Under the banner “Partners in Sustainable City Building,” 300 conference participants celebrated the 7th annual CUI Brownie Awards at a special dinner on last Thursday evening at Le Palais des congrès in old Montreal. The CUI Brownie Awards are sponsored by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and are awarded annually to projects and programs that reflect leadership and innovation in brownfield redevelopment.
A Special Recognition CUI Brownie was awarded to Ontario’s minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, John Gerretsen, in recoginition of his support and commitment to brownfield redevelopment. As a result of his leadership, brownfield redevelopment has become a central component of the Ontario government’s planning reform agenda. The committee noted that Ontario’s approach to brownfields redevelopment is having a positive impact not only on projects in Ontario but on initiatives in other provinces.
The 2007 “Brownfielder of the Year” was awarded to Mark Brickell with the Niagara Economic Development Corporation. His role brokering partnerships has created a positive relationship between the region, its constituent municipalities and many private sector companies, resulting in numerous city-building initiatives throughout Niagara.
The top CUI Brownie Award for best overall project went to the Oshawa General Motors Centre. The project is a model public-private partnership for redeveloping an important downtown brownfield site into a significant community asset that is in turn encouraging redevelopment of surrounding brownfield lands as part of a wider downtown revitalization strategy.
Three projects in Quebec, the conference’s host province, won CUI Brownie Awards, including the coveted best large-scale project and best medium-scale project awarded to Faubourg Boisbriand and the LAVO Bleach Plant redevelopment respectively. Faubourg Boisbriand is a 230-acre mixed-use redevelopment on the former General Motors assembly plant in Boisbriand, Quebec. The project, in addition to its impressive scale, exemplifies good environmental citizenship and excellence in urban design. The redevelopment of the former LAVO Bleach Plant, completed in 2006 in partnership between the City of Montreal and the Province of Quebec, has provided a significant boost to an underprivileged district in the heart of the City. Rounding out 2007’s top performers, the 100 Highland Road East project in Kitchener, Ontario won the CUI Brownie Award for best small-scale project. The project illustrates best practices for small cities in community engagement, municipal coordination, and urban design.
Acknowledging an important victory for brownfield redevelopment in Canada, Aurion Capital Management and the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), two Canadian pension funds, were awarded a CUI Brownie for their leadership, taking significant investment positions in the Kilmer Brownfield Equity Fund. Historically, institutional investors have avoided brownfields for fear of the associated environmental liabilities and other risks. The endorsement of Aurion and CMPA sends positive signals to other institutional grade investors and bodes well for bringing brownfield redevelopment in Canada into the mainstream.
The winner of Category 1, recognizing innovative government policies and programs that help remove barriers to brownfield redevelopment, went to the Office of the Brownfield Coordinator, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Province of Ontario. The award recognizes a number of achievements that are a result of Minister Gerretsen’s and the Office of Brownfield Coordinator’s leadership, including: a) the creation of a special brownfields advisory group; b) concrete actions taken to streamline existing brownfield processes and remove barriers in finance, planning and the environment; c) the building of capacity and awareness among municipalities, the development community, environmental practitioners and lenders through workshops and presentations; and d) the recent passage of legislation to address liability barriers to brownfield redevelopment.
Category 2, presented to projects that demonstrate creative responses to policy initiatives and provide examples of successful solutions to brownfield barriers and issues, was awarded to the Nouvel Anjou-sur-le-lac redevelopment in Anjou, Quebec. The project was awarded for it integrated, partnership-driven, transparent approach, that enabled it to overcome the significant barriers of redeveloping a contaminated site. The project was successful because it acknowledged the differing perspectives of stakeholders while appropriately weighing risks, opportunities and costs.
Category 3, which recognizes outstanding communications, marketing and public engagement, was awarded to East Fraserlands, a 130-acre redevelopment at the south-eastern edge of the City of Vancouver. The project, which embraces leading edge sustainable development guidelines, undertook an extensive 3-year community planning process building a shared vision with the City and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
The CUI Brownie for Category 4, awarded for sustainable design and technological innovation, was given to the Bamberton Revitalization Project on Vancouver Island. The award recognizes a number of features supporting the sustainability of the project, including: using a permanent on-site solution to store contaminated soils; focusing the majority of new development on former contaminated lands, leaving more natural parkland for the public; protecting culturally significant sites in partnership with neighbouring First Nations communities; preparing a green transit plan; taking steps to ensure a sustainable water supply for the new community; and integrating sustainable energy solutions into the project design.
For more details on these projects and the other finalists, visit www.canurb.com/awards then click on CUI Brownies.
