Greyfield Redevelopment for Housing in Canada — Case Studies
The growing number of older commercial centres — whether shopping malls, strip malls or retail plazas present promising opportunities for intensifying and revitalizing cities. These "greyfields" are composed of failed or failing retail uses and their associated parking lots. These sites are now coming full circle as their owners look for alternative uses such as housing. The following case studies provide examples of successful greyfield residential redevelopment projects, and municipal initiatives which encourage greyfield redevelopment, in small and medium sized cities.
Municipal Initiatives
Downtown Business Performance Grant Program — Brantford
The City of Brantford's Downtown Business Performance Grant Program (DBPGP) has been used to redevelop former commercial sites and is making a major contribution to the revitalization of Brantford's downtown core. Examples of projects funded by the program include a former restaurant on the main street that is being redeveloped as a mixed-use project, and a former carpet store that was demolished and the site redeveloped as a new apartment building.
Community Improvement Plan for Downtown and Main Street Areas — Municipality of Chatham-Kent
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent's Community Improvement Plan (CIP) covers nine downtowns found in this amalgamated municipality.The Plan aims to revitalize these mixed-use areas and make them places where people will want to live, work, play and shop. It includes a number of incentives that could be applied to the rehabilitation of commercial land in the target areas through improvements that include activities such as heritage restoration and preservation, land and building redevelopment.
The Thornhill Secondary Plan — Markham
The Thornhill Secondary Plan provides guidelines for new development and redevelopment of Markham's Thornhill district, including a partially defunct shopping mall site. Approved by the Town of Markham in 1991, the Secondary Plan was implemented in 1997, following approvals from the Region of York.The Plan was amended in 2002 to provide guidelines for the redevelopment of a failed shopping centre.
Built Projects
The Aldershot Plaza — Burlington
The Aldershot Plaza project will redevelop two adjacent parcels of commercial land in two phases. Phase One will redevelop the site of a former supermarket into rental apartment buildings and a large recreation area to be used by future residents of the project. Phase Two will redevelop a strip mall and junior department store into five or six apartment buildings with some ground floor commercial uses.
Raceway Property — Elmira
The Elmira Raceway project will redevelop the site of a former racetrack into a 200-unit residential subdivision that will include a variety of housing types, ranging from detached dwellings to multi-unit townhouses and seniors' townhomes. Located near Elmira's core area, the project also includes open space, community and recreational land uses.
1600 Bath Road Project — Kingston
The 1600 Bath Road project will intensify a site that formerly housed two large retail stores.The existing buildings have been re-purposed as a storage facility and a bingo hall and the 6.9-hectare site will be intensified by the addition of three 120-unit apartment buildings in the former parking areas.The project will enhance Kingston's affordable housing supply. Green space may also be developed, thereby providing a public amenity.
The New Kitchener Market — Kitchener
A former City parking lot and surrounding commercial land will be redeveloped into the New Kitchener Market. A collaboration between the City and a private developer, the mixed-use project will consist of five elements: a market building, public square, commercial space, an underground parking garage, and Le Marché Residential- 68-unit condominium development.
Olde Thornhill Village — Markham
The Olde Thornhill Village project will redevelop the 6.1-hectare site of a failed shopping centre to create a large-scale infill project within an established community. The west part of the site, which currently contains an office building and an enclosed mall, will be renovated, re-clad and expanded as a commercial development.
The Hampton Manors of Oakville — Oakville
The Hampton Manors of Oakville project redeveloped the 2.15-hectare site of the derelict Grand Boulevard Plaza into a residential project that is compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood.The project consists of 24 condominium units and six freehold units, all of which are attached dwellings, arranged in four blocks. An internal roadway was built, facilitating access to the site.
Lakeshore Village — Oakville
Lakeshore Village is a mixed-use project located on a site previously dominated by car-oriented retail establishments in Oakville's Central Business District (CBD).The project is composed of 14 townhouse units in two blocks; one block of 10 live-work units and another block of four live-only units. Located on a major transportation route, the project represents renewed interest and revitalization in the western portion of Oakville's CBD.
