Halfway through another year, ULI Toronto has continued to advance its mission of providing leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities, through a variety of programming and outreach activities.

Consistent with our objective of generating dialogue and ideas around important land use issues, our April 16 program tackled the subject of Unlocking Employment Lands.  Hannah Evans of the Ontario Growth Secretariat and Michael Williams, the City of Toronto’s General Manager of Economic Development and Culture, provided an overview of Provincial and municipal policies aimed at protecting and promoting the development of employment lands. Both spoke to the challenges of where to locate large-scale retail uses, recognizing that retail uses are generally recognized as employment uses, but major retail uses are considered non-employment uses for purposes of the conversion policies of the Growth Plan. Ken Greenberg, drawing on his experience with the successful transition of the “Kings” areas of Toronto, spoke about how mixed-use development can rejuvenate and sustain employment areas.  David Gerofsky provided insight into Great Gulf’s experience with developing employment lands, both in downtown Toronto and in more suburban locations adjacent to Metrolinx mobility hubs. Finally, Jeff Davies provided his perspective as a land use lawyer with respect to the impacts of Provincial legislation and policy effecting employment lands.  Following the April 16 program, a Members only tour of Liberty Village took place, with further discussion about how industrial areas can evolve into successful mixed-use neighbourhoods.

Our Young Leaders Group hosted a panel discussion on neighbourhood gentrification on May 16, with Paul Johnson of unique urban homes, Tim Jones of Artscape, Michael McClelland of ERA, Les Mallins of Streetcar Developments and Brent Raymond of duToit, Allsopp, Hillier providing their perspectives on how Toronto’s neighbourhoods are evolving and accepting more intensification.  Most recently, our annual and popular fireside chat was held on June 19. Moderated by John O’Bryan, Inside the Mind of Peter Sharpe was an informative and entertaining conversation with the former CEO of Cadillac Fairview, covering the key milestones of Peter Sharpe’s tenure at Cadillac Fairview and his insights into trends, challenges and opportunities facing the real estate industry. This program again had a follow up Members tour, this one looking at the sustainability upgrades to TD Centre.