Raise the Hammer
Canada Bread, the corporation building a new breakmaking facility in Red Hill Business Park, has applied to the City [PDF link] for a "LEEDing the Way" LEED grant of up to $1.24 million for its planned Nebo Roadd facility.
The company wishes to attain Gold Certification under the Leaderhip in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for its 388,000 sq. ft. industrial bakery and administrative office.
Under the LEEDing the Way grant program, a company undertakes to build its facility to achieve LEED certification, and the City reimburses an eligible portion of the increased property tax assessment for a period of up to five years to offset the cost of upgrades and certification, after which point the company resumes paying its full assessment.
Since the money comes entirely out of increased property tax assessments, the City incurs no out-of-pocket expense to pay the grant.
The staff report on the Canada Bread application states that it meets the city's grant criteria, and that the grant will "result in the physical enhancement and sustainability of this vacant site and will result in a significant long-term increase in assessment and property tax revenues to the City."
The City's Planning and Economic Development Committee meets today to consider the grant application.
By Robert D (anonymous) | Posted October 07, 2010 at 09:19:27
I'm on the fence about LEED, as I've read some rather compelling criticisms of the program and the scoring system it uses which makes some levels of LEED certification rahter easy to achieve.
By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted October 07, 2010 at 09:35:48
I looked into LEED certification a while ago. The whole thing is a bit of a scam. It can easily cost hundreds of thousands, and the points are awarded more based on superficial design features than actual performance.
By Hopeful (registered) | Posted October 07, 2010 at 13:08:11
The LEED system has its detractors (any system can be better) but we should still applaud and support companies who want to embrace its principles.
By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted October 07, 2010 at 20:29:31
Assuming the company has established it will get more in tax benefits than it spends on environmental upgrades, this is nothing but a tax cut. If the city isn't careful offering these types of programs, it may just encourage other business to locate here as well.
By zippo (registered) | Posted October 11, 2010 at 06:53:49
Can't really comment on how "green" the building is going to be, have not seen the details, but that said, the company is closing an existing bakery in Toronto to locate here, which suggests that the bread is going to be shipped by truck throughout Southern Ontario.
Doesn't sound too sustainable to me in a post peak oil world
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