The City of Windsor is rolling out the mat for builders looking to develop land in the core.
Next Monday, council will look at the idea of lowering development charges for commercial (non-industrial) property to nearly zero.
The city’s chief building official, John Revell, says “we see a real golden opportunity in Windsor to encourage development in the downtown area.” He adds this could be a boon for Windsor.
Revell says the change is designed to mesh with recent changes to development charges for residential land in the core, from Prince Road to Pillette, and north of Tecumseh Road.
The city is already receiving calls from interested developers hoping to get a jump on the 2017 construction season.
Downtown city councilor Rino Bortolin hopes this new bylaw will fill in some of the “missing teeth” and vacant lots in the downtown area.
“That's a pretty big carrot,” Bortolin says. “It's something that should work -- and I think you'll start to see, slowly, but surely, investors taking that carrot."
Development charges outside the new zone will stay the same. Last year, when council increased the development fees, builders weren’t too pleased. Bortolin says builders who choose to develop where infrastructure currently exists will be rewarded with very low development fees.
