rdaner

rdaner

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A very large proposal for central Brantford at 1 500 units plus space for commercial and post-secondary uses.

www.simcoereformer.ca

Residents speak out about plans for proposed redevelopment of Brantford FreshCo Plaza

Brantford residents speak out about plans for proposed redevelopment of Freshco Plaza
www.simcoereformer.ca www.simcoereformer.ca
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I think Brantford would really benefit from a medium-high density core in this area. It's immediately south of the historic downtown, is mostly parking lots, and has the arena, casino, and is right next to loads of parkland along the river. Also noteworthy is the "temporary" relocation of the Hamilton Bulldogs (now Brantford Bulldogs) OHL team - they've insisted it's only for 3 seasons while the arena in Hamilton is renovated, but nobody believes they're planning on moving back - a new arena may be on the horizon for Brantford.

The whole area is really just waiting to be redeveloped, but Brantford has a very serious healthcare capacity issue that needs to be addressed before any more people are being added to the area. The province just invested $28 million into renovating the ER at Brantford General, but the entire hospital is beyond desperate for a full rebuild. I'm absolutely in favour of this development, but the main NIMBY concern so far is a very valid one.
 
The SGL stuff immediately above is sterile and dreary, even just as a massing exercise, whereas the SvN stuff is probably "too good for Brantford", sorry to say. SvN get hired normally for visioning and rezoning exercises, but are — much to my chagrin — normally replaced by the time that actual buildings are being proposed.

42
 
Towered said:
I still think Brantford is one of the most depressing cities in Ontario that are over 100,000 in size. It's a bit shocking really.
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It's such a self-inflicted wound, so much great history has been lost, though some remains in various states of repair. Great history, great setting w/the river.

But car-centric, appallingly poor transit, bad planning decisions at every turn.
 
Here's a question I don't see addressed in the article...........what about the floodplain?

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This area is in the risk zone.
 
In respect of the SvN stuff, it would be one of the nicest things to happen to Brantford in ages, subject to addressing the flooding issue, and making sure the new area would be well served by transit.

As @interchange42 notes, however, the odds of that attractive image being the reality here are not particularly high, unfortunately. On the upside, it would replace a non-descript big box plaza, with surface parking, so it need not be great to be an improvement.
 
Paclo said:
The flood plain is briefly mentioned in the article, only with respect to parking:
View attachment 498413
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Good catch, don't know why I missed that on a first skim.

That said, development inside the regulatory floodplain is rare in many parts of Ontario, and when permitted, rarely residential, and when that's permitted, there can't be residential at-grade, normally.
 
Paclo said:
Rendering from MPAR:
View attachment 515475
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It certainly looks nice. Almost too nice for Brantford, but I don’t want to jinx it. I do worry if this project will come to fruition, however; I don’t know where the demand for living in Brantford is coming from (other than the usual regional factors) but even as a commuter town it’s pretty far out. I’m generally weary of development in a town with a rocky economic history like this; it seems like a function of inflated prices making things viable where they might not be otherwise. Can such a project survive housing prices crashing 30%? One might say no city/project is immune, but bubble or otherwise, COVID showed us the farther out you are, the quicker the market will drop out.

…In any case, if Brantford is going to be a legitimate release-valve type of commuter town going forward, we should probably start planning for that soon. Some supportive regional planning and infrastructure would make me a lot less worried about a correction pulling the floor out from under these more susceptible communities. And if anyone’s ever been around these places, one might understand why rejuvenation via intensification seems far off to me. Hamilton’s basically only got on its feet again recently for instance, and it has better fundamentals than most cities beyond.
 
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