[VectorBoy]

I was beginning to wonder if the bongo dude had left London, as I hadn't seen him this summer.

I dunno, I'm pretty partial to Mr. Trumpet who sits outside the tim hortons at galleria mall -- he always plays "When the saints go marching"... I'm dying to ask him to play the hockey night in canada theme.. because that would be sweet.... lol

[SlickFranky]

I'm kind of partial to york-street-liquor-store-guitar-guy. I never hear the same song twice from him. Trumpet-guy is ok. He is a little repetitive, but he's a really nice guy...I'm sure he would take requests, especially for a classic like that.

[manny_santos]

Bongo drum guy is hit and miss. He used to be there a lot more but now I find he'll come out for a few minutes, play, then leave. Last week I saw him when I was on my way to Cousin Vinny's and he was gone when I left. Aside from that I've only seen him a couple times all summer.

[QuantumLeap]

Given recent economic news, I would be surprised to see any of the proposed and rumoured buildings go up at this point. 180 Mill, Renaissance II, Hyde Park and Old East/Medallion are some of the ones that I don't think will go up anytime soon because of it. Of course, we will have to see how the rental market performs, and the downtown market in particular. I can't say I care too much, except in the case of Old East/Medallion, having just moved to the neighbourhood and excited about a turn around. Maybe in five years developers in London will not be so tasteless as to think that the Renaissance is "nice" in any way.

[QuantumLeap]

Thu, September 18, 2008
Value of London construction activity expected to set new record at more than $800 million
By NORMAN DE BONO


Operator Joe Soares's crane boom extends to the horizon, high above downtown London. (Mike Hensen, Sun Media)

The value of construction in London is about to top $800 million for the first time, despite the region's economic slump.

"This is going to be the biggest year ever. We are at $640 million now with four months to go, we will top $800-million," Rocky Cerminara, the city's director of building controls, said yesterday.

That is startling, considering the city has an unemployment rate of 6.7 per cent, higher than the national and provincial average. In August, London had 244,600 people working compared to 247,000 in 2007, a decline of 2,400 workers.

The boom is buoyed by $100-million in construction at the London Health Sciences Centre.

"I believe it shows that we have a diverse economy," Cerminara said. "If one sector takes a hit, the other sides will hold us up."


Gerry Macartney, general manager of the London Chamber of Commerce, agreed London's diversity has kept it moving along.

"We do enjoy a balance and, frankly, we are able to weather these economic conditions better than most," he said. "We have steady, incremental growth."

As for the hospital construction that has lifted the building totals, expect much more to come, said Dave Crockett, vice-president of facilities management for LHSC and St. Joseph's Health Care London.

The $100 million issued this year is for the completion of the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario and Grace Donnelly Women's Health Pavilion, the latest stage in what has been a $250-million project at both LHSC and St. Joseph's. But there will be another $300-million wave of building from 2009 to 2013, he said.

"This is important because of its scope and size and (because) it will bring more services, including 76 beds, to capacity. This will help a lot," Crockett said.

There are 300 construction workers at the Victoria Campus and 100 at St. Joseph's, which is also doing renovation work because some programs will shift there. The reconstruction of that hospital began in 1999. The first phase -- a $350-million project -- ended in 2006.

Brian Waltham, vice- president at EllisDon Construction, which is building the hospital tower, wasn't surprised by the boost in building, saying the industry has been steady and he doesn't anticipate a letdown.

"There is doom and gloom in the media, but the building that is going on will keep things going for a while. We are ecstatic."

According to building figures from January to August, not too many sectors appear to be taking a hit.

Institutional building this year stands at $224.8 million compared to $104 million over the same period in 2007. Surprisingly, industrial -- the sector that has been hit hardest by layoffs and plant closings -- is also up, with $59.6 million compared to $44.1 million last year, thanks to a new manufacturer, Hanwha, and the development of new industrial space that will be leased to tenants.

Residential building spending is up to $307 million over $285 million in 2007, driven largely by apartment building. Detached home building dropped 33 per cent.

Commercial building showed the largest decline, with $45 million in permits issued from January to August compared to $64 million last year.

TOP FIVE 2008 PERMITS

LHSC, $90 million. (It also has a second $10-million permit).

$18.5 million, Fanshawe College residence.

$18.3 million, seniors care facility.

$16.5 million for Hanwha, a Korean building supply company.

$16 million, seniors apartment building.

THE NUMBERS

Value of building permits

2008: $800 million+ (projected)

2007: $722 million.

2006: $773 million

2005: $622 million

2004: $648 million

[QuantumLeap]

Grand Theatre's renovations worthy of a toast
Thu, September 18, 2008


By MEREDITH CLARKE

Considered one of the oldest and most beautiful performance spaces in North America, The Grand Theatre's house has been renovated with a new stage, paint, wall coverings, carpet and seats and it was unveiled in an intimate and celebratory toast last Wednesday.

Attendees walked down a red carpet leading them to a side door of the theatre. Through it, they found themselves on centre stage, looking out at the grand resurrection with a glass of champagne in hand.

Grand staff and board members floated throughout the room, including executive director Deb Harvey and artistic director Susan Ferley, who were elated with the changes and the support.

Sheila Simpson (Ontario Trillium Foundation), Rick Verette (Canadian Department of Heritage), Bill Ruth (Tillman, Ruth & Mocellin), Gina Barber (City of London) and Ben Sanders (High School Project alumni) were witness to the Grand's subtle yet glamorous facelift.

President of the Grand Theatre Foundation's board of directors Gerald Slemko spoke with pride of the theatre and its list of supporters who ensure its presence in the heart of London.

[ldoto]

:previous: This pics is cool!!!!!!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ldoto/News%20Paper%20Photos/LDN20080917MH_crane1.jpg
Operator Joe Soaress crane boom extends to the horizon, high above downtown London, as he returns an empty hopper after the concrete in it was used to pour walls on the Renaissance apartment towers 25th floor. Seen in this view, looking north, are the John Labatt Centre, Bell building and Talbot Centre towers.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ldoto/News%20Paper%20Photos/LDN20080917MH_crane3.jpg

[QuantumLeap]

Where have all the pretty dancing bananas gone?

[MolsonExport]

I am surprised that Western's construction projects are not included in the figures (perhaps due to start dates?). There are cranes everywhere here on campus.

[ldoto]

Mon, September 22, 2008

Skate Canada announced this morning that London will be the host city for the 2010 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

The event will be held from January 13-17, 2010, at the John Labatt Centre.
The timing of the championships is of particular significance because it precedes the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver by only six weeks. The London event will be the primary selector for the Canadian Olympic Figure Skating team.

“Everything we need to host a first-class skating event can be found in London,” said William Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. “They have always welcomed athletes, volunteers and fans with open arms and 2010 will be no exception.”

This is the second time that London will play host to the BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships. The city first held the event in 2005. London was also the site of the highly successful 2007 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships.



Approximately 150 skaters in the women’s, men’s, pair and ice dance disciplines will compete at the senior and junior levels at the BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

[QuantumLeap]

Here is some information on the proposed Wal-Mart NE of Commissioners and Highbury:
http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Planning/oz-7430application.htm

The staff recommendation right now is to refer the matter back and to create a mini-area plan.

[MolsonExport]

Any info on the proposed Walfart at Exeter and Wonderland Rd. South?

[QuantumLeap]

I am very pleased to report that many new businesses are opening in the Old East Village.
Some of the new businesses:
Asahi Sushi
Wisdom Tea Shop
Old East Village Coffeeshop
Afric Coffeeshop
These places look very nice. Go on down and check them out!

[QuantumLeap]

City hall abetted demo
Thu, September 25, 2008
Owner of the building, considered ripe for heritage designation, says unnamed councillors suggested demolition


By JONATHAN SHER

The owner of the 153-year-old Brunswick Hotel says he moved to level it only after three London council members and the city's planning department suggested he seek a demolition permit.

Dan Dencev said yesterday he didn't ask for a demolition permit until that possibility was suggested to him several months ago at city hall.

At the time, Dencev said he wanted to have the city remove the hotel from a list of buildings considered priorities for heritage designation, a listing he says cost him a sale to someone who wanted to redevelop the site at the corner of Talbot and York streets.

"A couple of people suggested it (would) go faster, (there'd be) no hassle," he told The Free Press.

Dencev wouldn't say who at city hall advised him.


"I don't want them to get any heat," he said.

There was already plenty of heat yesterday at city hall as politicians who had sought to protect the Brunswick tried to find out what had gone wrong.

"I was absolutely stunned," Coun. Nancy Branscombe said.

On July 4 Dencev applied for a demolition permit, setting in motion a 60-day timeline for council to approve the demolition or protect the hotel by seeking to designate it as a heritage property.

But things went awry.

A split council voted Aug. 18 to seek reasons to designate the hotel, a decision those who prevailed thought had stopped the clock on demolition.

"That was the clear intent," said Coun. Judy Bryant, who made the motion.

Some thought there was also a second safeguard -- that same day, planner Greg Barrett told the planning committee Dencev couldn't demolish the building until a loan to the Brunswick from the city -- about $12,000 was paid back.

At least that's the recollection of Bryant, Branscombe and Controller Gina Barber.

Asked yesterday about what he told the planning committee, Barrett said he wasn't certain, then read the loan agreement between the city and the Brunswick owner. The agreement insures the city gets paid back but does nothing to prohibit demolition.

Later, Branscombe said Barrett had told her he first learned of the terms of the agreement this week.

The council resolution was for naught. Earlier this month, city lawyers warned council the wording of the resolution wasn't specific enough to stop the demolition.

Branscombe questioned why city lawyers or planners didn't tell council in August its proposed resolution would have no effect.

"Everybody (on city staff) knew what we were trying to do and no one spoke up," she said. "To lose a heritage property on a technicality pisses me off."

She also wouldn't be surprised if some on council who supported demolition suggested that option to Dencev.

"I'm not shocked," she said.

The cause wasn't lost entirely until council voted again Sept. 15, this time with the wording recommended by city lawyers. But the effort to designate fell one vote short after Coun. Paul Hubert switched his position.

Hubert said he made the switch after touring the building. "There was not much there worth preserving," he said.

Dencev says he plans to demolish the Brunswick as soon as possible, hopefully before the end of October. And he thinks it's unfair some paint him as an enemy of heritage.

Dencev says he's spent $300,000 improving the Richmond Hotel and previously restored properties on Wolfe Street.

"I'm from Europe. I appreciate old buildings," he said.

Dencev has been criticized for seeking immediate demolition after telling the planning committee he was earning money on the building and didn't plan to demolish it for another five or six years.

The issuing of the demolition permit left the city's heritage planner upset about how the process unfolded.

"I won't say a comedy of errors, but a lot of things have intervened," Don Menard, a member of a heritage committee, said last night after it met to compile reasons to designate the hotel.

[QuantumLeap]

Capitol deal would cost city dearly
Thu, September 25, 2008
Controllers back facade-saving leasing plan

By JONATHAN SHER

London's board of control wants to preserve the facade of the Capitol Theatre by leasing the building at rates well above those of other downtown buildings, a lease that would cost taxpayers $5.6 million over 20 years.

Controllers yesterday backed the proposed deal with landlord Shmuel Farhi, who once threatened to bulldoze the core landmark unless the city leased space there.

While the cost comes at a premium, more than double what the city paid per square foot to lease space from Farhi at the Citi Financial building, controllers said it was worth it to preserve and enliven a building so central to both the city's past and future.

"There's going to be increased costs. That's simply the reality we have to accept," Controller Gord Hume said.

The city has struggled for decades to improve Dundas Street and the deal with Farhi, which also preserves the facade of the adjacent Bowles Building, is an important step toward accomplishing that, he said. "It gets more people living on our main street."


A year ago, Farhi offered to give the city the building in return for a tax receipt -- a deal city hall rejected for fear of rehabilitation costs.

Instead, council directed the city's financial chief, Vic Cote, to negotiate lease terms, a process he said yesterday was a formidable challenge.

"We learned a lot by going through the process . . . about what it takes to renovate a heritage property," Cote said.

That was clear from the numbers. In January, Cote estimated a 10-year lease might cost between $1.15 million and $1.6 million, but the proposed deal calls for $5.6 million over 20 years -- or annual payments of $280,016.

That works out to a base rent of $22.90 per square foot, compared to a lease for the Citi Financial building of $9.18.

