Conference home page

Conference Overview:

Sponsorship:

Speaking:

Sponsored By:

Lead Media Partner:

Supported By:

Detailed Conference Agenda

DAY ONE:
Wedesday April 1st, 2009

Incorporating existing buildings into redevelopment to maintain heritage buildings

Many municipalities would like to celebrate their industrial heritage by incorporating many of the existent buildings into their brownfield redevelopment project. This can be complicated and cost prohibitive, but there are some practical solutions.

• Cost effective ways to remediate under buildings
• Innovative design solutions to maximize heritage building exposure
• Special considerations when redeveloping heritage sites

Learn how other sites have successfully incorporated heritage buildings.

John Stonard,
CABE Programme Manager,
Design Liverpool, UK

Financing challenges and opportunities in uncertain economic times: maintaining momentum in brownfield development

Financing brownfield redevelopment is always difficult, but under the current economic realities, it threatens to take a significant setback. Hear what options are available.

• From private developers to development funds
• Financial incentives from municipalities and the other areas of government
• Options from the traditional banking field
• New financing ideas

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

Innovative strategies for redeveloping large industrial sites into new mixed-use communities

When the General Motors plant closed down, there was an opportunity to redevelop 230 acres into a large-scale mixed-use community. With government assistance from all levels, and creative financing, the developers managed to build a LEED neighbourhood, now a green building pilot project. Hear how the developers:

• Planned and executed such a large project
• Worked out the financing arrangements for such a large project
• Worked with the city and their partners to plan a sustainable live-work community

Public-private partnerships for opening up “mom and pop” brownfields for redevelopment

Many towns have small brownfields and small brownfield owners who may be unable to clean up their property. In many cases, these properties can be critical to opening up further development.

• What are the challenges to opening up small “mothballed” properties?
• How did public and private officials work with the owners?
• What were the successes, both now and in the short term?

Join the conference speakers and your peers for a relaxing luncheon.

Key strategies for building more effective Community Improvement Plans

A number of cities in Ontario have either prepared or are in the process of preparing to implement Community Improvement Plans (CIP) to promote brownfield redevelopment. In order to be effective, these CIPs should employ a strategic capacity building process that includes certain key elements.

• Understand the process of building a more effective CIP and building institutional and community capacity to successfully implement your CIP
• Identify and avoid some of the common mistakes made by municipalities and consultants when preparing CIPs
• Gain a better understanding of how to properly budget for, implement and monitor your CIP

Financial feasibility models that work for small to mid-sized towns and/or plots

A common concern for developers taking advantage of brownfield redevelopment opportunities in smaller communities, and/or on smaller parcels of land, is that the return on investment won’t be there. Using real case studies from Kingston, learn how:

• Lucrative small developments can be
• Costing models were prepared, and money recovered through the city’s brownfield tax incentive program
• To make the business case for smaller brownfield developments in smaller communities

Kevin Shipley,
Partner, Kingston Office Manager,
XCG Consultants

Hear the latest updates from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s proposed brownfield reform guidelines

Brownfield stakeholders have been requesting changes to brownfield regulations for many years. In response, Ontario announced a number of key changes to Ontario’s brownfield regulations. Hear from government officials as they discuss the status of proposed changes to:

• The Record of Site Condition and submission and filing processes
• The Risk Assessment Process
• Other amendments, such as liability

Terri Bulman,
Manager, Standards,
Ministry of the Environment (to be confirmed)

Innovative and sustainable alternatives to “dig and dump” remediation

Removing contaminated soil is the standard method for many brownfield clean ups and, in some cases, it is still the preferred or only alternative. However, in some instances, there are more sustainable alternatives.

• Gain a greater understanding of the options available
• Discover why sustainable remediation practices are supplanting older methods
• Hear valuable case studies on alternative remediation practices

Day Two:
Thursday April 2nd, 2009

Marguerite Ceschi-Smith, MSc.
Brantford City Councillor

Leveraging community support to turn a mothballed factory into a public park to improve a small town’s waterfront

When the Lily-Tulip Company closed its factory and left behind three acres of contaminated and unpaid land, Old Town arranged to take over the property. Turning to the community, the city decided to open up the site to a recreational area on their waterfront.

