G L O B A L
R E T A I L
A D V I S O R S
Retail and Service
Commercial Land Use Study
Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
December 2015
Prepared by:
90 Richmond Street East, Suite 100
Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1
416-921-4181 www.jcwg.com
J.C. Williams Group Limited
90 Richmond Street East, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1. Tel: (416) 921-4181 Fax: (416) 921-4184 [email protected] www.jcwg.com
600 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Suite 1700, Montreal, QC H3A 3J2 Tel: (514) 781-5429
350 West Hubbard Street, Suite 240, Chicago, Illinois 60654 Tel: (312) 673-1254
Member of the EBELTOFT GROUP - International Expertise in Retail Service Business
G L O B A L
R E T A I L
A D V I S O R S
TOcore Downtown Retail and Service Commercial Land Use Study
BILD Toronto Focus Group Minutes
A focus group session was held July 28, 2015. The following minutes document the input from
the meeting.
Attendee
Paula Teuta
Representing
BILD
Danielle Chan
BILD
Derek Goring
Great Gulf
Aly Damji
Hullmark
Jennifer Lane
Menkes Development Ltd
David McKay
MHBC
Andrew Duncan
RioCan
Isaac Shirokoff
RioCan
Andrew Farncombe
City of Toronto
David Fitzpatrick
City of Toronto
George Pantazir
City of Toronto
Liz Howson
Macaulay Shiomi Howson
John Archer
J.C. Williams Group
Naomi Turner
J.C. Williams Group
J.C. Williams Group Limited
90 Richmond Street East, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1. Tel: (416) 921-4181 Fax: (416) 921-4184 [email protected] www.jcwg.com
600 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Suite 1700, Montreal, QC H3A 3J2 Tel: (514) 781-5429
350 West Hubbard Street, Suite 240, Chicago, Illinois 60654 Tel: (312) 673-1254
Member of the EBELTOFT GROUP - International Expertise in Retail Service Business
Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
Item
Who
Introductions David
Fitzpatrick
Discussion
Introductions
David introduced the study
TOcore
Review
Andrew
Farncombe
TOcore review of process and study components
TOcore
Existing
Conditions
Retail
SWOT
John Archer
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Reviewed key findings from Existing Conditions
Retail SWOT
Participants received the summary PowerPoint before
the meeting
Questions pertained to:
 The complete scope of TOcore study and timing of
other initiatives (Andrew Farncombe answered)
 Whether the study is assessing only new
development or also redevelopment and existing
retail spaces – yes all retail
Discussion
Flexibility
 Flexibility was an over-riding issue
 Flexibility includes both retail space requirements and
in terms of the City’s policies
 Flexibility in retail space allows developers to be more
creative but also ensures they have functional spaces
Major Issues Retail Development
 Retail in mixed-use developments in Downtown is
expensive and complicated if you don’t have the
City’s support
 Complexity relates to issues such as transfer
structures to ensure less intrusive columns into the
retail space which adds to complexity and expense
 Retail mix issues may include anchors. For example,
supermarkets can be an anchor and will go on second
levels (smaller retailers will not go on upper levels).
Supermarkets are a draw that attracts other retailers to
be near them and will attract those retailers to fill out
the ground level but supermarkets need additional
height (6 m) which can result in buildings running up
against height limits particularly for mid rise
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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buildings.
Along with good ceiling heights, loading/receiving
areas are important and retailers have very strict
needs that need to be included.
Retailers will only pay good rent if it is worth it
Policies and regulations should not make retail
development more complicated
City’s preference to “shrink retail down” so small that
it cannot fit in a retailer – results in vacancy issue
Better Retail Development
 Retail was an afterthought in the past. Many
developers were focused on residential with very little
retail. Starting to see that shift/change as they become
more sophisticated at providing better retail spaces
 There are better returns for retail and in some
areas/instances; retail can have a higher ROI than
other components in the development which makes it
very desirable
 Need to plan developments with retail in mind from
the beginning. In fact, all the building uses need to be
developed in coordination from the beginning
including retail to make it work better. Adding retail
at the end of planning/design will result in bad retail
spaces. Examples of developments that did not create
good retail spaces such as Queen’s Quay Blvd/York
St. where there are columns and slabs that divide up
the spaces into small units, and the loading issues
makes redevelopment of the retail space beyond what
is there now almost impossible
 Developers will consider retail space designers but it
would be commensurate with the amount of square
footage and importance of the project. Smaller retail
areas would not warrant the additional cost for a retail
designer but for large projects they will
Heritage
 Where there are existing or planned heritage sites and
districts the redevelopment is more complicated
 It is not economic to build condos and plan for smaller
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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retail formats
Developers are limited in terms of built form, heights,
etc. and need to add height/density to existing spaces
to make the entire project economical
Policies are counterproductive and it squeezes retail
opportunities
Existing Retail Infrastructure Present Opportunities
 There is a lot of small retail space in Downtown and a
lot of older main streets. These streets are more
conducive to unique type retailers. Often the rent may
be a bit lower on these streets as well.
 For new development, the retail is being priced at $40
to $60/sq. ft. and this is more cost prohibitive to the
small, independent type retailers. But as indicated,
there are ample space in the Downtown for these
retailers to locate at more affordable rates
Loading
 Distribution is critical for retailers.
 Dilemma – retailers can use smaller trucks for
delivery but the larger trucks are still more cost
effective for many retailers
 But many retailers still have not adjusted their loading
specification for urban retail development
 City is very strict on loading requirements
 Other issues with existing built form and trying to fit
in different uses that impact loading and noise. This
can cause concern for City and residents. However,
these groups need to be more supportive
Parking
 Parking is expensive to provide and developers are
balancing the needs of the retailers and the City. Less
parking requirements and shared parking
opportunities are better for the bottom line of
developers
 Parking ratios have decreased dramatically over the
past few years but some parking is still required in
developments for the retailers
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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Retailers have to compromise with less parking. No
retailer should expect 2.5 stalls/1000 sq. ft.