In a report to controllers, Cote paints a grim picture for attracting new office space downtown:

- The vacancy rate of office space downtown is 15 per cent.

- The market rent pays only a fraction of what would need to be collected to offset the costs of building new office space -- a gap of 33 to 43 per cent.

- It's even costlier to renovate heritage buildings.

"If the city is simply looking for office space, there are considerably less expensive alternatives in existing buildings," Cote wrote. "However, if the city wants to serve as a catalyst for heritage restoration and preservation along Dundas Street, the 20-year leasing proposal . . . appears reasonable."

Controller Gina Barber expressed reservations. "We have poured a lot of money into downtown and it looks like we're pouring more money for the foreseeable future."

If council approves the lease Monday, Farhi would renovate the building and provide 8,190 square feet of office space to the city. The city would also have the option of extending the lease beyond 20 years at much lower rates -- $7.95 a square foot for the third decade and $5.95 for a fourth.

[MolsonExport]

NOT worth the money.

[Blitz]

I am surprised that Western's construction projects are not included in the figures (perhaps due to start dates?). There are cranes everywhere here on campus.

Any idea what they're building next to The Spoke?

[ldoto]

Richmond Row got a little spicier last month with the opening of the Picante Restaurant.

The establishment at 691 Richmond St. features authentic central and south American cuisine.

The restaurant is owned and operated by Marcelo and Claudia Horat and their son Walter. Grandparents Julian and Esther Corradi help out in the kitchen.

The family spent many years in the restaurant business in Argentina. They moved to London in 2005 after three years in the United States.

The family had been involved with another restaurant on Wellington Road after coming to London, but decided to move closer to the core.




"This is Richmond Row. This is where it's happening," said Walter pointing to the busy street, which has become the hub of nightlife in the city.

The menu includes familiar Mexican fare such as tacos and enchiladas. But there is also Churasco -- Argentinian-style grilled steak, as well as dishes from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and El Salvador.

The licensed restaurant also features tropical juices and even Central American soft drinks such as Inca Cola from Peru.

Picante has an outdoor patio and the interior displays artwork by noted Panamanian artist Oswaldo Deleon Kantule. His vibrant and colorful canvases showcase the world of the Kuna people who live in the rainforests of Panama and Columbia.

St. Marys goat cheese, Lake Huron perch and Perth County pork were some of the local organic products served up at special evening at Waldo's on King this week.

Mark Kitching recruited guest chef Steve James to create and prepare the menu items.

A growing number of restaurants and food retailers are promoting local, organic products because of their freshness and quality, and to support local producers.

"It's not so much a new trend as more people are jumping on the bandwagon. Steve James has been using local organic ingredients for 20 years," says Kitching.

The five-course meal, priced at $75 per person was served in three seatings at 7 p.m, 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Kitching plans to invite James back and make the special menu into a monthly event.
---

The Duke on Wellington is marching into space next door as part of a major expansion.

The Wellington Road eatery became independent this spring after ending its association with the Toronto-based St. Louis Bar and Grill chain.

The owners renamed the restaurant and the menu was expanded well beyond wings and ribs into seafood, steaks and pastas.

"As a franchisee, our menu was very narrow. We wanted to expand and improve," says manager Armoon Dehdezi.

The next step is expanding and renovating into the space next door in the building at 222 Wellington St.

The new space will feature an entertainment concept including a dance floor with live entertainment, pool tables, large-screen TVs and a VIP lounge.
Dehdezi says the new space should open sometime next month.


A new London web-based business is targeted at folks who like to order meals online.

Emealstogo.com works like an online food court allowing diners to choose from the menus of 15 London restaurants including downtown establishments such as Bankgok Pad Thai, The Jewel of India, Under the Volcano and the Symposium Cafe.

The customers can load up on items from one or more restaurants and arrange pickup or delivery.

The business was started up in June by Tarique Al-Ansari and Abdullah Saab, who met when they were engineering students at the University of Western Ontario.

Al-Ansari says the online service offers speed and accuracy in relaying the order to participating restaurants and fast food outlets.

There is no additional charge for the order or for pickup, but there is a delivery fee, usually $3.99. Al-Ansari says the delivery goes to the driver and the website makes money through a commission from the restaurant.

Al-Ansari says the business is now expanding into the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Lovers of authentic British pubs suffered a setback with the recent closure of the Oxford Arms.

Robert and Claire Dunn opened the pub three years ago in a Victorian House on Dundas Street near Waterloo Street.
The pub offered 14 kinds of beer on tap and traditional pub fare.
Pamela Osobka, a server at the Symposium Cafe, stands by a banner advertising emealstogo.com. :tup: :tup: :tup: :tup:

[ldoto]

Update!!! Of Renaissance tower at King and Ridout
Watch this video it is one of the neatest of downtown London I've seen in a long time!!!!!!:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

http://www.lfpress.com/newsstand/Videos/?fr_story=21cd738e5d69e206c90bdcbcb3bb8f906523e04a&fr_chl=31545216e2a9284ac169eb4fec0e065d1944fedd&rf=bmtarget= This one is from lfp!!


http://www.torontosun.com/video/home.html?fr_chl=31545216e2a9284ac169eb4fec0e065d1944fedd&fr_story=681a17c3ba9c0afc28066f8d7ff30c65b9e97e51 This one the from Sun!!!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ldoto/News%20Paper%20Photos/LDN20080917MH_crane4.jpg
Al Weiche steps into his office, 404 feet above the ground, after working momentarily on the rear of the construction crane. Weiche loves his job, mainly lifting huge hoppers full of concrete to pour walls and floors for the Renaissance tower at King and Ridout streets.

[MolsonExport]

ldoto, thanks for sharing.

[MolsonExport]

Any idea what they're building next to The Spoke?

Student services centre. contiguous to the UCC, which will be undergoing extensive renovations once the new rec centre opens.

[y2k_pony]

Update!!! Of Renaissance tower at King and Ridout
Watch this video it is one of the neatest of downtown London I've seen in a long time!!!!!!:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

http://www.lfpress.com/newsstand/Videos/?fr_story=21cd738e5d69e206c90bdcbcb3bb8f906523e04a&fr_chl=31545216e2a9284ac169eb4fec0e065d1944fedd&rf=bmtarget= This one is from lfp!!


http://www.torontosun.com/video/home.html?fr_chl=31545216e2a9284ac169eb4fec0e065d1944fedd&fr_story=681a17c3ba9c0afc28066f8d7ff30c65b9e97e51 This one the from Sun!!!

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ldoto/News%20Paper%20Photos/LDN20080917MH_crane4.jpg
Al Weiche steps into his office, 404 feet above the ground, after working momentarily on the rear of the construction crane. Weiche loves his job, mainly lifting huge hoppers full of concrete to pour walls and floors for the Renaissance tower at King and Ridout streets.


that would be a sweet job!

[QuantumLeap]

Exciting new development at Beaverbrook and Riverside!

Old Oak is proposing a 296 unit development on "Sugarcreek Trail" directly across from the Mount Pleasant cemetary on Beaverbrook Av, just a block North of Riverside Dr. The development will take the form of 4 five-floor buildings forming a "streetwall" along the street. This is elegant, comfortable, livable density at its best. For those who don't know, this proposal closely mirrors a similar, approved development just North of it.

http://www.london.ca/Planning/PDFs/OZ-7573.pdf

Dancing bananas anyone?

[ldoto]

Update!!!! on the Capitol Theatre building
It is about time the city wake up!!!!!:banana::banana::banana::banana:


A premium that city hall would pay to lease office space at the Capitol Theatre building would be well spent if the city can create and adopt a broader plan to improve the core, some business leaders say.

Among the most optimistic is Bob Usher, chairperson of the London Downtown Business Association.

"This is one step to bring downtown back," he said yesterday.

The proposed Capitol deal, which will be considered Monday by city council, would have the city pay $5.6 million over 20 years. That works out to $34.19 per square foot, or $9 more than what a standard office building would charge.

There's broad political consensus on city council that heritage properties downtown are vital to making the core distinct and lively.




But saving heritage costs money, not only to preserve but also to make properties usable for offices or retail. And money is in short supply:

- At city hall, council has imposed a $30-million debt cap on borrowing for public works as it slowly removes itself from debt brought on by mega- projects such as the John Labatt Centre.

- Owners of downtown heritage properties need more money to rehabilitate their buildings than they could collect from tenants.

If the private sector is to invest in downtown heritage, it must be able to charge rents higher than the going rate of $25 a square foot for office space, said Gerry Macartney of the London Chamber of Commerce.

Investing in the Capitol and the adjoining Bowles Building won't, by itself, bring those changes, he said.

City hall must harness efforts in a co-ordinated way, so that over time, rental rates rise. "I've yet to hear that direction -- that's my concern," Macartney said.

It won't work to protect heritage piecemeal as properties come under threat.

"What happens next week when another property comes along (seeking help)? Are we going to keep on subsidizing them?" he asked.

London's board of control backs the proposed deal with Capitol landlord Shmuel Farhi, who once said he'd bulldoze the core landmark unless the city leased space there.

Farhi defended the deal yesterday as good for taxpayers.

While the rent is higher than that of a standard office, it's less than what Farhi charges the federal and Ontario governments to rent other heritage properties downtown.

"It's the fair market value for a heritage building," he said.

The premium rent for heritage is deserved, said Farhi, who claims he'll spend $1 million more to rehabilitate the Capitol building than he will get back in rent.

[ldoto]

London's downtown Coffee Office is doubling in size to meet growing demand.
The Dundas Street centre where traveling businesspeople or home-based entrepreneurs can rent office space for a low, monthly rate is planning now to add a second floor.

"It is exciting, we are very pumped about this, " says Casi Conquergood, general manager of The Coffee Office.

Right now, the business features a front restaurant area and a private office area where businesspeople can rent small offices or large, formal offices, as well as two boardrooms.

Construction is expected to start this fall on the expansion and Conquergood hopes it will be completed by the new year.




The expansion will add a seminar room to the second floor which will be able to hold 40 people, so it can accommodate large, day-long meetings for businesses and agencies on site.

"We know there is a market, we are turning people away right now," says Conquergood. "Hotel meeting rooms are expensive, this will be a lot more affordable."

The move will help drive growth for the business which has seen food sales jump more than 50 per cent since the spring, while its leasing business is up about 10 per cent, she says.

Evelina Silveira, owner of Diversity@Work, understands why the office is on a growth curve.

She operates a home-based business and needs a space in which to conduct interviews, meet clients, or just stop and work when she is downtown for meetings -- or simply needs to get out of the house and away from working on her laptop at the dining room table.

"It is professional and private. It is good for me and besides it gives me an excuse to get dressed up," she laughs.

"The prices here are very reasonable, I can rent space for small meetings."
A membership starts at $120 if renting on a month-to month basis, six months in advance costs $90 a month a full year is $75 a month.

That includes furniture, cleaning, high-speed wireless Internet, calling anywhere in North America, mail boxes so business mail does not get mixed-up at home with personal mail, photocopy, fax, printer and scanner services.
It boasts 10 smaller, cubicle offices used by about 100 members, and about 12 larger, formal offices which range from $700 to $1,200 a month.

"Business is getting better by the day. People realize we are here and it is picking up," says Conquergood.

[MolsonExport]

^kinda amazing that such a minor thing warrants so much space in our newspaper. What does that say about London, or more precisely, the London Free Press?

[QuantumLeap]

I take exception with your cynicism Molson- everyone knows we have a somewhat lousy local paper. But we don't have to have a lousy SSP page - might I gently suggest that we avoid glorifying these wasteful Free Press articles by restricting them from our page? Obviously, this wouldn't apply to more significant, real development posts such as the one about the Capitol.

[MolsonExport]

^point taken, and I've adapted my post accordingly.

[ldoto]

Mon, September 29, 2008


This is one step to bring downtown back':tup:

Capitol deal would cost city dearly

Curtain falls on Capitol theatre



Grudging acceptance of a city hall plan to lease space in the former Capitol Theatre to help save the core landmark, is the mood of some council members heading into a vote tonight.

Under the proposed deal with owner Shmuel Farhi, the city would sign a long-term lease on the Dundas Street site at premium rent, with Farhi renovating the building and the adjacent Bowes Building.

The deal would give heritage preservation a boost and city hall more room.

