The Opportunity:
McGill’s Glen Campus hospital will cost an estimated 1.5 billion dollars in public funds to construct, creating thousands of jobs during construction and numerous opportunities for local suppliers. Once completed, the new hospital will be the place-of-work for over seven thousand workers. Thousands more patients and visitors will come to the hospital daily. The hospital will include 3000 square meters (or 32,292 square feet) of commercial space for small businesses. What if some of the restaurants and gift shops in the MUHC commercial mall were local businesses? What if the pharmacy was open 24 hours thus providing additional service to the Montreal community?
MUHC departments spend millions of dollars each year in small contracts. Could competitive local suppliers benefit from these contracts, via a preferential local purchasing policy?
A volume of space equivalent to the hospital will be located off-site, in the form of research centres, complementary services, and commercialization of medical knowledge. Can some of these spin-offs be located in the local boroughs? Could local economic development authorities collaborate with hospital researchers and entrepreneurs to set up medical research facilities in the under-used industrial areas?
Initiatives of the CIQ/MUHC partnership agreement regarding economic development:
- The MUHC recognizes the expertise of local economic development organizations in the creation, development and expansion of businesses via their mandates as Centres locaux de développement and that these economic development organizations are at the heart of a large network of government and private partners that finance economic development projects.
- The MUHC and its local economic development partners agree that it is in their common interest to co-develop guidelines leading to a global action plan with the following priorities: the welcoming of new businesses in proximity to the new hospital and its research centre at the Glen site; the installation of related services close to the Glen site; a parking management structure operated by a non profit corporation (the CIQ will be informed when a call for tender is issued and the best submission will be chosen according to the normal procedure generally followed); the adoption of a local purchasing policy for goods and services for contracts of 25,000$ or less (the MUHC encourages local businesses to register as qualified suppliers for goods and services for $25,000 or less).
- The members of the economic development table adopt the following guidelines: consistent with sustainable neighbourhood development, the partners commit to proceed collectively, via a strategy of common actions to co-define short, medium and long term business opportunities; to prioritize common actions to reduce the environmental footprint on the Glen site, by adopting environmental indicators; and to support the development of strategic activities by encouraging connections between local groups and all respective partners.
The Inspiration:
CIM Redevelopment – 2003 – San Jose, CA.
In 2003, an agreement was signed between a private developer (CIM Redevelopment), San Jose’s City council, and the City Redevelopment Agency regarding the inclusion of local business representation and reserved retail space for locally owned businesses in a mixed use development in downtown San Jose. Specific elements of this agreement focused on retail space included:
- The developer would make best efforts to achieve a balance of 30% retailers from San Jose, 30% from the region, and 30% nationally owned retailers. The objective was to insure an effective and unique mix of retail.
- 10% of retail space would be set aside for existing small businesses in the downtown. The developer will be responsible for reserving this space for 6-months and for aggressively marketing this opportunity for qualified firms.
- The City Redevelopment Agency would monitor and review the retail leasing efforts and adjust the cap upon certain businesses types if necessary.
Source: Read the full CBA agreement here.
Dearborn Street CBA – 2008 – Seattle, Wash.
In 2008, a developer and a coalition of community groups in Seattle signed an agreement relating to a 10 acre urban infill project in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood. Among other areas, the agreement specified various programs focused on commercial leases within the development. Key areas of agreement included limitations on the size of commercial space, fixed rents made available for non-profits, reduced rent available on commercial leases for local businesses, and a process established for attracting local businesses. Summarized excerpts from the agreement include:
- The developer shall ensure that at least 70,000 square feet of retail space in the Project is available to retail stores that occupy less than 5,000 square feet of floor space (typical of small, locally owned commercial)
- At least 5,000 square feet of space will be available for lease to one or more non-profit organizations serving the local Vietnamese community for up to 10 years
- The developer shall institute a program of rental assistance for locally or minority owned businesses to relocate within the development, to occupy spaces of no more than 5,000 square feet each
Source: Read the full CBA agreement here.
Robert Mueller Municipal Airport – 2004 – Austin, TX.
The City of Austin, Texas, entered into an agreement with a developer (Catellus Austin) in 2004 regarding a former airport site to be replaced by a mixed-use development on 700 acres, with the objective of creating a model responsible community. Parts of the agreement focused on ‘best efforts’ and ‘due diligence’ relating to the place of local businesses in the project. Elements of the agreement include:
- Catellus shall make efforts in good faith to ensure at least 30% of initial commercial occupants of the development be ‘local’ (with a number of caveats to define local attached)
- The City encourages Cattelus to target businesses that reflect the typical styles, décor, merchandise and cuisine of Austin businesses.
Source: Read a report on the agreement here.
