“These are exciting times,” says Walter Sendzik, mayor of the Niagara-region city of 130,000 about 120 kilometres south of Toronto along the Queen Elizabeth Way.
The first stage began in 2010, when the city unveiled its Garden City Plan, a 191-page, long-term land-use strategy that was formally approved shortly after the province designated most of downtown as the sole Urban Growth Centre in the Niagara region. This designation provided public funding that has totaled more than $270-million so far, and established a density target of 150 residents and jobs per hectare, up from 109 in 2006.
THE ARTICLE
Title: St. Catharines, Ont., builds bridges to commercial development.
Section: Property Report
Date: February 6, 2019
Link: Read on The Globe and Mail Website ›
WHAT THE ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT ST. CATHARINES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The annual value of construction permits in downtown St. Catharines has nearly tripled over the past four years – hitting $12,357,662 in 2018 – and much of this activity has been spurred by the city’s 2017 hiring of Margaret Josipovic as project expeditor. Her role is to “challenge the developer community,” Mr. York says, “and to ensure that when people come here with a vision it doesn’t get caught up in the machinations of bureaucracy.”