Shopping centre pitched for former Highland Golf Course in Brockville

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A new shopping centre is in the works for the former Highland Golf Course, a move that would extend the ever-expanding commercial district on Parkedale Avenue to the west. 

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The proposal is being made by Parkedale Brockville Investments Inc., which owns the land, and it aims to bring a range of commercial tenants to the 4.8-hectare (12-acre) plot of land situated south of Parkedale Avenue.  

It’s currently two parcels of land – 3087 and 3111 Parkedale Ave. – and the applicant hopes to merge the land and redevelop it as a shopping centre with multiple retail tenants. 

“What they’re actually looking for is to do a large commercial development with multiple buildings located along Parkedale, a strip mall along the western side of their property, (and) storage facilities down in the back, close to the 401,” the city’s chief planning offier Andrew McGinnis said this week.

The shopping district would be on the eastern portion of the former Highlands Golf Course, which closed at the end of the 2019 season. It would have 150 metres of frontage on Parkedale, and about 13 metres on Kent Boulevard. The southern edge, which backs onto Highway 401, would be home to a self-storage facility.  

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A public meeting was held this week ahead of the planning and development committee, where James Webb, a professional land-use planner based in Hamilton, spoke on behalf of the landowners.  

Parkedale Brockville Investments Inc. is a subsidiary of the Effort Trust Company, which Webb described as a significant landholder, developer, and commercial operator throughout Ontario. 

“They are absolute experts at what they do,” he said. 

“They are very well resourced in terms of their ability to finance projects, move them expeditiously, and the end product is always of the highest possible standard in terms of urban design, landscape considerations, fit and compatibility, and really at the end of the day also responding to the individual needs of the various municipality in which they locate.” 

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Because the project is in its infancy, no specific tenants have been secured yet. Effort Trust typically deals with large brand-name companies, and Webb said one or many of those tenants would likely make their way onto the property. 

Other Effort Trust commercial properties in Hamilton include the Queenston Mall, Heritage Greene Shopping Centre, as well as Fourth Avenue in St. Catharines, Picton Plaza in Picton, and Winterberry Paramount Plaza in Stoney Creek. Tenants in those locations include retailers such as Home Depot, Best Buy, Micheals, PetSmart, Indigo, Farm Boy, Princess Auto, Foodland, BarBurrito, Dollorama, and Cineplex Inc.

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He also said rezoning the land would be a technicality, since each of the current plots of land could be developed independently. Merging them, however, triggers the need to designate the project as a shopping centre, which requires a zoning change. 

The development is fully compliant with the official plan, he said, and the amount of commercial floor space is not greater than what they could have developed if they remained independent parcels. The development would be across the road from the Wellings senior development, where 120 townhomes are currently under construction. 

Conceived as a small community of rental units providing services allowing seniors to live independently, the Wellings development centres on a community clubhouse, with a series of private streets and walking trails, linking outdoor amenity areas and green space to the surrounding areas. 

Having a shopping centre close to this development, Webb said, would work well since that end of Parkedale Avenue is evolving into a pedestrian-oriented area. They would keep the housing development in mind during development, he said.

No members of the public spoke at the meeting, either for or against. City staff will now prepare a report and recommendation for consideration at a future planning committee meeting.  

sbedford@postmedia.com

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