• Hear how local residents contributed to the town’s master plan
• Learn why their recent success is inspiring more development
• Understand how the development project was funded

Replicate Old Town’s success in your community.

Ron Singel,
City Manager,
Old Town, ME

Attracting large mixed-use developments to smaller communities to ensure long-term sustainability

Collingwood has a long history of shipbuilding but, like many towns, as production fell, the waterfront area became an abandoned brownfield. Building on its history of recreation, Collingwood attracted developers to build a large mixed-use community on its waterfront brownfield.

• Examine why the builder was attracted to Collingwood
• Analyze the opportunities and challenges that motivated the developer
• Identify opportunities to replicate success in your community

Learn how to apply the successful solutions Collingwood employed in your community.

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

Changing from legacy industrial uses to clean green employment on Toronto’s Waterfront

When Corus Entertainment wanted to integrate their various media operations under one roof, the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) stepped up to provide them with a new building on Toronto’s waterfront, using it to anchor a complete mixed-use community.

• Learn how financing for the project was arranged
• Discover how parking and a high water table were tackled
• Learn the strategy for negotiations with industrial neighbours, the MOE and City Planning
• Identify the key success criteria needed to embark on similar projects
• Understand the role of LEED in the marketing and development of the project

Gain insight into creating similar successes in your community.

Legal Update: 2009 regulations mean more complicated clean-up and off-site liability rules: Find out the legal impacts on today’s projects

The Ontario Government’s proposed new clean-up standards, ESA requirements and off-site liability rules will affect current and future projects. For many sites, the new rules will increase complexity and cost of remediation and may affect financing and time to complete. Developers need to factor the impacts into projects in progress as well as those in the planning stages.

• Review the new clean-up requirements and their impact on timing and cost of project development
• Discuss the effect of the new standards on financing and marketability
• Understand the requirements and limitations of the proposed off-site liability rules

Learn how to mitigate potential legal impacts on your Brownfields development.

Join the conference speakers and your peers for a relaxing luncheon.

Implementing co-managed site contracts with brownfield owners to facilitate site development

A former 49-hectare refinery in Calgary has been vacant since the early 1980s, and since that time, has been in regulatory uncertainty. However, in the last two years there has been tremendous progress under a new, precedent-setting agreement. Hear how:

• The City of Calgary and former owners co-manage the site to move development forward
• Both parties structured the agreement to secure a win-win
• Future agreements between cities and brownfield owners can be structured

Emulate the success of Calgary in your municipality.

Scott Eagleson,
Environmental Specialist, Environmental & Safety Management,
City of Calgary

Giving developers and owners the tools they need to facilitate brownfield development

Join us for an interactive session on brownfields from both the developer’s and the owner’s perspective. Learn what developers and owners are looking for in financial and tax incentives, and environmental liability.

• Where do owners and developers see for the future of brownfields going?
• What are their positions on various municipal incentives?
• What legislative concerns do they want addressed?

Interact with conference speakers and fellow attendees.

Collaborating with brownfield owners and developers to build employment opportunities

When the GM plant in Anderson closed, the new city administrations saw an opportunity to create new employment opportunities. Working with a developer that shared their vision, learn how Anderson city officials:

• Built a positive relationship with GM
• Negotiated a pay for performance schedule linked to job creation
• Reaped the benefits of a collaborative approach to brownfield development

Gary Silversmith,
President,
P and L Investments

Turning a brownfield into a LEED certified building

Builders are looking more seriously at sustainability and achieving LEED status in buildings, in part because the public views them more favourably. Now, some builders are trying to achieve green building status on brownfield developments.

• Learn how Ecole Polytechnique successfully constructed a LEED building
• Understand the challenges the builders faced, and how they overcame them
• Discover how cost effective it can be to recreate their success

Louise Millette,
Director, Department of Civil, Geological, and Mining Engineering,
Ecole Polytechnique