276,671 $564,408 $863,544 $1,174,420 $1,497,386 $1,832,800 $2,280,930 $2,746,253 $3,229,276 $3,730,521 $4,250,525 $4,789,837 $5,349,020
Office Space Demand based on Hemson Major Office Employment Projection (cont.) Period 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Year 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 New Gross Leasable Area (sf) 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 245,900 Gross-Up Factor (sf) 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 17,213 New Office Space Projection - Marginal (sf) 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 263,113 New Office Space Projection - Cumulative (sf) 3,300,308 3,563,421 3,826,534 4,089,647 4,352,760 4,615,873 4,878,986 5,142,099 5,405,212 5,668,325 5,931,438 6,194,551 6,457,664
Building Permit Fees ($) $1.44 $psf $1.90 $1.94 $1.98 $2.02 $2.06 $2.10 $2.14 $2.18 $2.23 $2.27 $2.32 $2.36 $2.41 $499,928 $509,926 $520,125 $530,527 $541,138 $551,961 $563,000 $574,260 $585,745 $597,460 $609,409 $621,597 $634,029 NPV $9,299,036
Development Charges ($) $4.30 $psf $5.67 $5.79 $5.90 $6.02 $6.14 $6.26 $6.39 $6.52 $6.65 $6.78 $6.92 $7.05 $7.20 $1,492,840 $1,522,696 $1,553,150 $1,584,213 $1,615,898 $1,648,216 $1,681,180 $1,714,804 $1,749,100 $1,784,082 $1,819,763 $1,856,158 $1,893,282 NPV $27,767,955
Property Taxes ($) $0.00 $psf $1.80 $1.83 $1.87 $1.91 $1.94 $1.98 $2.02 $2.06 $2.10 $2.15 $2.19 $2.23 $2.28 $5,928,655 $6,529,336 $7,151,673 $7,796,292 $8,463,834 $9,154,960 $9,870,345 $10,610,684 $11,376,688 $12,169,088 $12,988,633 $13,836,093 $14,712,255 NPV $113,470,419
TOTAL NPV $150,537,411
7.0% Gross-Up Factor 100,000 Building Size 2.0% Inflation Rate $210 Estimated New Building Assessed Value ($psf) 2.0% Discount Rate $21,000,000 Property Assessment 0.648306% Commercial Tax Rate (City of Brampton portion) $136,144 Commercial Tax Bill $1.36 Property Taxes ($psf)