Some business leaders have already said the extra cost may be worth it, if the city finds a way to use the project as a catalyst for broader area renewal.

"I am very torn on this issue," Controller Gina Barber said over the weekend. "I want to see the streetscape preserved."

That sentiment was echoed by others on council, who tonight will consider the 20-year deal tonight that would see city hall move some office workers into the building at 204 Dundas St.

Board of control and city administration have recommended the plan, under which the city would pay $5.6 million over 20 years to occupy the Capitol and Bowes buildings, and Farhi would renovate both.

The move is seen by some as one that would preserve the heritage facade of the two properties and prevent the further slide of Dundas Street.




But the rent, at $9 a square foot more than comparable office space downtown, would cost taxpayers an extra $1.47 million over the life of the lease.

"It's quite a premium," said Barber.

"It's a lot of money to retain a facade."

She said she's "in a quandary about it and I'm looking for answers."

Also wrestling with the plan's pros and cons are councillors Nancy Branscombe and David Winninger.

"I kind of agree it would be a catalyst for others to do it," Branscombe said of the proposal, but she wondered if council will be faced with picking and choosing among other projects that come up.

"How much do we invest in downtown?" she asked.

"It's never enough."

Branscombe said, "it's a pretty big commitment," adding she needs to get more information and mull it over.

Winninger said he'd hoped for a shorter -- and less costly -- lease.

"I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the duration or the price per square foot," he said.

"I envisioned a 10-year lease and maybe at a lower square-foot rate." He said he would listen to the presentation tonight before making up his mind.

Councillors Harold Usher and Walter Lonc expressed some concerns, but were more inclined to support the plan.

"We have to do something with that building," said Usher, adding Dundas Street would be worse off without the theatre and its facade.

"I think we have to pay a little extra," Usher said.

He wants to ensure a city use that produces plenty of pedestrian traffic is contemplated.

"We need to get liveliness back on Dundas," he said.

Lonc said London's strengths are its river, parks and heritage buildings, so he will support the lease deal.

Once existing high vacancy rates for core office space drop, he said, rents will increase, closing the differential between what the city would pay and what others pay.

CAPITOL THEATRE

1920: Opens as Allen's theatre, a week after opening of the nearby Loews theatre.

1924: Renovated and rebranded as Capitol Theatre.

1976: Remodelled, it reopens with two cinemas.

2002: Closes, though a "temporarily closed" sign dangles faint hope of a comeback.

2006: Sold to Shmuel Farhi.

[ldoto]

Council buys into Capitol idea

Tue, September 30, 2008


London city council voted last night to spend more than $5.6 million to save the facade of the Capitol Theatre and convert the interior for civic offices, agreeing to a 20-year lease that nearly split politicians down the middle.

By a vote of nine to seven, council rejected calls for a better deal for taxpayers, arguing the lease was the best that could be done to save the Capitol and jump start the central core along Dundas Street.

"If we turn our back on (Capitol landlord Shmuel Farhi), we're turning our back on heritage and downtown revitalization," Coun. Steve Orser said.

"This is an opportunity to show the rest of the community we mean business," Coun. Harold Usher said.

While critics said the lease was too costly for taxpayers who have already spent $100 million trying to revitalize downtown, Controller Gord Hume said all that spending was necessary. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:




"I've been supportive of every dollar we've spent downtown . . . We knew, very clearly, from the start, that this (lease) would be very costly."

Just how costly was not clear earlier this year, when council asked the city's finance chief Vic Cote to negotiate a 10-year lease at rates comparable to those in the marketplace for heritage buildings.

Cote estimated the city might spend an extra $350,000 beyond what it would cost to lease from a conventional office building to make it worthwhile for Farhi to preserve the facade and completely redo the interior so it can be used as an office.

The lease council approved yesterday is much richer, paying an extra $1.46 million over 20 years.

The city can do better for taxpayers, Coun. Nancy Branscombe said. Soon, council will consider a bylaw that would require landlords of heritage properties to maintain them. With the bylaw around the corner, city hall has leverage to get a better lease than one Branscombe described as the longest and costliest ever.

She took issue with Cote, who acknowledged when questioned he had agreed to a lease rate without finding comparable heritage properties other than the one the city owns -- the J. Allyn Taylor building.

"I do support heritage, but I don't think it's at any cost," she said.

Her concerns mirrored some found in a letter sent to councillors by developer David Tennant, president of the Hampton Group.

"This proposal is not a good deal for the taxpayers," Tennant wrote.

Tennant questioned Cote's numbers and suggested the amount paid to Farhi above market rates was about $2 million and that the deal will only motivate other landlords to seek bailouts.

Farhi has maintained the lease is as good or better than at his other heritage buildings and that it will cost him $1 million more than he'll get back.

If the costs to convert the Capitol are more than expected, Farhi pays.

[MolsonExport]

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2008/10/01/6938856-sun.html
Wed, October 1, 2008

Nature gardens, picnic pavilions, play areas and a splash pad are included in the plans

By DEBORA VAN BRENK



Grand Bend Getting Grander
Work begins on a $3.5 million beachfront development project in Grand Bend.

Tales in the Sand

Adding a splash pad to Grand Bend's famous beach may seem odd, like shipping ice to Nunavut in winter, but piped-in water is part of a new wave at the summer hotspot.

But that's not the only twist.

A $3.5-million transformation of the area around the Lake Huron beach has begun.

The project will feature a boardwalk with night lighting and six lookouts to showcase the Bend's sunsets, ranked among the world's finest.

It will also include nature gardens, a picnic pavilion, shade trees, benches, dune grasses, clearer boundaries for traffic and people, a kids' playground and a splash pad.


But will teenagers and twentysomethings -- the lifeblood of Grand Bend's summer economy -- warm to it all? Definitely, said Lambton Shores Mayor Gord Minielly.

"We're really not interfering in the beach, per se. We're just making it friendly for a lot more people," he said.

"There are lots of places to sit down and enjoy the beauty of the beach."

People have talked for 35 years of improving the gateway to the beach, he said.

"It's finally going to happen."

If the waves are too high for kids to swim safely or if someone in a wheelchair wants the sights and sounds of a beach without all the sand, they can play in or near the splash pad, wheel about on the boardwalk or recline under a tree.

The environment also gets a break. Night lighting will be solar-powered, the gardens will feature native plants and large umbrellas will protect against damaging sun rays.

There are also dune-grass buffer zones, with the added benefit of reducing the need for so many trucks to scoop and return sand that makes its way to streets, Minielly said.

The designs, including the boardwalk, are meant to mimic the waves that lap against the shore, said Scott Taylor, president of general contractor McLean Taylor Construction Inc. of St. Marys.

The firm has more than the usual stake in doing a good job: Taylor spent summers growing up at Grand Bend, and two principals in the firm have cottages within a stone-skip of the beach.

Sub-contractors and suppliers are local.

"We are very cognizant of the importance of this project and understand completely that this is going to be the showcase for the municipality and, in some cases, the entire region," Taylor said.

The area now is closed to cars -- although people have been making their way to the beach anyhow --while construction takes place.

The work should be done by June 1 next year.

Grand Bend is also looking to get full Blue Flag status next year, an international designation that shows its commitment to environment, ecology and education.

Of the cost, the community hopes to raise $1.5 million through fundraising and is trying to get grants for the rest.

---

Open pavillion structure with mowed turf area for picnicking

Major pedestrian arrival plaza with themed paving and planting

Beach promenade/ boardwalk

Naturalized buffer area

Existing beach facilities building with shade sails

Terraced buffer with native and naturalized planting

Existing beach to remain untouched

Children's themed waterplay/splash pad area

Picnic plaza with shade umbrellas

Children's themed play area

EDA Collaborative Inc., Toronto

[VectorBoy]

Galleria just got a new restaurant..

The Taco Del Mar at Galleria Mall is set to open soon, the front sign is up and lit, and they've been actively working on the internals of the newest tennant in the food court -- the same can't be said for Arby's, though. Announced in February it's still yet to make any progress in actual development, set to open "this summer", it has yet to happen, and that portion of the sign has since been removed.

There's also plans for a new deli and coffee bar to go in to the left of Subway, on the raised partition, to bridge the gap between Suzi Sheer and the rest of the food court..

[MolsonExport]

That's Arby's for you...everywhere. Here today, gone tomorrow. Announced, then never opened.

[london2020]

When does the city decide how it's going to spend the money being given by the ontario government?

[ldoto]

:previous: It's Looking good for the Downtown!!!!!:tup: :tup: :tup:

[QuantumLeap]

By Paul Mayne
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The University of Western Ontario has outlined $700 million in potential construction, including a new $100-million Ivey building, as the university shifts to the second phase of its Long-Range Space Plan.

The list is outlined in a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) as the university seeks a share of a planned $60-billion provincial infrastructure plan expected to renew all types of provincial public structures, from sewers and waterworks to new educational facilities.

Western has identified six ‘category 1’ projects totaling more than $200 million that are either already underway in terms of detailed planning or into serious pre-planning stages.

Another 15 projects totaling $489 million have been included as ‘category 2’ projects, longer-term projects identified during the recent planning process. Category 2 projects are considered desirable but they are at such an early stage planning is only at a preliminary stage (in some cases no planning has been done) and cost projections are of a ballpark nature only.

The projects include:

Category 1 (all data preliminary)

*New Ivey Building - $100 million (MTCU request - $50 million). The 225,000-square-foot facility would allow for expansion of the HBA program (from five to eight incoming classes) and the MBA (from three to four classes) and is considered necessary for Ivey to compete at the International level. It would be located on the area now used as soccer fields near Western Road.

*Physics & Astronomy Building Renovations - $25 million (MTCU request - $16 million) The 97,000 square feet of renewed space would modernize the existing outdated facility, including electrical, HVAC, IT infrastructure and teaching/research facilities. The province has already provided $9 million.

*Stevenson-Lawson Building Renovations - $20 million (MTCU request - $15 million). The 124,000 square feet of renewed space would house programs with expanding graduate enrolments, including Classical Studies, Philosophy, History and Women's Studies. The building will house 200 graduate students.

*UCC Renovations - $12 million (MTCU request - $6 million). The 41,000 square feet of renewed space would create classrooms in space vacated by Campus Recreation and would support graduate expansion and meet undergraduate teaching needs.

*Campus Sustainability Initiatives - $30 million (MTCU request - $30 million). This would include the replacement of windows, upgraded insulation, water management systems, electricity management systems, and a co-generation system.

*Physical Plant Building Renovations - $15 million (MTCU request - $10 million) The 57,500 square feet of renewed space would create a new home for the expanding Faculty of Information & Media Studies, now in the North Campus Building. It will house 315 graduate students and expanded teaching facilities.

“The provincial government is at an early stage of developing its plans for a $60-billion public infrastructure program for Ontario, which is intended to span at least the next decade, and has offered universities a chance to be part of these considerations,” says Fred Longstaffe, Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

“We welcome this invitation to be included in provincial infrastructure planning in this way – it represents a new opportunity for us.”

Should additional provincial funding be made available for any of the projects, it would open room within the university's capital budget for additional projects to be considered, notes Longstaffe, adding all items on the Category 1 list - other than the campus sustainability initiative - have been discussed at the Senate and Board levels.

Of note is the $100-million Ivey project, included as one of the university’s planned future projects in the 2008-’09 budget.
If the building’s pricetag holds close to the current estimate (architects have not been hired), the building would be second only to the $158 million in building permits issued to London Health Sciences Centre (Westminster Campus) as London’s most expensive building.

Longstaffe says Ivey is an extraordinarily important part of the university.

“Ivey's students are of the highest academic standing, and its national and international standing contribute enormously to Western's recognition and academic stature around the world,” he says.

“A new, high-impact facility is required for Ivey to bring together again, with all of the important synergies that this would provide, its growing HBA and MBA classes, which are currently physically separated.”

A new facility is required for Ivey to retain its international position in the face of strong competition worldwide, he says.

“Ivey's strong and well-deserved reputation for education at the highest level, coupled with its strong and influential research performance – including an outstanding PhD program, make Ivey one of Western's pre-eminent flagships in Ontario, in Canada and around the world.”

“We intend to preserve this advantage in the important areas of HBA, MBA, EMBA, PhD and executive education – where we compete successfully with the best in the world.”

Longstaffe says funding needs to be in place before the project can be considered for approval, as Western is unable to take on additional debt to finance the project.

While Ivey has a strong fundraising plan in place, Western has promised $22.5 million toward the project – once other funding is in place – because the current Ivey facility would be freed-up for other academic purposes.

Some category 2 new construction projects include an astro-materials facility ($26.5 million), performing arts facility ($40 million), musculoskeletal research facility ($25 million) and a new facility for Chemistry and Brain & Mind ($40 million).

The major category 2 renewal projects include $175 million to modernize University College, Dental Sciences, Spencer Engineering, Thames Hall, Music, Elborn and Nursing.

Longstaffe says the projects listed in category 2 are very preliminary, and at this stage, simply provide the government a sense of unmet infrastructure needs.

“You will note that there is a balance between new space and renewal of existing space in these lists,” he says. “Renewal of existing infrastructure continues to be as important to Western as the development of new space.”

Longstaffe says the lists Western provided to the provincial government can be refreshed on a regular basis. Through this year's annual planning process, further information is being gathered on needs across the university.

“Each and every one of the category 2 projects would require substantial additional discussion and Board (of Governors) approval, and their relative place in our priorities as a university would need to be revisited as a part of our ongoing annual planning processes,” he says.

While the provincial government is in the early stages of designing its 10-year, $60-billion public infrastructure plan, Longstaffe expects it would be many months, at the earliest, before any first decisions might be taken on specific projects to receive funding.

“At this stage, I think that the most important point is that Western has a range of well-developed plans already in place and is working on a list of potential projects to be developed for the future,” he says.

[QuantumLeap]

By Paul Mayne
Thursday, October 2, 2008
With a company slogan of ‘energizing chemistry’, the relocation of LANXESS Inc. to The University of Western Research and Development Park is considered “a perfect fit” for the global research and development group.


Work on the 60,000 square-foot addition to Western’s Research and Development Park is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2009. The new facility will house Surface Science Western and LANXESS Inc.


Currently operating in Sarnia, the move to London will also bring the global responsibility for research and development of butyl and butyl-like elastomers. Three world-scale rubber-manufacturing sites in Belgium, Canada and Singapore will be supported by the LANXESS site at the research park.

Relocation to the 60,000-square-foot London site, which will support 120 employees, will be completed by the end of 2009.

Surface Science Western, a main campus consulting and research lab providing analytical services to industries producing metallic and plastic components, is a facility with a staff of 14 scientists and engineers that will join LANXESS in the new facility.

"This move certainly strengthens the LANXESS commitment to innovation and growth in butyl manufacturing both in Canada and globally," Ralf Schenkel, head of Global Research & Development for Butyl Rubber, told Western News in an interview.

“Our company looked for a location linked with a leading research-intensive university.”

LANXESS is a leader in specialty chemicals with 2007 sales of more than $10 billion and around 15,200 employees in 21 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacture and sale of specialty chemicals, plastics, rubber and intermediates.

Schenkel says the new facility aims to create a global centre of excellence for material research and give LANXESS researchers access to people and equipment at all academic levels, plus the added synergies of collaborating in a multidisciplinary environment.

LANXESS looked globally when looking to relocate its research and development group, including Asia, Europe and other parts of Canada, he says. But the Western research park ultimately stood out among other potential sites for a number of reasons.

“It was a combination of many things,” says Schenkel. “Certainly, Ontario is a good place to conduct research and development, and coming to the research park you enter an environment with start-up companies. You’re also close to the university, which gives you access to cutting-edge technology.”

Schenkel says the potential for collaboration is strong for a wide variety institutions, business and industry, adding Western will be part of that partnership. “There are collaborations ongoing and there is a definite interest to deepen that relationship,” says Schenkel.

[QuantumLeap]

Major core developers eye long-term parking
Wed, October 8, 2008

By KELLY PEDRO

Three of downtown London's largest developers want to partner with the city to create more core parking.

Farhi Holdings Corp., the Tricar Group and Sifton Properties Ltd. have each expressed an interest in working with the city to develop long-term parking, Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell said yesterday.

Whether there's enough downtown parking, and what city hall should do, isn't a new or politically clear-cut issue.

But this is the first time specific firms have been identified by a downtown parking task force, or working group as it's called, as potentially willing partners in any project -- a parking garage, for example -- the city might take on.

The final decision would be left to city council, but Gosnell said the group -- its latest report goes to board of control today -- is considering several options, including:


- Whether to buy land to use for a parking facility.

- Partnering with a company already building extra parking downtown.

- An arrangement similar to that at the Covent Garden Market, where the city built an underground parking garage and RBC bought about half the spots for its workers.

Farhi Holdings owns many downtown buildings, while Tricar and Sifton are also key players in the core.

Tricar is building the high-rise Renaissance apartment tower on the downtown's west side. Sifton developed the One London Place office tower.

The parking debate's return is sure to set off sparks, with divisions evident on board of control, where any new project would have to begin as a recommendation to council.

Gosnell, a controller, warns that without more parking spaces, the downtown won't attract more office buildings.

"No one is going to invest $10 million renovating a building, for example, and when they need 30 to 40 parking spots they're not available," he said.

But opponents say the city shouldn't invest tax dollars in a venture that might not be profitable and should look at a better transit system instead.

"We're being really short-sighted thinking about cities around cars and the movement of cars," said Controller Gina Barber, who also sits on the parking working group. She voted against a plan to develop a business case looking at the potential for public-private parking partnerships.

Shmuel Farhi of Farhi Holdings, many of whose buildings lack parking, said there's a "huge shortage of parking spaces" and the most sensible solution is to build a parking garage.

Owners of more costly office towers that have parking have questioned whether the city should subsidize parking for other businesses by going ahead with a parking garage.

Barber said a rapid transit system would work for most downtown office workers.

But Gosnell said if the solution was as simple as that, it would've been solved by now.

Barber also said the market turmoil makes it a bad time to think of spending tax dollars to help build a parking facility, especially if those spaces would cost $5,000 a year for the venture to break even.

If the city doesn't develop more parking, pressure will grow to knock down buildings to create surface parking, said Gosnell.

"That is a losing proposition all the way around for the city, for the tax base, for the appearance of the downtown. We don't want that to happen," he said.

[MolsonExport]

From the Western News (UWO faculty publication), Oct 9/08

During 2006-07, the City of London experienced a net influx of 3,020 persons, third highest in Ontario after Toronto and Ottawa-Gatineau. During the period, 17,450 people moved to London, while 14,430 left, according to Statistics Canada. The region with the highest net inflow per capita was the oil-sands-rich Fort McMurray area of Alberta.

-take that, KW! :D

[QuantumLeap]

Parking garage plan runs into wall
Thu, October 9, 2008
Taxpayers' dollars should not be earmarked for the project, controller contends

By JONATHAN SHER, SUN MEDIA

Amid an economic slowdown, London taxpayers shouldn't subsidize the building of a downtown parking garage to be used by business, Controller Gina Barber says.

"The building of a downtown bunker for cars is not going to be the solution," Barber told board of control yesterday.

Her comments came as three of downtown London's largest developers -- Farhi Holdings Corp., the Tricar Group and Sifton Properties Ltd. -- expressed interest in partnering with the city to build a core parking garage.

An advocate for more core parking, Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell said any number of sites might work, including:

- The two towers being built by Tricar at the corner of King and Ridout streets, which will include a parking structure for residents, but where more space might be built in partnership with the city.


- At the northwest corner of King and Clarence streets, where there's a surface parking lot owned by a consortium of leading business people and developers.

Gosnell argues a lack of longterm parking downtown has made it tough for office building owners to fill them, a concern shared by Farhi, who owns many smaller buildings in the core that lack parking.

While there was no decision made by the board, that the parking matter was cited at all on an agenda was enough to raise alarms for Barber, who warned of using tax dollars with the global economy in shambles.

"I really have concerns with this."

A consultant's report showed 70 per cent of downtown parking spaces are typically being used, Barber said.

"That does not suggest there is an immediate need."

That report also showed that each spot in a garage would generate $1,200 a year, far short of the $5,000 needed to break even, leaving taxpayers to pay the rest.

That's something not to be considered lightly when the beneficiaries would be business owners who bought core buildings that were cheap because they lacked parking, Barber said. Owners of some more costly office towers with parking have questioned whether the city should subsidize parking for others.

[ForestryW]

"That does not suggest there is an immediate need" is what's fundamentally wrong with London's city council. People who can't think beyond 5 years in the future shouldn't be running a major city.That's also what's fundamentally wrong with politicians, they don't want to think beyond the end of their term in office.

That being said I would definitely support a downtown parking structure, if not only to displace parking from surface lots and encourage infill development. King/Clarence would be a good central location although I've always seen that lot as ideal for an office building of some sort.

[QuantumLeap]

Will, as much as I liked leafing through your photo portfolio (its great), I am going to have to disagree with you on this one.

Gina is right on this. The city should not be essentially subsidizing property owners who are unwilling to build new parking themselves or secure parking in other lots and garages. Furthermore, the City should be looking at real, sexy rapid transit to deal with some of the parking problems. If the city could partner with someone and break even, it would be a different story.

[ForestryW]

I absolutely agree that transit should be the city's first priority when it comes to improving the core. But the fact of the matter is that parking (especially in the long term) is still very relevant downtown. Let me explain:

1) More parking will inevitably be needed in the long term. Sure, only 70 % of spaces are presently being used but that will change sooner than you think if the core continues to develop at the rate it has been (in fact I have no doubt that growth will accelerate). Regardless of public transit improvements there will still be a need for more parking spaces and the city should start thinking now about where those spaces are going to go.

2) In an ideal world parking would be the responsibility of business owners and property developers, but look at where that's taken the city: there are desolate surface parking lots everywhere! At present the purpose of a city-subsidized parking garage should not be to provide more spaces, but to provide an alternative to surface parking lots. If we could trust businesses and landowners like Farhi to build parking lots that didn't require ripping down buildings and creating hideous gaps in the core then I wouldn't support a publicly-funded parking structure, but reality is not on our side unfortunately. Council needs to act now to provide an alternative to the surface parking that will invariably continue to be built.

The Kitchener city council recently voted to build a large parking structure downtown despite the current reality that there is a surplus of parking spaces. It's simply the sad reality that an amenity like that has to be funded by the tax-payers but it's the kind of forward-thinking that will ultimately fuel the right kind of development in the city. London should do the same.

[Snark]

Agreed! Why not let constructive ME comments speak for all instead:

heh, heh. I guess I am reluctant to do just that. It is no big deal anyway...I get my name in the papers relatively often given my career.

Speaking for myself, I feel eminently qualified to comment on such phenomena

I am quoted in the LFP today
I have appeared on A-Morning a couple of times (interviewed...I am in academia). Oh well, there is still the LFP

I have no idea what the cost would be.

<deleted>

Sorry, I was barely awake, and I just tune out of all the bad news of late, for the sake of my sanity.

Landmark? Looks like a pile of shit.

A mountain of locusts? Change the name. Likewise, would you want to live on Cheapside (major street in London).

Middlesex (what the hell is this, a hermaphrodite?)

Yeah, aren't they vile?

I am glad, then. So that I will not have to waste my time instructing such retarded deadbeats.

Take London (ON), multiply it by 10, and maybe then, you would have something that could, very possibly, be a candidate for world-class.

Not the Shriners thing again. Fer fvcksakes, when will it ever end?

It's the new building for West Park Baptist Church (currently near Wonderland & Hyde Park Rd.). Damn. Not another one.

London has long ceased being a head-office city, to being a back-office city.

Whats the news of the new Walfart that is supposed to go up at Sprawldale and unWonderland?

Man, the Galleria has gotta be one of the biggest urban disasters in Canada. I was there yesterday...unfuckingbelievable how empty the place is.

A veritable ghostown of a mall, with more than 40 vacant stores to better serve you!

overmalled....but Westmount will still be a mall? Sounds like the managers are lacking a solid strategy. If I were a tenant in the mall, I would be worried.

The "rebirth" of the Galleria is rather like a woman experiencing 72 months of gestation followed by 24 months of labour.

could this be the first signs of Masonville mall going the way of Westmount mall??

Nice, but I hear that they do not serve BEER at Labatt Park...extremely ironic and moronic.

allow Labatt park to serve beer...and I will go to see London Majors games.

Wharnecliffe is going down the toilet. At least half of it (from Oxford to Commissioners) sits at the bottom of the bowl, with the other turds. A charming slice of East London in western London.

YEAH! more commie-blocks!

I am getting pissed off at the so-called leaders of London.

Nostalgia for the status quo = today's london leadership = mediocrity

yup: london planners/council-->think small.

I have to agree that the current administration really comes up short in their 'vision' for what London ought to aspire to.

London busses are horrible. They smell, have no seats, and constantly lurch. Not to mention, the schedules, and the asinine amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B

very overdue. I can't understand why they rezone/develop areas prior to improving the infrastructure.

too bad that it will probably be years before it goes back up again for phase II

More bad news for London. The daily dose

For Gawd's sake, London has only 2 complete East-West and North-South roads:
East-West: Fanshawe Park Road and Oxford
North-South: Wonderland and Highbury.
That's it. Everything else does not go through all the way.

Council should wake up...given the lousy local economy, taxpayers are not feeling generous, and frankly, a little tired of property (et al.) tax increases that have long outstripped inflation

London has the third-busiest airport in Canada, after Toronto and Vancouver. Really? Ahead of Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, etc.? Must be freight. Would like to see the supporting statistics.

thats a tall proposal for a shitsville corner. Love to see it happen....but in this market?

Visonary. 30 years, I will be approaching 70. I can then look forward to a quick way to Fanshawe Park Road. Yay.

Any info on the proposed Walfart at Exeter and Wonderland Rd. South?

Does the Ash Borer also eat jobs? I ask because the London area has lost so many in the past 6 months.

Weird. Hope that it is better than the aborted pseudo-freeway blip that is Highbury Ave.

I think that London's city planners look towards the 905 area as an urban model, rather than say, more concise urban fabrics like those found in Europe.

Looks like a run-down 70's era Las Vegas motor inn.

Quite frankly, who gives two-shits what Jack Layton says?

And the commie-blocks keep-a-comin' in London, esp. in the Oxford-Wonderland area.
I'd rather have no construction, than more of those ugly commie-blocks. Parts of London could easily pass for Irkutsk or Dniepreprovetsk.

I am not too impressed, having bought a home in the neighborhood.

Not again.

Good, but if it happens, I will eat my shoes.
I refer to them as Dumbcentres.

Ultra 80s, Ultra Smell (Bell) Canada. Smell has a building like this in every single major city in Canada.

This actually looks pretty good. I was in the area this weekend past, and it currently is about as gritty and shitty as anywhere in the country.

Yeah, just what I expected, city council is totally in cahoots with the big box sprawl developers. Who gives a shit if inner London looks like shit,

Yeah, I live about 1 km from that shitty bridge. and cross it from time to time. It is the Marie-Anne de Cicco way: rezone, build, but do not expand the infrastructure.

More of Anne-Marie's "Best and Brightest" (aka, highest salaries and sick-days, and moreover, mediocre results

yep. exactly. anyone else, it would be front-page news. And you'd think, "wow, the mayor's husband...for sure the LFP will have something"...but it is buried like a skeleton in the closet.

And while we are at it, how on earth did Best get the exemption for that lousy deck/patio along Richmond? Fishy, fishy.

What do you all think about the Mayor's husband's little adventure last saturday? Must be pretty damned embarassing for Anne-Marie, to say the least.

Same shit they smoked when they decided to bury the drunk-driving adventure of Mr. A-M deC-Best.

No news on Mr. AMdeC-Best? Still got his drivers' license, I presume?

If he got drunk (and then drove) in his own bar...could he be at risk of losing his liquor license? Did you sit out on the cheapo patio at Friday Fright Nites?

Not because of, but despite the current administration on dufferin st.

[ForestryW]

I think you guys are missing a major point: most cities want existing heritage streetscapes (such as Dundas Street in London, King Street in Kitchener) to be preserved, restored, and upgraded. They want developers from the private sector to do it. The drawback from a developer's perspective is that these properties are disproportionately expensive to operate once millions have been poured into their restoration, and the properties themselves have have little or no parking spaces on the property for prospective tenants once available for lease. What the development community is saying is that they are putting out a lot of extra dollars in order to keep up these buildings the way that the city wants, but in return they want some assurance that parking for their perspective tenets is somehow available and not entirely on their dime - since they have pumped lots of extra dollars into the heritage streetscape building already. They could level the existing heritage buildings and build new, with parking, but the city doesn't want that. They want the existing buildings preserved. With new developments, the developer is obliged to provide appropriate parking for tenants and none of this is an issue.

True, true. :hmmm:

Sorry, but that actually isn't the case. There is not a surplus of parking spaces in downtown Kitchener. Not even close. There will be even fewer when the new courthouse starts construction. And as for the Waterloo Region's proposed LRT to take the heat off of parking demand in Kitchener, it will be at least 7 more years before phase one is operating, so that is too little too late.

I probably should read up on this. I have to say, though, that every time I've been to downtown Kitchener, even in midday in the middle of the week, I have seen empty spaces everywhere, even entire lots. There doesn't seem to be a shortage but I'm sure the numbers prove otherwise.

[ldoto]

London Free Press Thu, October 2, 2008

By JONATHAN SHER

Residents near London's Meadowlily Woods have won a major battle with the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. A drive that delivered hundreds of people to public meetings and thousands more to sign a petition now is in position for a big win at city hall. Politicians on the planning committee want the city to set the pace and agenda for deciding what development is best for a south London tract surrounded by the woods, a heritage site and a neighbourhood with homes and open space. If council follows suit, as appears likely, those hired to evaluate the area's needs would be selected and paid by city hall rather than by the developer, Smart Centres, which builds big-box malls often anchored by Wal-Mart. That makes all the difference, community activists say. "It's not about Smart Centres. It's not about Wal-Mart . . . It's about (what's best for) London," said Gary Smith, who lives on Meadowlily Road across from where the developer wants to build 225,000 square feet of retail space. Smart Centres had paid its own experts to evaluate the effect of the mega-plaza on the woods, an approach to development that council often has supported in the past. City planners supported the approach, but found Smart Centres hadn't completed the job adequately. Planners recommended giving the developer more time, but neighbours wanted city hall to take charge -- a push accepted by all five members at this week's planning committee meeting. "It's absolutely wonderful," Controller Gina Barber, a committee member, said yesterday. "I can't imagine anything more incongruous (with the area) than a large, big-box development." Some on the planning committee wanted to reject the development outright, but Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best persuaded them not to. Council will undermine its ability to defend itself if it rejects a development before city-hired consultants evaluate local needs, she said. "I've lived in this area all my life. Our job is to make sure we protect it," she said. Residents say a city-led plan has several advantages: - Citizens can provide input throughout the process rather than just near the end. - The study will be more exhaustive. - The study will look at what's best for the area rather than simply accommodating what a developer wants. "We got exactly what we wanted," resident Peter Meisenheimer said. "This will set a precedent on how the city will deal with (land that can be developed)." Smart Centres says other developers won't invest in London if city hall takes over the process midstream. "It puts many developers in a not-very-happy position," said Peter Nikolakakos of Smart Centres. Coun. Roger Caranci and the mayor dispute that a precedent has been set. Both say the woods, heritage and neighbourhood warrant special treatment. But Barber believes the tide has shifted from development at all costs to managed growth. Community groups can carry the day, she said, citing recent council decisions to side with residents in Stoneybrook Heights, Old Masonville and Oakridge. "It's an example of the new way we do business," she said.
__________________

[manny_santos]

I don't see what's wrong with Wal-Mart taking over Pond Mills Square, a dead mall by all intents and purposes. Better yet, we don't need yet another big box nightmare that is impossible to walk to. This city has way too many of those.

[manny_santos]

Demolition on the Brunswick Hotel - known to many as "The Wick" - has begun. Another part of our past gone, and we can at least partially thank Councillor Paul Hubert. And what are we getting for it? Another parking lot.

What is going to get demolished next? The old Bank of Commerce at King and Richmond? The Dominion Public Building?

[worldwide]

the huron and erie building....

or perhaps one london place :)

[ssiguy]

Good for the residents!
They spoke up against the lion and roared. People want growth that enhances the urban enviornment not destroys or overwhelms it.
If downtown London wants to see true growth and the city wants to make the city transit and pedestrian friendly these "dumb centres" are an antithesis of those goals.

[Spicol]

What is going to get demolished next? The old Bank of Commerce at King and Richmond? The Dominion Public Building?

Both of those buildings are built like bunkers compared to the Wick's house of sticks and straw. I'm all for heritage designations but they can't come at the expense of common sense. The building was not well built and not well maintained. Dencev sure wasn't going to put the money in and it didn't seem to me that far away from being condemned.

That said, the way that this has gone down is a railroad job to the nth degree. If I rented a parking spot there, I'd be pretty mad today.

[ldoto]

Mon, October 20, 2008



$230 M expansion of Veterans Memorial Parkway approved

A plan to turn Veterans Memorial Parkway into a freeway has divided members of the city's planning committee.

The issue goes before council tonight with a proposal to amend the city's official plan to allow the parkway to be expanded 20 to 30 years down the road.

"This is frankly a no-brainer. This has to go through," said Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen, a planning committee member. "This is the kind of basic infrastructure that is key to developing a local economy and therefore jobs."

He said the "left wing on council" caused a stalemate at the planning committee level.

Fellow member Controller Gina Barber said she has reservations about the cost and locking future councils into the plan, which is estimated at $230 million.




But Van Meerbergen said the city would be aided by provincial and federal government money.

Barber said costs could jump to $650 million if "additional legs" of the freeway are included.

"That's an awful lot of money to be putting into the official plan," she said. "In that time, we might be looking at alternative modes of transportation."

Van Meerbergen argued an extended freeway would help attract industry to the city.

"London is falling down in terms of its internal road system. This is the kind of investment we desperately need," he said.

There are traffic lights along the parkway and the plan would upgrade it to a full freeway, void of any signalled intersections.

[ssiguy]

Is this the same city that says they can't afford LRT?

[MolsonExport]

Mon, October 20, 2008



$230 M expansion of Veterans Memorial Parkway approved

A plan to turn Veterans Memorial Parkway into a freeway has divided members of the city's planning committee.

The issue goes before council tonight with a proposal to amend the city's official plan to allow the parkway to be expanded 20 to 30 years down the road.

"This is frankly a no-brainer. This has to go through," said Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen, a planning committee member. "This is the kind of basic infrastructure that is key to developing a local economy and therefore jobs."

He said the "left wing on council" caused a stalemate at the planning committee level.

Fellow member Controller Gina Barber said she has reservations about the cost and locking future councils into the plan, which is estimated at $230 million.




But Van Meerbergen said the city would be aided by provincial and federal government money.

Barber said costs could jump to $650 million if "additional legs" of the freeway are included.

"That's an awful lot of money to be putting into the official plan," she said. "In that time, we might be looking at alternative modes of transportation."

Van Meerbergen argued an extended freeway would help attract industry to the city.

"London is falling down in terms of its internal road system. This is the kind of investment we desperately need," he said.

There are traffic lights along the parkway and the plan would upgrade it to a full freeway, void of any signalled intersections.


Visonary. 30 years, I will be approaching 70. I can then look forward to a quick way to Fanshawe Park Road. Yay.

[doug rogers]

I've been popping in and out of this forum for a year or so now enjoying the discussions and pictures. I found it while googling for images of Vito Frijia. In fact the only online image of Frijia is the one I found here.

Many thanks for that. It is devilishly hard to find images and pictures of local developers.

Now you can obviously conclude why I need photo references. I have collections of politicians and local personalities. Even tiny snapshot size pictures are often sufficient.

I would LOVE to get a confirmed picture of Dan Dencev right now.

[london2020]

What extension are they talking about? surely not just the part where it will merge into Clarke?

I suppose the freeway is/will be needed, but i'd rather see a lot of our roads widened to 6 lanes first. And what about East/West corridors? Let's have the kilally/windermere/gainsborough linkup.

[MolsonExport]

^I second that motion. except for having to destroy the nice forested area currently in place. But London is in dire need of thru-roads, east-west and north-south.

[flar]

I used to imagine some kind of double-decker freeway over top of Wellington as I wasted an hour stopped at red lights on the round trip from downtown to White Oaks to pick up my girlfriend.

[london2020]

I guess there are two problems with that idea. 1) there has been a lot of talk recently about big cities getting rid of above-grade freeways and 2) we have no space for interchanges for such a road.

