Director, Planning and Entitlements

Location:

22 St. Clair Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario, M4T 2S5

Director, Planning and Entitlements

With an initial portfolio totaling over 66 million square feet, Choice Properties (CHP) is one of the largest real estate investment trusts in Canada. Led by an independent and experienced management team, we expect to grow our portfolio of properties with a primary focus on the ownership, operation, and development of high-quality commercial and residential properties. It’s an exciting time to be at Choice Properties and our unparalleled investment means a real opportunity for colleagues to make a mark and contribute to a high-performance culture. If you believe you can help us drive this strategic investment, we want to hear from you!

Reporting to SVP, Commercial Development, the prospective candidate is eager to start working with development projects in the retail and industrial asset classes. The candidate must be able to prioritize and handle a diversified workload under short timeframes within a dynamic work environment. Their primary accountability will be to provide planning and development assistance as part of the due diligence process, to the Development, Asset Management, Investments, Design & Engineering, Construction and Leasing Teams to ensure the timely delivery of CHP’s development capital plan and the protection of our developer rights as a landowner.

The Director, Planning and Entitlements is responsible for managing the design and municipal approval process, monitoring, and managing outstanding securities. We’re looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual who works well in a team setting.

Responsibilities

Planning Applications:

1. Manage internal planning team to facilitate submissions to municipalities, including Official Plan / Zoning By-Law amendments, Draft Plan of Subdivision, Site Plan, Minor Variance, Consent Applications, and other municipal approval processes as required to facilitate intensification of income producing properties (IPP) and development of industrial assets.
2. Procure and manage consultant team to deliver approvals within budget and timelines (planning, traffic, civil engineers, surveyor, landscape, architectural, and additional as required).
3. Negotiate details of all required municipal approvals with municipal staff (amendments, rezoning, minor variances, etc.).
4. Engage with internal/external stakeholders as well as municipal staff throughout the planning approvals process.
5. Contribute to and provide directional review for the preparation of legal municipal agreements (development agreements, site plan approval, subdivision agreements, etc.).

Monitoring:

1. Maintain knowledge on changes to planning legislation (Federal, Provincial and Municipal).
2. Monitor and protect CHP properties from impacts as a result of external planning studies and reports, expropriations, Environmental Assessments (EAs).
3. Responsible for invoicing, monitoring, and maintaining budgets.
4. Interface with planning, engineering, legal consultants, and municipal staff on related monitoring processes to protect property and tenant interests.
5. Engage with internal stakeholders including Loblaw.
6. Maintain database and update mapping with CHP properties.

Securities:

1. Manage all outstanding securities and assemble all relevant documentation requested by municipality to release securities for all historic securities and as part of the construction close-out process.
2. Manage internal and external stakeholders throughout security release process.
3. Prepare budgets for securities with deficiencies outside of the warranty period.

Other:

1. Present to municipal committees and council as required, to advance applications.
2. Work with the construction department during the development phase to guarantee project is completed as per municipal approval.
3. Assist during the preparation of all project budgets particularly with the provision of costs related to municipal requirements.
4. Provide planning expertise to Development, Asset Management, Investments, Design & Engineering, Construction and Leasing Departments as it relates to IPP and industrial developments, including but not limited to planning due diligence, zoning checks and municipal inquiries.

Qualifications

1. Minimum 10 years of planning experience.
2. Completion of a Bachelor’s degree in Planning or related field.
3. Experience as a People Leader/Manager/Mentor.
4. Strong knowledge of planning frameworks in Ontario, working knowledge of planning frameworks in Quebec and Atlantic Canada is an asset.
5. Excellent presentation and communication skills.
6. Ability to review complex agreements/legislation and succinctly summarize.
7. Strongly proficient in Microsoft Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, Word and OneNote.
8. Works well in a team environment and has a positive outlook and attitude.
9. Detail-oriented, good time management and organizational skills.
10. Proactive individual, able to effectively manage various projects simultaneously.
11. A demonstrated ability to effectively interact with people at various levels of an organization.

About Choice Properties

Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust is an owner, manager and developer of well-located retail and commercial real estate across Canada. Choice Properties' portfolio spans approximately 65 million square feet of gross leasable area and consists of over 700 properties primarily focused on supermarket-anchored shopping centers.

Choice Properties’ strategy is to create value by enhancing and optimizing its portfolio through high quality transactions, strategic development and active property management. We mainly focus on necessity-based retail, and high-quality industrial and mixed-use assets. In particular, we have a strategic relationship with Loblaw, our largest tenant, that provides us with access to high quality investment opportunities.

Our established operating platform with a proven track record of success also provides us with access to a transformational development pipeline that we believe supports superior long-term value creation and growth. A commitment to continuous learning and development is a strong part of our culture.

Choice Properties REIT recognizes Canada's diversity as a source of national pride and strength. We have made it a priority to reflect our nation’s evolving diversity in the people we hire, and the culture we create in our organization. Accommodation is available upon request for applicants and employees with disabilities.

In addition, we believe that compliance with laws is about doing the right thing. Upholding the law is part of our Code of Conduct – it reinforces what our customers and stakeholders expect of us.

Number of Openings:

1

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