Mississauga doubles down on sales pitch to get more businesses downtown
Published May 18, 2022 at 1:29 pm
Mississauga is doubling down on its efforts to attract more office development to the city’s downtown core.
City council decided today (May 18) to extend by four years an incentive plan designed to make it more cost effective to build office space in the City Centre area, which Mississauga officials are rebranding as the downtown core or Downtown Mississauga.
The Downtown Community Improvement Plan (CIP), adopted in 2017 and set to expire on July 4, will now remain in place until April 22, 2026.
Essentially, the CIP works in alignment with a similar, new Region of Peel plan and is geared towards balancing the number of residents and business workers who populate the downtown core.
Under the plan, businesses are provided various financial incentives to set up shop in the downtown area.
“By providing incentives such as Tax Increment Equivalent Grants, Development Processing Fees Grants and Municipally-Funded Parking Assistance, the City (of Mississauga) is balancing residential and employment development to build a complete community where people can live, work and play,” City staff say, noting the alignment with the Region of Peel’s effort “…means almost double the grant benefits for qualifying office developments through the City’s Tax Increment Equivalent Grant.”
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The end game, the City says, is to “…make it more cost effective to build office space in Downtown Mississauga.”
Mayor Bonnie Crombie said it’s crucial the downtown core remains a vibrant economic hub as Mississauga recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic’s financial impact.
She applauded the incentive plan.
“Combined, these incentives are powerful tools to help us attract and draw more office investment to our downtown, both now and in the future,” said Crombie. “This will be a significant benefit as businesses continue to recover and people gradually return to offices, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.”
City officials say the Downtown CIP supports both their goal to achieve a 1:1 employment-to-resident ratio in the downtown and the 2051 Region of Peel employment growth target.
“Mississauga’s Downtown Community Improvement Plan enhances the City’s ability to attract major downtown office development,” said Andrew Whittemore, Mississauga’s commissioner of planning and building. “By stacking local and regional incentives, the City is able to amplify the program’s impact and effectiveness. Our goal is to achieve an equal mix of residential and employment development, and this program helps achieve that balance while boosting the local economy.”
The City is also conducting a study on expanding the Downtown CIP’s geographic boundary to include Fairview, Cooksville and Hospital communities.
A report on the study is expected to come to council in 2023.
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