Article Via: Toronto Star
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/localcommunities/brampton_guardian/news/2022/01/26/rogers-planning-massive-new-office-campus-in-heart-of-downtown-brampton/10560946_afwRogersShaw01.JPG)
Rogers Communications has received city council’s support to move its current Brampton office location to the city’s downtown core.
The Canadian communications giant is planning a roughly $100-million, minimum 200,000-square-foot office complex that would also include retail, residential and additional office spaces adjacent to the Brampton GO station on Church Street.
Rogers gave a presentation to city council about the proposed project at its regular meeting on Jan. 26, and requested the city’s support for a pair of Minister’s Zoning Orders (MZOs) to rezone the new proposed site and the company’s existing Brampton offices located at 8200 Dixie Rd.
The proposed site is currently owned by Metrolinx but Rogers is looking to purchase it from the province.
“This would result in thousands of high-paying technology jobs being retained in Brampton,” Rogers vice-president of corporate real estate John Mallovy told council.
Rogers is also looking to redevelop the lands on Dixie Road where its current Brampton offices are located, which would include up to 1.2 million square feet of industrial and warehousing space and 25 acres of residential development space.
“This is a transformational time for Brampton and for Rogers. (The city) is making great strides in the revitalization (of its) downtown (and) Rogers would like to participate in, and be a catalyst and accelerate this positive change,” Mallovy said.
Council voted unanimously 11-0 in support of Rogers’ proposal and to advocate for the MZO requests to the provincial government to make it happen.
“We’re talking about one of Canada’s iconic companies saying they see our downtown as a potential centre of gravity for more investment that they can help be a catalyst for … This is incredible news,” Mayor Patrick Brown said. “This is a very special day for our community.”
Brown added he believes the new campus would fit nicely into the city’s current plans to transform Brampton’s downtown into a technology hub.
Council has already approved plans for a Centre for Innovation in the downtown, which it is calling an “iconic gateway building that will offer a new central library, collaborative space for post-secondary institutions.”
Provincial funding for that project was approved by the previous provincial Liberal government under former premier Kathleen Wynne. However, funding for the new campus was pulled by the current administration under Premier Doug Ford shortly after he took office in 2018.
The local business community is also happy about the proposal, with both the Downtown Brampton BIA and Brampton Board of Trade voicing their support.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our city. A major corporation like Rogers, that has been committed to Brampton and our community for many years, wants to continue this relationship,” said BIA executive director Suzy Godefroy while reading a letter to council on behalf of the BIA’s leadership.
“With this investment in our people and community we will see an increase in jobs and economic growth, specifically for our downtown core. The Downtown Brampton BIA fully supports our council to request an MZO from the province for this project,” she added.
Community advocacy group New Brampton also delegated to council expressing its roughly 4,000 members’ support for Rogers’ potential move to the downtown core and redevelopment of its existing site.