I think the most we can hope for is a robust network of 6-lane and 4-lane boulevards. Wonderland, Fanshawe, and Wellington all need to be 6-lane for sure.

Doing the winderemere/killaly link would have a very mininal impact on the forest, IMO. The part where the road would go is not really even a forest, it's pretty bare.... there's already a multiuse path there.

As for the winderemere/gainsborough link, it would have an impact on a small portion of the forest, but I think if it was designed well, it would be possible to keep trails intact and minimize and harm to wildlife.

I suspect a Sarnia/Huron link is impossible due to the residential neighborhood, but Sarnia itself definitely needs a lot of work.

[ldoto]

It's a small victory for Medowlily Woods, and a setback for Wal-Mart.

In a unanimous vote last night, City Council decided to commission a city-led report on the environmentally significant area near Highbury and Commissioners.

The report would examine the potential environmental impact of a proposed 25 thousand square foot Smart Centre retail development with a Walmart.

The report is due back before the planning committee by January and the status of the Smart Centre development will not be addressed until then.

[SlickFranky]

I never really understood the plans for VMP. Why do they keep insisting we need a freeway there?

I 100% approved of the upgrades they made to get it to the current state. Airport rd was not suitable for expanded industrial growth in that area. The current road serves that purpose very well, and offers better 401-Airport access.

That said, what is the point of a grade-separated freeway along this corridor? Let's even pretend they extended it past Fanshawe and swung it west (between Medway and Sunningdale) connecting with Wonderland. Who would benefit from this massively expensive project? North-Londoners heading to 401E would...anyone else??

There have to be a hundred better uses for that $230M.

[MolsonExport]

^well, you know they want to shave 10 minutes off of the time for trucks to access the industrial zones of Eastern London. I also see no logic with making VMP a freeway. The Western part of London is where all the growth is. How about a freeway along the Western Fringe?

[MolsonExport]

25 thousand square foot Smart Centre retail development

This is about the size of a typical Future Shop or Toys R Us. perhaps a digit is missing?

[MolsonExport]

I am quoted in the LFP today.

[LondnPlanr]

I am quoted in the LFP today.

Care to elaborate?

[SlickFranky]

and expose his secret identity?!

[MolsonExport]

^heh, heh. I guess I am reluctant to do just that. It is no big deal anyway...I get my name in the papers relatively often given my career.

[QuantumLeap]

By JONATHAN SHER

In the battle over how London grows, combat reached the street level last night as politicians, developers and planners fought over the design of future city neighbourhoods.

The city's planning committee was split down the middle, leaving the crucial issue to council when it meets next Monday.

When it comes to designing subdivisions, city hall has made sure the streets drain and the toilets flush -- but that's not enough, city planner John Fleming said.

"Really what we're talking about is the soul of the community," Fleming said.

He's calling for guidelines that:


- Integrate natural features such as hills and trees rather than bulldoze them.

- Design streets to promote walking and cycling rather than the use of automobiles.

- Reject cookie-cutter housing and instead use a mix of styles, sizes and building densities to attract a broader range of dwellers.

- Create public spaces that are easily accessed and enjoyed.

- Consider the pros and cons of grid-like streets, overnight parking and rear laneways that clear streets of garages and driveways.

For three years, city planners have tried to change what they called the culture of development -- but it was clear yesterday their effort has fallen short with some.

"As a group, (developers) don't embrace change all that readily," said Rob Panzer, the city's general manager of planning.

The London Development Institute asked council to delay action until city hall spells out how new designs will be engineered and at what cost -- a request planners fear would further delay implementation.

"We think it's a good idea, but it will take a lot of work to get there," said Steve Janes, president of the development institute.

No action should be considered until January when the city implements a new process meant to streamline development applications, he said.

Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen warned the new guidelines could drive up housing prices.

"Once we go down this road, is the conventional subdivision dead?" he asked.

Coun. Roger Caranci agreed, saying developers were the city's "biggest partner" since they invest the resources and risk their futures on new subdivisions.

"It behooves us to listen to the group that is most affected," he said.

Coun. Nancy Branscombe sees it differently -- starting with whom she sees as her partner. "My biggest partners are the citizens I represent."

Branscombe accused Caranci, Van Meerbergen and Controller Bud Polhill of "stalling" the process.

"We're so far behind other municipalities," she said.

Developers say Londoners don't want the new design elements, but city staff point to a survey that found most wanted them even if it meant paying a "slight premium."

[london2020]

I think the VMP is our "bridge to nowhere." We need to increase Wellington, Commissioners, Fanshawe Park, Wonderland, Oxford, and parts of Richmond, Bradley, and Southdale, Adelaide, Wharncliffe and Highbury to six lanes before we worry about a ring road.

Oh, and lets not forget making Hyde Park, Sarnia, Windermere, Gainsborough, Killally, and parts of Comissioners four lanes!

Land SHOULD be set aside for a ring road NOW, but the actual project is not a priority currently.

[SlickFranky]

Man, it's almost crazy when you see all the roads that need expanding in one shot like that...and they all need it. I'm so glad I don't drive anymore. Sell your car, walk to work, and smile at all the commuters bottlenecked on one of those roads.

But seriously, even if all that work gets done, it's not a proper solution. Adding lanes is only temporary...lanes get filled faster than they can be built. Increasing capacity essentially increases demand. The only real solution is decreasing the number of vehicles on those roads, and we all know how that could be accomplished....moving sidewalks!! Or rapid transit, but that's so boring.

[doug rogers]

Try greater density and a good public transit system.

[QuantumLeap]

726-748 Dundas Street - The purpose and effect of the proposed amendment is to permit the construction an 8-storey mixed use residential/commercial building with an increase in the permitted density of the site to accommodate 150 residential units and a reduction in the minimum front yard depth. Possible amendment to the Zoning By-law Z.-1 FROM a Business District Commercial Special Provision (BDC(19)-D250-H46) Zone which permits a broad range commercial uses and residential uses TO a Business District Commercial Special Provision Bonus (BDC(_)-B-(_)) Zone to increase the permitted density of the site and reduce the minimum front yard depth. In the alternative, Council may also consider an amendment to the Zoning By-law Z.-1 TO a Business District Commercial Special Provision (BDC(_)-D470-H46) Zone to increase the permitted density of the site and reduce the minimum front yard depth.
File: Z-7544 Planner: Michael Tomazincic

*This proposal is an expansion of the original proposal, and would see the entire NW corner of Dundas and English, including the Embassy, redeveloped.

[ForestryW]

In terms of neighbourhood design: all that's needed is for one developer to take a risk and deviate from the standard model of London suburbs. When that happens and they succeed (which they will) other developers will follow. But for now it looks like they're going to stick with the safe cookie-cutter developments that every Londoner wants, pardon the sarcasm.

[london2020]

Earlier I said it probably wasn't a smart move, but after spending some time in bigger cities I'm having second thoughts......

Should London have an intra-city elevated expressway or two?

Seems like it would be a hell of a lot more useful than then VMP.

Link Highbury to Wonderland (7 or 8 KM) and Fanshawe to 401 (14 KM).

Seriously... why are we spending so much on the VMP?

[VectorBoy]

Taco Del Mar is now open at Galleria; providing a much needed alternative to Subway and Golden Wok.


Arby's is apparently supposed to be open end of november, but who knows if they'll hit that schedule.

They've officially been closed for an entire year, since they shut doors on Dundas.

[QuantumLeap]

I got a chance to look at the proposal on the North side of Dundas today. I don't know how to upload images, but this is what I can tell you:
-proposed by Terrasan developments & designed by Arsenault architects of Toronto
-3 floor podium in "Renaissance Stone" with 9 (?) storefronts
-6 floor brick tower (above the podium, for a total of 9 floors) with steeply slanted French-style roof with dormers
-underground parking
-density of 150 units/ha - likely the building will be about 50 units

Somebody please tell me how I can post these pix!

[Snark]

Agreed! Why not let constructive ME comments speak for all instead:

heh, heh. I guess I am reluctant to do just that. It is no big deal anyway...I get my name in the papers relatively often given my career.

Speaking for myself, I feel eminently qualified to comment on such phenomena

I am quoted in the LFP today
I have appeared on A-Morning a couple of times (interviewed...I am in academia). Oh well, there is still the LFP

I have no idea what the cost would be.

<deleted>

Sorry, I was barely awake, and I just tune out of all the bad news of late, for the sake of my sanity.

Landmark? Looks like a pile of shit.

A mountain of locusts? Change the name. Likewise, would you want to live on Cheapside (major street in London).

Middlesex (what the hell is this, a hermaphrodite?)

Yeah, aren't they vile?

I am glad, then. So that I will not have to waste my time instructing such retarded deadbeats.

Take London (ON), multiply it by 10, and maybe then, you would have something that could, very possibly, be a candidate for world-class.

Not the Shriners thing again. Fer fvcksakes, when will it ever end?

It's the new building for West Park Baptist Church (currently near Wonderland & Hyde Park Rd.). Damn. Not another one.

London has long ceased being a head-office city, to being a back-office city.

Whats the news of the new Walfart that is supposed to go up at Sprawldale and unWonderland?

Man, the Galleria has gotta be one of the biggest urban disasters in Canada. I was there yesterday...unfuckingbelievable how empty the place is.

A veritable ghostown of a mall, with more than 40 vacant stores to better serve you!

overmalled....but Westmount will still be a mall? Sounds like the managers are lacking a solid strategy. If I were a tenant in the mall, I would be worried.

The "rebirth" of the Galleria is rather like a woman experiencing 72 months of gestation followed by 24 months of labour.

could this be the first signs of Masonville mall going the way of Westmount mall??

Nice, but I hear that they do not serve BEER at Labatt Park...extremely ironic and moronic.

allow Labatt park to serve beer...and I will go to see London Majors games.

Wharnecliffe is going down the toilet. At least half of it (from Oxford to Commissioners) sits at the bottom of the bowl, with the other turds. A charming slice of East London in western London.

YEAH! more commie-blocks!

I am getting pissed off at the so-called leaders of London.

Nostalgia for the status quo = today's london leadership = mediocrity

yup: london planners/council-->think small.

I have to agree that the current administration really comes up short in their 'vision' for what London ought to aspire to.

London busses are horrible. They smell, have no seats, and constantly lurch. Not to mention, the schedules, and the asinine amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B

very overdue. I can't understand why they rezone/develop areas prior to improving the infrastructure.

too bad that it will probably be years before it goes back up again for phase II

More bad news for London. The daily dose

For Gawd's sake, London has only 2 complete East-West and North-South roads:
East-West: Fanshawe Park Road and Oxford
North-South: Wonderland and Highbury.
That's it. Everything else does not go through all the way.

Council should wake up...given the lousy local economy, taxpayers are not feeling generous, and frankly, a little tired of property (et al.) tax increases that have long outstripped inflation

London has the third-busiest airport in Canada, after Toronto and Vancouver. Really? Ahead of Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, etc.? Must be freight. Would like to see the supporting statistics.

thats a tall proposal for a shitsville corner. Love to see it happen....but in this market?

Visonary. 30 years, I will be approaching 70. I can then look forward to a quick way to Fanshawe Park Road. Yay.

Any info on the proposed Walfart at Exeter and Wonderland Rd. South?

Does the Ash Borer also eat jobs? I ask because the London area has lost so many in the past 6 months.

Weird. Hope that it is better than the aborted pseudo-freeway blip that is Highbury Ave.

I think that London's city planners look towards the 905 area as an urban model, rather than say, more concise urban fabrics like those found in Europe.

Looks like a run-down 70's era Las Vegas motor inn.

Quite frankly, who gives two-shits what Jack Layton says?

And the commie-blocks keep-a-comin' in London, esp. in the Oxford-Wonderland area.
I'd rather have no construction, than more of those ugly commie-blocks. Parts of London could easily pass for Irkutsk or Dniepreprovetsk.

I am not too impressed, having bought a home in the neighborhood.

Not again.

Good, but if it happens, I will eat my shoes.
I refer to them as Dumbcentres.

Ultra 80s, Ultra Smell (Bell) Canada. Smell has a building like this in every single major city in Canada.

This actually looks pretty good. I was in the area this weekend past, and it currently is about as gritty and shitty as anywhere in the country.

