City of Toronto – Golden Mile Market Analysis & Economic Strategy
About the project
urbanMetrics was retained by the City of Toronto to conduct a Market Analysis and Economic Strategy to assist and inform the development of a future Golden Mile Secondary Plan, recognizing its potential as a future transit oriented neighbourhood. The “Golden Mile” refers to an area in Scarborough that includes over 2 million square feet of retail uses, three industrial sites, almost 1 million square feet of office space and a small residential area, located alongside and close to Eglinton Avenue East.
The Eglinton LRT is scheduled to open in 2021 and will include five above ground stops within the Golden Mile. The key objective was to prepare an economic strategy to facilitate and support appropriate residential and non-residential growth within the Mixed-Use Areas lands primarily located on the north side of Eglinton Avenue East, while protecting and encouraging new employment, office development and investment within the employment-designated lands located on the south side of the avenue.
In preparing this strategy, urbanMetrics analyzed the historic shifts in local employment by sector; identified the positive and negative market influences affecting key industry sectors in the Golden Mile; consulted with local landowners, developers, City Councillors and staff; evaluated existing City development incentives and programs; and undertook a case study review of other comparable transit corridors and the economic incentives applied. A key part of the strategy recommendations included a toolkit of incentives, programs and policies and recommendations regarding how they could be modified and applied in the Golden Mile to capitalize on the attributes of this unique area.
