Media Coverage: The Mississauga News

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On October 5^th, ULI Toronto traveled west for its annual 905 event, a program that tackles an issue important to the municipalities that surround the city and make up the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). As anyone in the industry can attest, collaboration and partnerships are essential when approaching the future of development for the city and region — particularly when speaking about the GTHA’s waterfront redevelopment strategy, a collective challenge from east to west.

Hosted at the Mississauga City Hall and sponsored by Tolias, the event brought together a panel of four planners and developers for a discussion moderated by Mayor Bonnie Crombie. Mayor Crombie started off the discussion with a definition of a complete community that spoke to the inseparability of our municipalities and the importance of an accessible region that stretches beyond city limits. This trend can be observed in transit planning, development policy and urban planning, but nowhere is it more prevalent than in our waterfront redevelopment goals. The waterfront is our inseparable commonality, tying our municipalities together.

Emma West, Vice Chair of ULI Mission Advancement and Partner at Bousfields Inc., followed with a history of waterfront planning policy and development over the last 25 years. The investments that have been made as a result of past efforts — GO Transit among them — are just the beginning of what the waterfront needs to thrive. West hit upon the common goals we all strive for when it comes to our waterfront. These goals are the same planning principles of the past: clean, transit accessible, and vibrant.

The out-of-town panelist, Gary Penway, joined the discussion on the heels of a successful waterfront revision plan in Vancouver. Penway provided frank and valuable do’s and don’ts that he and his team encountered throughout the process. It was clear that Penway remains passionate about the unmatched power of the waterfront. As he put it, “there is a natural draw to the waterfront, people want to be there; there’s almost something spiritual about it. Few things can transform your city like a good waterfront.” His principles for achieving the ‘good waterfront’ gave the audience valuable insight into what makes a waterfront great. Among them were:

• respect the past but build for the future
• create a destination, not simply a place to walk by
• get people interacting with the water, not just beside it
• distinct and durable, especially for Canadian winters
• municipal and private collaboration

Partnerships were a theme throughout the talk and many of the panelists agreed that they are the future, not just for waterfront redevelopment, but for success when creating communities anywhere in the GTHA.

Chris Phillips, senior advisor on the City of Hamilton’s West Harbour Redevelopment Project, followed by presenting the unique challenge of Hamilton’s four distinct and separate shorelines. Over the last 30 years, Hamilton has focused largely on leveraging city-owned real estate surrounding the water. Brownfield redevelopment was a major element in redefining these areas, but so was acknowledging where industrial uses along the waterfront remained relevant and needed to be maintained. As with Penway’s principles, Phillips stated that the future of Hamilton’s waterfront lies in transparent collaboration between the public and private sectors. Hamilton is displaying its belief in the power of the waterfront by investing first in hydro and servicing that will set up the private sector for timely and efficient success when the time comes. That time is fast approaching, with the City gearing up to collect RFPs from developers shortly.

Finally, the audience heard from Frank Giannone, President of FRAM Building Group and a veteran of waterfront development. Giannone’s work in Port Credit spanned from 2002 to 2010 and represented one of the largest mixed-use development projects along Mississauga’s waterfront. Beginning with a brownfield site in need of remediation, Giannone’s strategy was to start small. First he built townhomes on the waterfront that could be priced lower and then moved toward larger, more expensive housing. Homebuyers were willing to pay for the more expensive homes as they saw the community beginning to take shape. Some of the major obstacles to this development spoke to Penway’s principles, as existing heritage buildings in Port Credit were a huge consideration, as well as abutting existing neighbourhoods which had to be accounted for. Giannone also spoke about what he would have done differently, turning his successful experience into even more of a learning opportunity. Some points he mentioned included the need for more mixed and commercial uses in addition to making better use of the existing public-private spaces.

Principles, past mistakes and best practices aside, the diverse panel represented the best tools for the waterfront’s future — private and public sector alike. The minds that ULI Toronto gathered were not only learned in the art of creating vibrant waterfronts, but remain passionately committed to doing so in the future. The audience walked away buzzing with excitement for the future of our waterfront, and the great things that can be expected over the next decade. Those in attendance also gained clarity on two important fundamentals of waterfront redevelopment. Firstly, that the waterfront is perhaps the most powerful instrument for transforming a city. And, secondly, the lines of public and private as well as municipal boundaries must all be blurred in order to achieve true, cohesive success.

Thank you to our Event Sponsor: