Aerotropolis

by Darrin DeRoches July 11 - 17, 2013

The biggest ruling in Hamilton’s history on boundary expansion happened this week and the Ontario Municipal Board has ruled for a 555 hectare expansion around the airport. This ruling allows the expansion up until 2031. This will open the doors for companies to create an estimated 80,000 related jobs and bring in a huge amount of new tax revenue – $70 million. It has taken 10 years for this ruling and the airport is going to become a huge asset to the city. Opening up this land is opening up our city to huge opportunities not only around the airport but within the city itself.     The government recently opens the doors for another regional airport in the Pickering area and this development could stall the growth of our airport and city. The recent ruling allowing the land to be developed will give us a fast start to grow our airport before the Pickering airport gets off the ground. We have had recent success with our business parks with huge national companies moving out of the congested – and flooding – city of Toronto. These moves are only the beginning. Major companies can now set up in Hamilton and by–pass the high costs and congestion of Toronto. Our rail, ports, highways are a great link to millions of potential customers and these companies can just build new headquarters right beside an international airport.     This will create amazing developments and the city will continue to grow. The real estate market is strong in the city but this influx of development will only create an even stronger market. You will not only see the increase in Ancaster but also downtown, east and west. Our city is very accessible, where you can get anywhere within 15 minutes, so everyone will feel the positive impact of this huge change in our airport and the lands around it. More investments and more jobs will only increase the values of your homes. The fact there will not be any increase in residential land around the airport will help the whole city to fight urban sprawl and force us to expand our downtown and underdeveloped areas.     I do not think we understand how important this ruling really is. If we just announced that we were getting a NHL team the city would be dancing in the streets. The fact the lands around the airport are now prime and ready to be developed has more impact to the city bottom line and standing in the golden horseshoe. Huge companies will be setting up shop in our city and this alone may help us one day land the NHL team will have always long for. The corporate money is what the NHL is looking for – not the rabid hockey culture we can provide. Major companies setting up shop around our jewel of an airport may be the missing link we need to lure the team we deserve. If not I am happy to welcome the investment in our city and help us become the city we deserve to be. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at sold@uniquerealty.ca.