Grants pitched to aid downtown
Deputy mayor says plan focuses too much on specific area
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, April 17, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Developers constructing medium to high density residential buildings downtown could soon get a grant from the city which is seeking to boost its lagging revitalization efforts in the core.
City council hopes providing grants to companies that build medium to high density residential developments in downtown will aid revitalization efforts. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Councillors approved first reading Monday night of a bylaw amendment to provide a grant to developers that construct residential buildings with eight units or more in the downtown core.
The grant would be an alternative - and roughly equivalent to - a tax abatement program which offers a 100 per cent exemption from property taxes for five years.
The amendment would see council approving grants on a case-by-case basis.
In 2011 the city set a goal of adding 430 residential units to the core over 10 years, but only 40 units have been built since then. To meet its goal, city staff recommended adding the grant option.
Toro Ventures Ltd. developed The Point on 47 Street, one of the two buildings that used the abatement system. The 15-unit condo building, which opened in 2012, will be abated a total of $115,000.
Had the proposed system now going through council been in place, Toro could have accepted the same amount as a grant after receiving its occupancy permit instead of the sum being spread out over five years.
Because the condo owners pay the taxes, they see the benefit of the abatement instead of the developer.
Peter Houweling, Toro Ventures owner and a city employee, said the abatement was a selling point for condo buyers but he sees the grant as a better incentive.
"It definitely has its pluses," said Houweling.
"It would be more of a direct incentive for developers to get a project started and finished."
Coun. Adrian Bell told Yellowknifer he's already heard developers expressing interest in the grant system.
"If you offer (developers) the grant up front and tax the condo owners from day one, it's really the same in the eyes of the city and taxpayers," said Bell.
"It helps the business case. They're the one that has to take the risk and if it's not appealing to them then it just won't get built."
According to a city report, the funds for the grants would come from the Smart Growth Reserve which the city now contributes $93,000 to each year from parking meter revenue.
The projected balance of the fund in 2015 is $570,000. When the proposed grant was presented at committee, it was originally going to be available for downtown, Old Town and the Old Airport Road areas. However, Bell and other councillors argued it would be wrong to use money collected from parking meters for outlying areas since they were installed to fund downtown revitalization projects.
"It's not exactly what the downtown parking meters funds were for," said Coun. Rebecca Alty.
Staff then changed the wording to limit the grants to downtown. The motion to amend the incentive program passed first reading Monday night at council.
Deputy mayor Linda Bussey was the only one to vote against it. She said limiting grants to the core means other areas of the city are being neglected.
"I live downtown, I work downtown, I play downtown but at the same time I'm aware we seem focused on just downtown," Bussey said after the vote.
Although he voted in favour, Coun. Niels Konge said he doesn't see the grant driving development.
"I don't think it will do a whole hell of a lot to be honest," Konge, who owns Konge Construction Ltd., told Yellowknifer. He voted in favour because he said there's only so many fights he can wage.
What would help, Konge said, would be the city getting out of the habit of buying property in the core and driving up the cost of real estate.
Next reading of the bylaw is set for April 27.
