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Consultant recommends Town sell ‘prime land’ in downtown core

November 13, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Baker

A consultant hired by the Town to present different investment opportunities for the last remaining piece of prime, open land in downtown Orangeville is recommending the municipality sells the one-acre property for future development. 

Orangeville Council has been pondering potential opportunities for 82, 86-90 Broadway for most of this year. The site, located across from Town Hall, currently houses a 125-spot paved public parking lot. 

This past Monday (Nov. 9), Council heard from Scott Walker, a Partner with N. Barry Lyon Consultants, who spoke at length about the potential for the site. He presented three different development scenarios for Council to consider, before recommending that the municipality explore selling the land, with conditions attached, rather than attempt to enter into a joint venture with a developer or pursue a ground lease of the site. 

“This is a very central downtown location, and really represents the last large gap in the retail fabric of downtown Orangeville. It’s a one-acre site, so a pretty big site for development. You are likely to attract a lot of experienced developers with this site,” Mr. Walker said. 

The first scenario put forth by Mr. Walker featured a four-storey 47,000 sq. ft. building, including 5,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space and between 30 and 40 condos on the upper floors. The plan also includes 150 parking spaces, with a variety of underground and above ground spots. 

The second scenario would see construction pushed back away from Broadway, leaving a “front yard” as Mr. Walker described it, which could serve as potential home for the Orangeville Farmer’s Market. The building proposed under this scenario would be eight-storeys tall, including retail on the ground floor and approximately 94,000 sq. ft. of space for around 80 or 90 condos and apartment. This option would also feature 150 parking spaces – 49 on the surface, and 101 underground.

Scenario three is a combination of the first two options, Mr. Walker says, including a four-storey building right along Broadway, and an eight-storey building behind, along Armstrong St. This layout would, again, include 5,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and around 120,000 sq. ft. of space for condos and apartments, between 100 and 110 units. In between the two buildings would be a two-level parking structure, featuring 96 above ground parking spaces and 54 underground parking spots. 

Each scenario has its benefits, with the larger development potentially being more lucrative, not necessarily for the Town, but certainly for any developer looking to take on the project. With public parking a pre-requisite for any proposal, Mr. Walker warned Council they will likely have to invest north of $3 million to make that happen. 

Due to the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Walker recommended that Council hold tight on rushing into a decision, or agreement with a developer, noting any project could be more lucrative a couple of years from now. 

“Right now, the market is not quite there. We’re suggesting you delay the RFP process for a little bit, and in the meantime achieve a bunch of little objectives that will remove risk from a developer’s perspective. One of those is the zoning of the site. Right now it has height limitations, but through dialogue with Heritage Orangeville, it has been suggested that scenario one and three could work,” Mr. Walker said.

“Right now, the market is not quite there. We’re suggesting you delay the RFP process for a little bit, and in the meantime achieve a bunch of little objectives that will remove risk from a developer’s perspective. One of those is the zoning of the site. Right now it has height limitations, but through dialogue with Heritage Orangeville, it has been suggested that scenario one and three could work,” Mr. Walker said. 

The Town will also have to carry out a two-phase environmental assessment of the site to ensure it meets the necessary conditions for development, while Mr. Walker recommended they develop a downtown parking strategy, to consider how and where the municipality will provide parking to the public while construction is underway, and launch an economic impact study to see what benefits any development could bring to the Town. Finally, he suggested the Town should retain an architect before going out to RFP – basically inviting developers to put forward proposals for the site – so as to “flesh out the design” and narrow down a more exact cost, on the Town’s side, for the project. 

Council, initially, appeared apprehensive, with several members saying they were nowhere near ready to commit to scenario or proposal for the site. While Mr. Walker and his company largely focused on including a high-end residential and retain component at the site, something he said would maximize the value of the land for the Town, some councillors wondered about the possibility of using the site for other purposes.

Coun. Joe Andrews indicated he’d like to see the residential component focus on more affordable housing, while Coun. Grant Peters said he wouldn’t be opposed to there being more of a business focus to any build. 

“This site is really unique. It’s the only one we have of this size, location and potential. I understand the market conditions, and everything seems to line up (for a) residential condo-style development, but I was a little disappointed not to hear about other development types, or a greater degree of mixed use space or public space included in these plans. Whether that’s co-working space as more people are downsizing their offices, or co-housing, I’m not sure,” Coun. Peters said. “I just think we need to step back and look at downtown as a whole beyond what the market conditions are at the moment, because this development is going to change the flow and nature of downtown, and it’s worth everyone taking a step back and considering a lot of different model types.”

Culture was the key word for Coun. Lisa Post, who echoed Coun. Peters’ thoughts that any development on the site should be slated for mixed-use. She mentioned the possibility of the Town opening up a cultural centre at the site. 

Mayor Sandy Brown, who doubles as a real estate agent in the area, expressed his belief that the Town’s number one priority heading into this situation should be to find a developer that will pick up a considerable amount of the cost of this development. Approving the construction of condos, he said, is likely the best way to do that.

“This is some of the most valuable real estate in our town. There are other places where some of these other ideas could be placed, just keep that in mind,” Mayor Brown said. 

There was then some time debating, back and forth, over what Council were and were not prepared to approve on Monday. Mayor Brown was seemingly in favour of Council adopting staff’s recommendation, which was to approve scenario one, as presented by Mr. Walker, and allow staff to move forward with the various reports and studies it needs to complete prior to opening up for RFPs. Coun. Peters, who put a motion on the floor to allow staff to complete the necessary reports and studies, didn’t the sense in committing to a particular footprint or building size their early in the process.

“I’m not sure why we would lock in the envelope if we don’t know what’s going in there yet. Maybe the economic impact study comes back down the road and says scenario three, with the two buildings and garage in between, makes more economic sense. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and say ‘this is the size of the building’ when the reality is we don’t know what’s going in there yet,” Coun. Peters said. 

Orangeville CAO Ed Brennan suggested that Council could sign off on staff’s recommendation, with a minor addition saying the building size, and what is going to be featured inside it, could be subject to change. Council, largely, agreed with the amendment, voting 6 to 1 in favour of the staff’s recommendation, with Coun. Debbie Sherwood the sole vote against.

Ruth Phillips, the Town’s Manager of Economic Development and Culture, informed Council that the process to complete the environmental assessments, parking strategy and economic impact study would be a lengthy one, estimating between 18 months and two years. With that in mind, the Town may be in a position to go to RFP by mid to late 2022. In total, the assessments and reports are expected to come at a cost of $75,000. 

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