Toronto, ON (September 5, 2023) - Brad-Jay Investments Ltd., the owner and operator of Jane Finch Mall since 1968, has submitted a development application with the City of Toronto for its plans for the long-term future of the Jane Finch Mall site.

The application comes after nearly three years of community engagement and includes a mix of new uses for current and future residents, including a commitment to new affordable and attainable housing, retail shops, community amenities, parks and open spaces. The plan enables the Jane Finch Mall to remain operational for approximately the next 10 years, even as changes occur in other parts of the site.

“With the arrival of the Finch West LRT, the community will be growing and changing in new ways, including through new development,” says Jay Feldman, CEO of Brad-Jay Investments Ltd. “We’ve been a part of the Jane Finch community for over 50 years. We know our neighbourhood is special and maintaining its spirit and character is critical. Our plan preserves and reinforces what’s important to the people who live here – like maintaining the Mall as a community anchor on the site in the near-term and ensuring future public space is near the Jane-Finch intersection – while bringing incremental growth and exciting new benefits to our community.”

Input from the Jane Finch community, following extensive local engagement, helped define key elements of the application. In 2021, the Jane Finch Mall property owners launched the jfm+ engagement and visioning process, so that the owners, Mall tenants and the local community could develop a shared vision for how the future site can continue to play an important role in the neighbourhood. Since then, the community engagement team, consisting of local community members, connected with more than 2,000 Jane Finch residents through one-on-one conversations, walking tours, working sessions, two community-wide virtual events and Open Doors sessions in the jfm+ Community Engagement Space located within the Mall.

Based on the community’s input, the jfm+ design and planning team identified priority areas for community benefits that the future Site will deliver on, including:

• Affordable Living: offering affordable and attainable housing options and not-for-profit childcare.
• Community-stewarded space: including indoor community space and outdoor community plaza for gathering and community activities.
• Local entrepreneurship: offering affordable commercial space for local businesses (e.g., small-scale and micro-retail opportunities), alongside a supportive retail leasing strategy.
• Long-term economic & cultural opportunities: creating jobs, learning, and cultural opportunities for local residents and communities during construction and after completion, including local hiring and the delivery of public art.
• Investing in local capacity: creating a fund to support community capacity building and research initiatives, including knowledge gathering, knowledge mobilizing, planning and community readiness for long term stewardship (management/operations) of community spaces.

Contact:

Amanda Panacci

Account Director, Media Profile

E: Amanda.Panacci@mediaprofile.com

P: (647) 500 5752