Yeah, just what I expected, city council is totally in cahoots with the big box sprawl developers. Who gives a shit if inner London looks like shit,

Yeah, I live about 1 km from that shitty bridge. and cross it from time to time. It is the Marie-Anne de Cicco way: rezone, build, but do not expand the infrastructure.

More of Anne-Marie's "Best and Brightest" (aka, highest salaries and sick-days, and moreover, mediocre results

yep. exactly. anyone else, it would be front-page news. And you'd think, "wow, the mayor's husband...for sure the LFP will have something"...but it is buried like a skeleton in the closet.

And while we are at it, how on earth did Best get the exemption for that lousy deck/patio along Richmond? Fishy, fishy.

What do you all think about the Mayor's husband's little adventure last saturday? Must be pretty damned embarassing for Anne-Marie, to say the least.

Same shit they smoked when they decided to bury the drunk-driving adventure of Mr. A-M deC-Best.

No news on Mr. AMdeC-Best? Still got his drivers' license, I presume?

If he got drunk (and then drove) in his own bar...could he be at risk of losing his liquor license? Did you sit out on the cheapo patio at Friday Fright Nites?

Not because of, but despite the current administration on dufferin st.

[LondnPlanr]

I got a chance to look at the proposal on the North side of Dundas today. I don't know how to upload images, but this is what I can tell you:
-proposed by Terrasan developments & designed by Arsenault architects of Toronto
-3 floor podium in "Renaissance Stone" with 9 (?) storefronts
-6 floor brick tower (above the podium, for a total of 9 floors) with steeply slanted French-style roof with dormers
-underground parking
-density of 150 units/ha - likely the building will be about 50 units

Somebody please tell me how I can post these pix!

You have to use another website such as Imageshack to host the images, and then post the link that it gives you after you upload the images to that site.

Where did you see the renderings for this proposal?

[drjohnnyfever]

Does anybody know who owns the remnants of the old 'Wally World'... behind the new Home Depot? Is it Southside Group, and part of their Westmount area development plans... or just a narrow strip of land in limbo that will be challenging to develop?

[MolsonExport]

all i know is that the sign for Wally World is still there on Southdale.

[QuantumLeap]

I'm not able to upload any images at this time due to my primitive software (I will work on this). Re: 724-746 Dundas: more great news!
-more retail: the applicant is proposing about 15,000 sq ft of retail, with retail and offices directly facing Dundas, English and the parking lot behind
-the applicant is proposing green roofs!
-150 unit building (440 units/ha)

[QuantumLeap]

http://www.northpointlofts.ca/
43 loft-style units just West of Richmond, north of Fanshawe





http://www.northpointlofts.ca

[MolsonExport]

Western Mustangs win the Yates cup for the second year in a row. Now, off to the Vanier cup!

[london2020]

What I'd really like to see in London is a new building in the 60 story range.

Here's the new Hilton in Niagara, 52 of 60 stories complete.

I don't believe this type of building is inefficient from a cost perspective.

Why, for example, is the Renaissance project two towers instead of one taller one? I'm sure it's slightly more cost effective that way, but the added allure of the tallest building in the city might bring more tenants and higher rents.

Perhaps we need a condo project like this in downtown london!

This tower is a $100 million project. Isn't the Renaissance as much?

http://accessniagara.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/20081013_hilton_update.jpg

[GreatTallNorth2]

Sorry, but that Hilton tower in Niagara Falls is ugly as sin. I wouldn't want it. Hard to believe, but it's uglier than the Renaissance buildings. What London really needs is a developer to come and build a classy residential tower so the rest of our cheap developers can see there is a demand for more than just stucco & concrete buildings.

[QuantumLeap]

I wouldn't mind a 60-floor building in London, but frankly I don't care much. And I have heard that engineering constraints would make anything much taller than 25 commercial/30 residential floors nightmarishly expensive. What I would like to see, as Great Tall suggests, is some better design. And not just Vancouver-style glass cylinders, but Mississauga-style Absolutes, and the like. Something to really get people excited about design. They don't even frankly have to be skyscrapers at all. As I have suggested to you, there are some projects already approved or soon to be approved by the city that will boost the urban design calibre in London (though you will also be seeing a few more Drewlo and Tricar nightmares before 2009 is out). But these projects are pretty architecturally mundane. Still, they will be a stepping stone.

[QuantumLeap]

By JOHN MINER, SUN MEDIA

The University of Western Ontario has been asked to bid to build an $88-million AIDS vaccine manufacturing plant that would be a Canadian first.

Paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the federal government, the facility would supply vaccine for clinical trials.

Bill Gates, founder of software giant Microsoft, is one of the world's richest men.

Ted Hewitt, vice president of research at the University of Western Ontario, said London is one of only four centres asked to submit full proposals and is the only one in Ontario.

Hewitt said he did not know the identity of the other three centres. For the facility, $28 million will come from the Gates foundation and the rest from Ottawa.


"This premiere facility would place this city and this region at the forefront of vaccine development and manufacturing in the 21st century," Hewitt said.

The news of London's bid came at the same news conference where it was announced a vaccine developed by Dr. Chil-Yong Kang at Western is now being manufactured in the United States for testing on humans.

Kang said if the vaccine manufacturing facility had already been built in Canada, he would have been able to start testing months earlier.

Western has until March 25, 2009 to submit its bid.

Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said the AIDS announcements are of global importance.

"We are making history in a way that is going to change the face of mankind," she said, noting the announcement was covered by media networks from Korea.

[QuantumLeap]

By Communications Staff (Western News)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The University of Western Ontario is one of four organizations in Canada under consideration by the federal government to build an HIV vaccine manufacturing facility.

Western is the only Ontario organization to submit a proposal.

In February 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Bill Gates jointly announced collaboration between the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI).

One component of the initiative is a total of $88 million in funding from the government and the foundation to build a Pilot Scale HIV Vaccine Manufacturing Facility – a high-tech facility that would produce a vaccine to be used in clinical trials around the world.

“This is exhilarating and promising news for London,” says Ted Hewitt, Vice-President (Research and International Relations) at Western. “We have our work cut out for us, as I am sure the competition will be tough, but London and Western have a great history of research and manufacturing success. This is exemplified by the leading research of Dr. Chil-Yong Kang in developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine.”

The leading research of Dr. Chil-Yong Kang in developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine could help Western in building a HIV vaccine manufacturing facility in London.



Later today, details of progress on Kang’s work will be made by Western and Sumagen Canada, including the fact that an HIV/AIDS vaccine for toxicology tests and clinical trials has recently been produced – at a U.S. facility. Had a facility been available in Canada, the vaccine could have been produced here.

The letter from the federal government states its decision to request a proposal from Western “was informed by Canadian and international experts working the fields of HIV vaccine research and vaccines manufacturing.”

Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best was hopeful Western would be asked to forward a full proposal.

“HIV/AIDS has taken more than 25 million lives and today 35 million people are living with HIV,” she says. “London now has an opportunity to show that we can play a key role in saving lives around the world. We are ready.”

The London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) has been working closely with the university on steps taken to date to win the facility and will play a key role in the proposal going forward.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for London to showcase its strengths in research and life sciences, and to further the city’s reputation as a leader,” said LEDC’s President and CEO Peter White.

Western and other not-for-profits who have been invited, must submit a full proposal for the bio-safety level 3, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) facility by March 25, 2009.

More information is expected to be made available following a press conference scheduled this afternoon.

[ldoto]

London Receives Massive Infrastructure Boost:banana: :banana: :banana:

London has received an early Christmas present from the McGuinty government.

The province has announced today that London is in line for more than 33-million-dollars in new infrastructure funding.

MPP Khalil Ramal made the announcement at London city hall this afternoon.

"We believe strongly that it's important, especially at this time, to flow the money to municipalities," said Ramal. "It will help the municipalities deal with many different issues."

Mayor Anne-Marie DeCicco-Best said the cash will help the city in several ways.

"We certainly have been trying year-after-year to increase the amount of money and investment we put into our infrastructure," said DeCicco-Best. "We recognize that a good infrastructure is going to help us compete."

The money has been earmarked for some road work and recreational projects.

[MolsonExport]

"Massive"? would that even cover one overpass?

[Snark]

Agreed! Why not let constructive ME comments speak for all instead:

heh, heh. I guess I am reluctant to do just that. It is no big deal anyway...I get my name in the papers relatively often given my career.

Speaking for myself, I feel eminently qualified to comment on such phenomena

I am quoted in the LFP today
I have appeared on A-Morning a couple of times (interviewed...I am in academia). Oh well, there is still the LFP

I have no idea what the cost would be.

<deleted>

Sorry, I was barely awake, and I just tune out of all the bad news of late, for the sake of my sanity.

Landmark? Looks like a pile of shit.

A mountain of locusts? Change the name. Likewise, would you want to live on Cheapside (major street in London).

Middlesex (what the hell is this, a hermaphrodite?)

Yeah, aren't they vile?

I am glad, then. So that I will not have to waste my time instructing such retarded deadbeats.

Take London (ON), multiply it by 10, and maybe then, you would have something that could, very possibly, be a candidate for world-class.

Not the Shriners thing again. Fer fvcksakes, when will it ever end?

It's the new building for West Park Baptist Church (currently near Wonderland & Hyde Park Rd.). Damn. Not another one.

London has long ceased being a head-office city, to being a back-office city.

Whats the news of the new Walfart that is supposed to go up at Sprawldale and unWonderland?

Man, the Galleria has gotta be one of the biggest urban disasters in Canada. I was there yesterday...unfuckingbelievable how empty the place is.

A veritable ghostown of a mall, with more than 40 vacant stores to better serve you!

overmalled....but Westmount will still be a mall? Sounds like the managers are lacking a solid strategy. If I were a tenant in the mall, I would be worried.

The "rebirth" of the Galleria is rather like a woman experiencing 72 months of gestation followed by 24 months of labour.

could this be the first signs of Masonville mall going the way of Westmount mall??

Nice, but I hear that they do not serve BEER at Labatt Park...extremely ironic and moronic.

allow Labatt park to serve beer...and I will go to see London Majors games.

Wharnecliffe is going down the toilet. At least half of it (from Oxford to Commissioners) sits at the bottom of the bowl, with the other turds. A charming slice of East London in western London.

YEAH! more commie-blocks!

I am getting pissed off at the so-called leaders of London.

Nostalgia for the status quo = today's london leadership = mediocrity

yup: london planners/council-->think small.

I have to agree that the current administration really comes up short in their 'vision' for what London ought to aspire to.

London busses are horrible. They smell, have no seats, and constantly lurch. Not to mention, the schedules, and the asinine amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B

very overdue. I can't understand why they rezone/develop areas prior to improving the infrastructure.

too bad that it will probably be years before it goes back up again for phase II

More bad news for London. The daily dose

For Gawd's sake, London has only 2 complete East-West and North-South roads:
East-West: Fanshawe Park Road and Oxford
North-South: Wonderland and Highbury.
That's it. Everything else does not go through all the way.

Council should wake up...given the lousy local economy, taxpayers are not feeling generous, and frankly, a little tired of property (et al.) tax increases that have long outstripped inflation

London has the third-busiest airport in Canada, after Toronto and Vancouver. Really? Ahead of Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Winnipeg, etc.? Must be freight. Would like to see the supporting statistics.

thats a tall proposal for a shitsville corner. Love to see it happen....but in this market?

Visonary. 30 years, I will be approaching 70. I can then look forward to a quick way to Fanshawe Park Road. Yay.

Any info on the proposed Walfart at Exeter and Wonderland Rd. South?

Does the Ash Borer also eat jobs? I ask because the London area has lost so many in the past 6 months.

Weird. Hope that it is better than the aborted pseudo-freeway blip that is Highbury Ave.

I think that London's city planners look towards the 905 area as an urban model, rather than say, more concise urban fabrics like those found in Europe.

Looks like a run-down 70's era Las Vegas motor inn.

Quite frankly, who gives two-shits what Jack Layton says?

And the commie-blocks keep-a-comin' in London, esp. in the Oxford-Wonderland area.
I'd rather have no construction, than more of those ugly commie-blocks. Parts of London could easily pass for Irkutsk or Dniepreprovetsk.

I am not too impressed, having bought a home in the neighborhood.

Not again.

Good, but if it happens, I will eat my shoes.
I refer to them as Dumbcentres.

