EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

BACKGROUND:

City Council approved the Economic Revitalization Community Improvement Plan (CIP) at its January 31, 2011 meeting via CR 50/2011. The adopting By-law 30-2011 was passed by Council at its February 14, 2011 meeting.

The Economic Revitalization CIP provides financial incentives to encourage new investment in targeted economic sectors for the purposes of diversifying the local economy and creating/retaining jobs. The CIP allows the City to take a variety of measures to further the objectives of the Economic Revitalization CIP that would otherwise be prohibited by Ontario’s Municipal Act. This includes the acquisition and preparation of land; construction, repair, rehabilitation or improvement of buildings; the sale, lease or disposal of land and buildings; and the provision of grants to owners or tenants of land—all of which must conform with the objectives and policies contained within the CIP.

To date, City Council has approved a number of applications made under the CIP representing a range of targeted economic sectors including manufacturing, research and development, creative industries, logistics, health & life sciences, and tourism.

2520034 Ontario Limited has applied for financial incentives under the Business Retention and Expansion Grant Program to offset proposed investments in the existing building located at 1785 Walker Road (see Location Map). The company is owned by Scott Woodall. The property would be leased to Brave Control Solutions, which is a systems integration Company that designs and integrates technical solutions for automotive manufacturers. Brave Control Solutions is headquartered in Windsor with a second location in Detroit.

The subject property is 0.21 hectares (0.53 acre) in size and contains two abutting buildings totalling 1,725 square metres (18,573 square feet). The property is designated ‘Industrial’ in the City’s Official Plan and zoned Manufacturing District 1.2 (MD 1.2), which permits a range of light industrial, service commercial, and office uses.

The property is listed on the Municipal Heritage Register. The building was constructed in 1949 and a two storey addition to the north was added in 1953 (see Figure 1). The building and property has been used for office and light manufacturing uses (i.e. billboards and signs)—first by the J.C. Teron Co. and later by CBS Outdoor.