Residential boom and commercial expansion: Five things on the horizon for business land use in Hamilton

What's on the horizon for jobs, land use, and residential space in Hamilton?

The Urban Land Institute hosted a virtual panel Tuesday called Hamilton: A Bigger Picture," moderated by The Spectator's editor-in-chief Paul Berton, which brought together business and planning experts from the city to provide a forecast on what's to come.

Here are five things to look out for:

1. Bayfront industrial sector could emerge as innovation hub

The city is eyeing waterfront development opportunities as part of its Bayfront Industrial Area Strategy, in the 1,600-hectare area, which is at 97 per cent of capacity despite perceptions of land vacancies, said Tiffany Singh, a planner at the City of Hamilton.

Quoting a market overview analysis by Deloitte, Singh said the bayfront could re-emerge as the city's innovation hub by diversifying employment opportunities in the area, while bolstering legacy sectors like steel.

Landowners could consolidate their operations, modernize their storage needs, and bring land and building supply to the market," Singh said. And we're seeing exactly that play out by some of our large tenants, so that is really where the bigger investment opportunities exist in this area."

2. Incentives to propel development

The city is offering a range of financial incentives to developers, including multi-residential loan programs and facade grants, said Karol Murillo, a senior business development consultant at the City of Hamilton.

One of these is tax increment-based grants, also known as tax increment financing, which are not widely used in Canada, but have been used close to 200 times for development projects in Chicago, known for its waterfront, and in other U.S. cities. They incentivize developers by paying back the forecasted tax increase difference over a certain period - in Hamilton's case, five years - on a redeveloped site.

City staff are reviewing these incentive options and will be reporting back to council.

What we've heard in our consultation from the business community is that these programs have been instrumental to bringing investment into the city," Murillo said.

3. Downtown core and the residential boom"

Murillo also raised New York City and its Brooklyn borough as an area where industrial and heritage buildings were repurposed to increase residential use and make it a tech epicentre, and an inspiration for Hamilton's ambitions.

At least 2,500 residential units are currently in construction, including the commercial highrise development at 212 King William St., and thousands more are before council, she said.

Though work-from-home protocols during the pandemic have temporarily reduced the demand for physical office across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, the city continues to tout future opportunities for that, highlighting the city's biggest story" last year as the expansion of tech firm Q4 into downtown Hamilton offices.

4. Commercial expansion and jobs

New construction projects are slated to add more than three million square feet of industrial space in Hamilton, Mayor Fred Eisenberger said, underscoring job creation with a focus on drawing in employment opportunities that would help those that are struggling on the margins."

Sue Rimac, a City of Hamilton business development consultant, rhymed off a handful of manufacturing, tech, and engineering companies, including Florida-based L3Harris Technologies, Quebec-based galvanizing plant Corbec Inc., Sierra Supply Chain Services, Walters Group Inc. steel manufacturer, and others located in the Flamborough Business Park. It will also see a new 855,000-square-foot fulfilment centre for Amazon, among other commercial developments and the expansion of science and technology facilities, some linked to McMaster University.

5. Hollywood North coming soon to Hamilton?

The film industry could see more of a foothold in the city as an area that was originally planned for a football stadium is supposed to become a film hub in the Barton-Tiffany block, a redevelopment touted to support economic growth and expand the local film industry.

Vjosa Isai is a reporter at The Spectator covering Hamilton-based business. Reach her via email: visai@thespec.com.