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Rogers is looking for Brampton City Council support for a proposed MZO for a new office campus in Downtown Brampton, replacing the current property at 8200 Dixie Road, a former Northern Telecom plant that was later refurbished into Nortel's headquarters and later acquired by Rogers. This will be considered at the council meeting on Wednesday, January 26.
Here's the body of the letter from John Mallovy, Rogers' Vice President, Corporate Real Estate:
The new downtown site would be on land owned by Metrolinx, which acquired a dozen residential properties, demolished the houses, and has now nearly completed construction of a new parking lot. The two office buildings at Nelson Street West and George Street are vacant and are currently owned by the City of Brampton, meant to support future development, including the new transit hub on the east side of George, and the Innovation Centre, on the south side of Nelson. Rogers wants that land because of its transit connections to Toronto and Waterloo. This would also be a big boon to Downtown Brampton itself.
Furthermore, Rogers is looking to redevelop the 8200 Dixie Road site, with mixed use residential on the east side, towards Dixie Road, and retain industrial use on the west side, towards West Drive.
The MZOs, I suspect, would allow Rogers to expedite the development of both sites.
Here's the body of the letter from John Mallovy, Rogers' Vice President, Corporate Real Estate:
On behalf of Rogers Communications Inc., I would like to thank you and Brampton City Staff for your attention and support as Rogers endeavors to strengthen its presence as a proud employer and investor in Brampton. Brampton is home to a critical and valued employee base of technology workers who are currently working out of a repurposed industrial building at 8200 Dixie Road. The current building underserves both the employees’ and company’s needs and does not align with Rogers’ vision for dynamic workplaces that attract and retain top talent. The site is also underutilized.
Rogers plans to invest more than $100 million in a state-of-the-art, transit-oriented Brampton campus, co-located with the Downtown Brampton GO Station. An office of this nature would allow Rogers to retain 3,000 high-paying jobs across Peel Region and continue to attract employees and future tech talent to Ontario. It would also situate Rogers at a growing major Regional transit node along the Toronto-Brampton-Waterloo Innovation Corridor, significantly expanding our transit accessible employee catchment area.
After review of potential locations for a Brampton Campus, Rogers has confirmed that the only suitable property is located on the block bound by Railroad St, Elizabeth St N, Nelson St W and George St N. The property is currently owned by Metrolinx and is used as a surface parking lot. The timely acquisition of this parcel with direct access to Brampton GO, regional and local bus transit and ideally, the future Downtown Brampton LRT station, in addition to other downtown amenities is essential to Rogers’ ability to commit to long-term investment in a new Brampton campus.
As Rogers seeks to consolidate its presence in Brampton around the Brampton GO Lands, it is looking to revitalize the 8200 Dixie lands by adding residential uses along Dixie while preserving a valuable employment node throughout the majority of the site. Rogers is seeking Brampton City Council’s support to request two Minister’s Zoning Orders (“MZO”s) that will enable Rogers to usher in a new era of investment in Brampton. On the Brampton GO Lands, Rogers is seeking permissions that would enable a campus with a minimum of 200,000 SF of office and retail uses, with space for additional office or residential uses that could be added in phases. Simultaneously, Rogers is seeking an MZO for the lands it will be vacating at 8200 Dixie Road. Rogers is seeking to permit up to 1,200,000 SF of industrial logistics uses and up to 25 acres of residential development along Dixie Road to be built out with a range of housing types. Rogers requests to delegate to council on the matter on January 26, 2022.
The enclosed letter and exhibits present a strong planning rationale for the proposed projects. Rogers is most grateful for the City’s support to date and looks forward to working together to advance this project.
The new downtown site would be on land owned by Metrolinx, which acquired a dozen residential properties, demolished the houses, and has now nearly completed construction of a new parking lot. The two office buildings at Nelson Street West and George Street are vacant and are currently owned by the City of Brampton, meant to support future development, including the new transit hub on the east side of George, and the Innovation Centre, on the south side of Nelson. Rogers wants that land because of its transit connections to Toronto and Waterloo. This would also be a big boon to Downtown Brampton itself.
Furthermore, Rogers is looking to redevelop the 8200 Dixie Road site, with mixed use residential on the east side, towards Dixie Road, and retain industrial use on the west side, towards West Drive.
The MZOs, I suspect, would allow Rogers to expedite the development of both sites.