Speakers Say City’s Potential Pivots on Good Planning Decisions
May 10, 2011 Steve Arnold, The Hamilton Spectator
A planned LRT system for Hamilton will bring a hefty windfall to property owners around its stations.
Don Campbell, head of the country’s largest real estate research company, told an audience of commercial realtors Tuesday anyone lucky enough to own commercial space within 50 metres of an LRT stop can expect to command a 16 per cent rent premium for the property. Apartments within 800 metres of a stop will get the same premium.
Those are only some of the economic benefits Campbell and Hamilton airport president Richard Koroscil say will flow to the city from investments in transportation, investments they say Hamilton has to make if it wants a future of new jobs and a vibrant economy.
“Transportation is about more than just moving goods from point A to point B, it’s an economic enabler,” Koroscil said. “Transportation is always one of the top three things companies look for when they’re making site selection decisions.”
Campbell and Koroscil argued Hamilton already has a transportation network that offers major economic benefits — so long as the city makes the best use of it, now and in the future.
“We have a transportation infrastructure here that some communities would kill for,” Koroscil said, noting Hamilton is home to the busiest port on the Great Lakes, a network of roads and railways linking it to Toronto and American markets across both the Niagara and Windsor borders, as well as a major cargo airport here and easy access to the airports in Toronto and Buffalo.
The city is already gaining some benefits from those advantages — 3,000 jobs in the cargo operations at Hamilton’s airport as one example — and more are available through developments such as all day, two way GO service, the long delayed Niagara-GTA highway proposal, the long discussed light rail transit plan for Hamilton and the new Red Hill Valley Parkway.
The city is currently designing a 16-kilometre LRT route from Eastgate Square to McMaster University. It’s the first of what is envisioned to be a five-line rapid transit system, although there is no funding commitment from any level of government.
Campbell said studies by his research company have shown commercial land near the Red Hill’s interchanges can command a 15 per cent premium, making the highway “a real generator of jobs because companies will realize they can come in here and move their goods easily.”
All of those advantages, however, can be defeated with the wrong kind of planning, they warned — the kind of planning that allows houses too close to airports and highways restricting their potential for growth. Other failures could be sparked by not providing the zoning conditions that allow small businesses to get started.
“We’ve made a lot of those mistakes in Ontario,” Koroscil said, adding that one of the reasons he so strongly backs the proposed Airport Employment Growth District, a 3,000-acre swath of industrial land around John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is to act as a buffer between its jet engines and houses.
He also believes it has the potential to be a huge source of jobs in the future. Koroscil’s view of the AEGD plan isn’t unanimously held. A group of neighbours has organized to oppose the plan, arguing the city should focus first on infill and brownfield sites before opening new areas to development.
“There is a vocal minority that wants us to do nothing, in fact they’d be happy to see us close the airport and put those 3,000 people out of work,” he said.
Hamilton’s transportation advantages were one reason Campbell’s company this week named the city the top place to invest in Ontario and the third best place in Canada. Getting the full advantage of its gifts, however, will require a major change of attitude in the city.
“Hamilton has a real problem, the perception that the rest of the world, and some Hamiltonians, have of Hamilton as layoff city,” he said. “In fact, Hamilton is very well positioned and it’s time to be proud of Hamilton, but that message isn’t getting out to the rest of the world.”