Kitchener Economic Development Strategy passes committee
Posted Nov 7, 2011 10:38:02 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The new Kitchener Economic Development Strategy 2011 (KEDS ’11) has been unanimously passed through Committee.
The long term vision (10 to 20 years) would see a new business park near King and Victoria Streets. The main piece of the ‘innovation district’ would be at a former public works yard on Bramm Street.
That 8.3 acre property is a key part of the vision that would eventually see up to 15,000 jobs and 4,000 residents attracted to the downtown core.
Head of Economic Development Rod Regier told 570 News the KEDS ’11 document will be tweaked for councils consideration next Monday, “the key question that council asked was how do the challenges facing the manufacturing sector weave through the document. We’ve built it into the strategy, but I think we can do a better job fine-tuning the language so that it’s more obvious to everybody.”
Regier said that until the LRT and the new multi-modal transit hub are up and running, the lot will be used as surface level parking, “when the region builds the LRT, we’ll be able to back off on that parking inventory. Then Bramm becomes really important intensification territory.”
Regier said the funds used to kick-start this strategy will come from the remaining funds left in the current Economic Development Investment Fund (EDIF), “there is under a million dollars [left], very little.” Regier said some of the available land parcels will be prepared for market, “and then as we achieve some of those land sales, the resources, we’re going to propose will go into our business parks reserve fund.” Regier said any other income that Kitchener obtains through investments will go back into EDIF, “until EDIF is wrapped up at the end of 2013, and then we will consolidate all of that into a single fund.”
The long term vision of this strategy will be used to advocate to the province for more GO Train service, eventually allowing workers commuting from the GTA to travel into Kitchener by rail.