Sharing parking is increasingly viable in many areas
of Downtown and is in use in other cities such as
Vancouver and Calgary
Shared parking is easier with office than with
residential due to time of day that it is used and able
to be shared (parking times align)
On-street parking is an issue –some want more and
some want less (for other uses such as patios)
Like the mix of on-street parking and then becomes a
traffic lane in the late afternoon – keeps Downtown
interesting
Need a holistic view of parking in mixed-use
developments
Technology is assisting in parking supply and
management for increased shared resources
Noise
 Developers continue to try to work to mitigate noise
issues but they constantly re-appear. This can be from
loading or patios
Timing
 Developers ultimately cannot control market timing.
In some cases, large mixed-use developments in the
downtown were improved (in the opinion of the
developer responsible) due to delays that ultimately
led to a better anchor tenant being secured. In other
cases, timing has worked to the disadvantage of
developers were large anchor tenants have pulled out
of a project, resulting in additional costs and design
challenges for retrofitting the space for alternative
uses.
Retailers Trying to Locate in Downtown
 Land prices in Downtown have increased to a rate
that many large format retailers cannot find affordable
space (e.g., large building supply retailers would like
to be in/close to Downtown but cannot find space)
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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Large format retailers are evaluating their formats and
concepts to develop profitable models to locate in
urban areas (boutiques, showrooms, etc.) but some
uses, particularly home improvement, have not be
able to make it work
Signage
 Signage is a retailer issue but they are concerned
about signage regulations
 Want diversity in signage to keep the street interesting
Retail Tenants
 Must target retailers to the demographics of office
tenants (e.g., instead of adding another chain coffee
shop to the Downtown, leased to an independent
coffee shop) It is what the office tenants were asking
for
 Want to provide office tenants with retail that they
want and make them stay. Often an office building is
highly leveraged with one main tenant. Do not want
them to leave
 Mix of nationals and non-national brand is a better
mix, not all unique
 There is an issue related to policies for retailers rather
than retail use. Impact of large retail would not be as
great as most people think
 Witnessed that gentrification in Downtown is pushing
out many retailers but there is a natural movement of
retailers as they shift to other areas of
Downtown/City
 As stated, there are many places in Downtown for
unique retailers to locate
 Difficult to provide the space for new unique retailers
that emerge. They have to wait five years for building
to be finished. These retailers needs are more
immediate and will take existing built retail space
Importance of High Covenant Retailers to Developers
 Developers are primarily interested in a high
covenant retailer’s ability to pay rent for entire length
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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of lease vs. a lower covenant retailer or an
independent retailer who may go out of business and
is more risky. They are worried about having to
backfill the retail space if that retailer fails.
The developers stated that it wasn’t necessarily to get
a better lending rate with lenders.
Strata Title and Condo Boards
 Retailers do not care about the ownership structure of
the building but want to make sure that if they have
issues, they don’t have to go to the condo board
 Issues related to internal governance of a building
amongst owners is not an issue for the City to be
involved with – involves work with good lawyers
who have expertise to put enforcements
 Should be able to share best practises with other
developers on how these governance arrangements
are set up, things to watch out for and best practises
(industry helping industry)
Priority Retail Streets
 No participant was aware of the Priority Retail Street
designations or the specific form/design requirements
attached to the zoning
 However, they indicated that if required that they do
follow the requirements and rely on outside advisors
to ensure they are adhering to them
 They noted that City should not be designating where
retail should be required to go; that the market should
determine that function
 The developers felt the name of the policy was
misleading
Boundaries in Downtown for Retail Scale/Size Caps
 Developers are not as familiar with the exact
boundaries. Similarly to Priority Retail Street, the
developers rely on other experts to review and advise
them
 The developers are more concerned with looking for
the best possible locations for their developments
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
Rent/Lease Incentives
 Some participant offered that incentives similar to
office rent breaks by the City (IMIT) may work for
independent retailers to afford space in new
construction. It was noted that restaurant build out is
very expensive. However, others thought that would
not work, may be offensive, and not an effective tool.
 They were asked if crowd funding type programs
could be used as part of encouraging unique retailers
in new developments. Developers felt it would not
work everywhere and that there are ample
spaces/high streets throughout Downtown for unique
retailers to locate
Proposed Solutions
 There is a need for flexibility in policies (e.g., size,
heights, second level retail, etc.)
 For second level retail, the City should remove
barriers and restrictions and allow it to happen more
where retailers want it
 Need to adjust height restrictions, in the context of the
entire building (especially mid rise) to ensure retail,
loading, and upper level uses work together better
and there is a better return on investment
 Need best practises for retail, not just policies
 A good inventory system of retail can be used by the
City to help developers determine which businesses
are missing and which ones they should pursue to fill
space
 More education of policies (BILD can assist) rather
than enforcement especially those developers with
less retail experience. Use retail sites that have been
successful as examples to illustrate how it works for
ROI benefits. City can take marginal retail sites and
educate developers before they develop rather than
enforce policies/regulations
 Vice versa, City staff should be better informed on
how retail works successfully
 Remove roadblocks so that developers can do the
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Appendix F: BILD GTA Workshop Summary
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Wrap up/
Next Steps
J.C. Williams Group
right thing
Need City departments to communicate and
coordinate better
David
Fitzpatrick
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