At its December 13th meeting, Municipality of Kincardine Council approved a zoning amendment submitted by Smart Centres to permit a mixed-use development, including offices, commercial and residential uses, on lands east of Highway 21 in Kincardine.
According to sources, Smart Centres is a Canadian real estate investment trust, based in Vaughan, Ontario. It specializes in retail real estate, especially power centres and almost all of its malls have Walmart as a major tenant. In fact, as of 2016, 72% of Smart Centres properties were anchored by Walmart, with Walmart responsible for 26% of rent and 42% of area.
According to records, “… as of 2017, Smart Centres had 154 shopping centres and $9.4 billion worth in assets with 60% of its revenue from Ontario, 15% from Quebec, 9% from British Columbia, and the other 16% from the rest of Canada”.
All of Smart Centre retail properties contain either a Walmart or pharmacy, and 60 per cent of its tenants are considered essential, which means they can remain open and operating (though sometimes with some restrictions) during the pandemic.
In Kincardine, according to the site-specific zoning, the range of commercial and residential uses on the 54-acre property will be expanded, as well as providing appropriate standards to ensure development proceeds in accordance with a Master Concept Plan.
According to Kincardine staff, there are unfortunately no details as yet on the commercial uses proposed. The Hwy. 21 and Russell street extension will need to be constructed by MTO before the commercial units are built, therefore, they are starting with a one residential apartment.
Phase 1 of the development includes a three-storey, 45-unit residential apartment building off Millennium Way, south of the Marriott hotel. The full development proposes 11 residential apartment buildings, a retirement residence, as well as commercial and office uses near Highway 21. No units, according to sources, will be what is considered affordable or ‘attainable’ housing.
The zoning by-law also includes a holding provision to ensure that traffic impacts and servicing is addressed before proceeding with additional phases of the development.
“With the announcement of the MTO upgrades at Highway 21 intersections earlier this fall, Council was pleased to approve the Smart Centres zoning amendment, as this will open up additional lands for development east of Highway 21,” says Mayor Glover. “The municipality has invested heavily in water and sewer infrastructure upgrades over the past few years to service these lands, so it’s exciting to see development proposals moving ahead.”
The public meeting for the application was initially held on July 12, 2021, and no formal objections were submitted. A decision on the application was deferred until comments from the MTO had been received.
The zoning by-law amendment is now subject to a 20-day appeal period.
