Land use approvals are a partnership.
The truth is that most private, non-profit and government project leaders struggle to establish the type of partnership that will unlock land use approvals on their development project.
The two urgent pain points in the development review and approvals process right now are:
(1) The great resignation. There is a lack of staff at municipalities, the port, provincial and federal regulators. Because of this, you need to take active leadership in proposing solutions. You need to be clear on how you will meet expectations and timelines.
(2) The volume of applications. There have never been more applications in process and we expect even more applications following the municipal election in October. If your team is great to work with, your application will get attention. If your team is difficult to work with, your application will go to the bottom of the pile.
Our clients understand the risks of not being equipped to address these pain points. The different ways that land development projects benefit from our help have been articulated best by our clients in their testimonials.
We love leading and bringing creativity to guide subject matter experts at every step from zoning pre-application through to issuance of the development permit. Our role includes technical urban planning expertise, meeting facilitation, as well as government, stakeholder, and public engagement. This will be discussed at our government relations workshop on September 20th at noon on zoom (registration is open and it is free of charge).
Our focus for 2023 is on supporting housing supply of all types: social housing, rental housing, townhomes, etc. Our hearts are full when we are taking action that will help address the housing crisis. We also support complex downtown office, port industrial, and government infrastructure projects where there is alignment between our clients and our values.
It would be a lie to say that we will be clear on municipal Council priorities by the middle of next year. After the election on October 15, 2022, most Councils will not meet until the first quarter of 2023. That’s why we are intentional in directly socializing projects with Councils and staff to understand issues that will likely impact approval. The recording and materials from our advocacy workshop in May 2022 offer insights on the importance of this.
Working with clients and government to unlock complex land use approvals is our zone of brilliance. We listen, connect, and find the truth.
We manage that space in between you and decision-makers.
The truth is that land use approvals are a partnership.
Now that Channel has been established for almost 3 years, the majority of our work is supporting clients long-term by facilitating the land use approval process.
We continue to do several turn-key land use studies to help clients understand the truth about how land use policy will impact land development in support of decision-making by:
– private developers, REITS, and their investors and investment committees,
– non-profits and their Boards, as well as
– government project leaders and their capital committees.
In addition, we now have the talent in place to carry-out full-service development management. The request for us to provide this service has come from clients running non-profits and family offices.
What is holding you up from exploring working with Channel?
The next step to work with us is to compete the new client questionnaire and set up a consultation appointment.
We look forward to talking with you and exploring working together this Fall.