Ultra 80s, Ultra Smell (Bell) Canada. Smell has a building like this in every single major city in Canada.

This actually looks pretty good. I was in the area this weekend past, and it currently is about as gritty and shitty as anywhere in the country.

Yeah, just what I expected, city council is totally in cahoots with the big box sprawl developers. Who gives a shit if inner London looks like shit,

Yeah, I live about 1 km from that shitty bridge. and cross it from time to time. It is the Marie-Anne de Cicco way: rezone, build, but do not expand the infrastructure.

More of Anne-Marie's "Best and Brightest" (aka, highest salaries and sick-days, and moreover, mediocre results

yep. exactly. anyone else, it would be front-page news. And you'd think, "wow, the mayor's husband...for sure the LFP will have something"...but it is buried like a skeleton in the closet.

And while we are at it, how on earth did Best get the exemption for that lousy deck/patio along Richmond? Fishy, fishy.

What do you all think about the Mayor's husband's little adventure last saturday? Must be pretty damned embarassing for Anne-Marie, to say the least.

Same shit they smoked when they decided to bury the drunk-driving adventure of Mr. A-M deC-Best.

No news on Mr. AMdeC-Best? Still got his drivers' license, I presume?

If he got drunk (and then drove) in his own bar...could he be at risk of losing his liquor license? Did you sit out on the cheapo patio at Friday Fright Nites?

Not because of, but despite the current administration on dufferin st.

[MolsonExport]

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/UniversitySports/2008/11/17/7433951-sun.html

Mustangs Vanier bound
London Free Press
Mon, November 17, 2008

Coach Greg Marshall gets to the final for the first time in six tries
By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, FREE PRESS SPORTS COLUMNIST


http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/UniversitySports/2008/11/17/ls.jpg

Greg Marshall and the Western Mustangs are heading to the promised land.

Like anyone trying to reach hallowed ground, the journey has not been without heartache and bumps along the way.

It took two seasons for Marshall to lead the team to the Vanier Cup. It's the first time the Mustangs have been there since 1995, when they lost to Calgary, but it's the first time Marshall has made the national university football championship in six tries, four of them with the McMaster Marauders.

The Mustangs got there with a 28-12 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies yesterday in the Mitchell Bowl in front of 4,759 fans.

When it was over, the Mustangs stood on the television platform chanting "Vanier Cup, Vanier Cup." There was a long line of people wanting to hug Marshall and a stadium full of people happy Marshall was able to take the next step.




"Everyone talked about how it must be nice to get the monkey off my back," he said. "It didn't make a difference to me. It's nice to win, but I've been at Western two years. It was my record, not the team's. I have a wonderful group of boys here."

His team delivered and while it may not have been their neatest effort of the year, it was a game in which they manufactured the big plays. That allowed them to take control and put away a tough team.

The Mustangs will take on the Laval Rouge et Or Saturday in Hamilton, seeking their first title since a 1994 victory over Saskatchewan. Laval demolished the Calgary Dinos 59-10, making a stunning statement about how difficult Western's task is going to be.

"We're going to celebrate for a few hours, then start preparing," Marshall said between well-wishers. "We have to learn to put the ball in the end zone. It was a great effort, but we have to be better against Laval.

"We're playing against a great football team. We aren't going to be able to do it with smoke and mirrors. We have to score points and we have to catch some breaks."

The Mustangs had a surprisingly difficult time stopping the Huskies offence, operated by rookie quarterback Jack Creighton. The Huskies outgained Western 422 to 369 with 231 yards on the ground.

Marshall was disappointed at the yardage total. He knows if the Mustangs can't contain the run better against Laval, it's going to be a long Vanier Cup afternoon.

"They played a solid game and were well prepared," Huskies coach Steve Sumarah said. "On defence, they were dominant."

That Mustangs dominance stood out on two interceptions.

With the Huskies up 12-11 in the second quarter, linebacker Adrian Kaiser stepped in front of a Creighton pass and returned it 32 yards to the Huskies' two-yard line. John Leckie punched it in from there, giving the Mustangs a lead they never relinquished.

The crusher, though, was by the game's most valuable player, defensive back Craig Butler.

With less than a minute to go in the first half, he picked off Creighton and thanks to a great block by linebacker John Surla, took it back 57 yards for a touchdown. It gave the Mustangs a 25-12 halftime lead and the Western defence took over after that.

"It's a great feeling coming into this game and getting a victory," Kaiser said. "Everyone on defence came up with a big play. I just saw the receiver doing a hook. I just went there and that's where he threw it.

"It's not about me. Everyone on the defence has played well this year. I'm just lucky to have a good defensive line in front of me."

While the defence came up with several big plays, the offence did enough to control the game. On a cold day with intermittent snow and gusting wind, Faulds' short passing game, particularly to Nick Trevail, allowed the Mustangs to win the battle of field position. Trevail, a rookie, caught nine balls for 111 yards.

"You know, I'm excited about winning but I'm not really excited," Faulds said. "The Vanier Cup is what we all want. Winning the Mitchell Bowl means nothing if you don't win the Vanier Cup."

The Mustangs played Laval in a preseason game in August in Quebec City, with the home team winning 37-9.

"Going to the Vanier Cup is special," Marshall said. "How long have I been coaching and I haven't gone? This is a big deal."

:tup: :tup: :tup:

[ldoto]

One London Place remains city's tallest

Mon, November 17, 2008

BRAGGING RIGHTS: The new Renaissance has more storeys but isn't as tall as the 15-year-old office building


With final touches being put to its newest downtown tower, there'll be no battle for skyline bragging rights in London.

That honour remains with One London Place, the 15-year-old glass and steel office tower built by Sifton Properties and standing 107 metres (350 feet).

The new kid on the skyline, Tricar Group's Renaissance tower, is the second highest at 95 metres (312 feet).

Still, the 28-storey Renaissance will be London's tallest apartment tower, and maybe one of its poshest addresses.

Its penthouse units, starting on the 24th floor, with commanding views of the downtown and the forks of the Thames River, account for many of the 500 inquiries so far by potential Renaissance renters, said Tricar's Adam Carapella.




Most of the penthouses have already been leased. The 3,200-square-foot penthouse on the top floor -- the size of two average bungalows -- rents for about $3,000 a month.

Even though the Renaissance has more floors than One London Place, 28 versus 24, it's shorter because the office tower has taller storeys.

London's tallest tower dwarfs that of regional rival Kitchener, but Hamilton hits the tallest heights in Southwestern Ontario cities with its 127-metre Landmark Place.

TALLEST BUILDINGS

London

One London Place, 107 metres

The Renaissance, 95 m

City Centre, south tower, 91 m

City Centre, north tower, 80 m

Elsewhere

Landmark Place (Hamilton), 127 m

Caesar's-Augustus Tower (Windsor), 111 m

Wellington Place (Kitchener), 61 m

[ldoto]

Children's Hospital Attracts 11 New Doctors

Children's Hospital Attracts 11 New Doctors

Children's hospital at London Health Sciences Centre has attracted 11 new paediatric physicians from around the world.

With the help of the Children's Health Foundation, Children's Hospital hired doctors from as far away as Australia, Germany and Switzerland.

"Children's hospital is extremely pleased to welcome these fine physicians as we continue with our commitment to providing high-quality care to our patients and their families," said Dr. Guido Filler, Chief, Department of Paediatrics, Children's Hospital.

The hospital recruited specialists in cardiology, general paediatrics, genetics, haematology, metabolics, neurosurgery, childhood obesity, ophthalmology, respirology, and urology.

"I am delighted with the talented new surgeons we have recruited to London," said Dr. Kellie Leitch, Chief, Paediatric Surgery. "Our ability to attract this many prominent and experienced physicians and surgeons in such a variety of fields speaks to our commitment to excellence and contributes to our ability to provide the broadest range of children's services in Southwestern Ontario."

[QuantumLeap]

By Paul Mayne
Thursday, November 13, 2008
In the face of a broad economic downturn the university is reviewing its list of building and renovation projects to determine which should move ahead as planned, and which should be delayed.


Construction continues just north of London on a building for the Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources.

Western Provost and Vice-President (Academic) Fred Longstaffe says all projects currently underway will be finished.

As such the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion (Green Building), the Student Services Building and the Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources will continue.

As well, two renovation projects set out in the Long Range Space Plan - the Stevenson-Lawson Building and University Community Centre renovations - will continue the planning and renovation process.

The emptying of Stevenson-Lawson in preparation for renovations to support the departments of Philosophy, Classical Studies, and Women's Studies and Feminist Research, and the Program in Writing, Rhetoric and Professional Communication is well underway, and renovations will begin soon.

“The renovations of UCC are also urgently required to provide classroom space to meet needs arising within the 2009-10 academic year,” says Longstaffe.

Other projects, such as the New Ivey Building, Campus Sustainability Initiatives and renovations to the Physics & Astronomy Physical Plant buildings are being examined.

“It is too early to say how much the original schedules might be affected,” says Longstaffe. “I hope to be able to be more definitive by January 2009.”

One area where Western has not been affected is in access to borrowing. In 2006 Western announced its $230-million plan for expansion, renovation and construction, the largest in the university's history.

Western issued its inaugural debenture for $190 million in May of 2007, with an interest rate of 4.798% for money due in May 2047 - that is, a 40-year bond.

Favourable investment returns over the last several years also contributed to the much-needed modernization and new facilities to support educational and research programs.

“This funding has helped to finance the construction currently underway,” says Longstaffe. “We certainly would not have been able to secure such a favourable interest rate in today's world marketplace, where the availability of credit is substantially poorer than it was when Western made its arrangements.”

[QuantumLeap]

Public's turn on Thames' future
Sat, November 22, 2008

By RANDY RICHMOND


Does the river need a few restaurants? How about some washrooms?

Where should developers be able to build on the river?

Are views of the river worth protecting? Should there be more nature or development, along it?

Many questions surround the Thames River's future in London. Next week, residents get a chance to answer some of those and to ask their own.

At a public open house Wednesday, dozens of issues will be open for debate as the city winds its way to finishing a full-scale plan for the river.


"This will not be a background study that sits on a shelf," says city planner Bruce Page, shepherding the plan through.

"This implementation plan will identify the hierarchy of what we do and when. It will answer the question, 'How do we bring back the river to the great celebration it should be?"

For the past five years, planners have been working on the Thames Valley Corridor Plan.

The first stage, released last year, broke down issues within the Thames corridor into four main areas -- natural heritage, celebration (including recreation and tourism), the working river (the city's storm- and waste- water system) and land-use planning.

The second stage of the plan, to be released Wednesday, has broken those four general areas into almost 80 points of discussion.

Page doesn't expect people to have an opinion on all the items, but welcomes the input.

"Yes, there is a lot out there to digest. However, I think people have specific visions of the river and the corridor system."

It's pretty clear, Page says, many of the issues come down to one basic question: Does the river corridor need more protection and enhancement of its natural environment?

Or, could it use the boost of some urban flair to bring more people to its banks?

"That is the exciting challenge. How do we take those components and find common ground?" Page says.

An advisory committee that's been helping the city to prepare the report includes a wide range of people sitting on either sides of issues, yet its members recognize a balance is needed, Page says.

Some river areas in London, such as the Forks, the South Street hospital campus -- eventually being returned to the city -- and along the south branch behind London Hydro lend themselves to urbanization, he says.

One unusual talking point is the idea the city should protect not only the river and its banks, but also certain views and vistas along the river.

The views can be from the land looking out, or from the river looking back to the land.

"It has become an issue with many Londoners who have lost views of the river," Page says.

Some vistas are already identified in the report, but Page is looking for the public to identify more.

[ssiguy]

$12 million isn't much but I think the feds are going to, finally, break open the piggy banks and provide REAL money into infastructure. I think its a sure thing so I this is just the start of money flowing to the cities.

[MolsonExport]

Just got back from seeing Bill Clinton at the JLC. Great speech.

[london2020]

I don't recall this being covered here before.

http://www.altlondon.org/article.php?story=20081021190318292

Advance word is that Goodwill is proposing to build a 30-storey highrise complex which will include retails shops at ground level, several floors of office space and then apartments or condominiums.

Anyone know of any documents on the london city website dealing with this?

[LondnPlanr]

I don't recall this being covered here before.

http://www.altlondon.org/article.php?story=20081021190318292



Anyone know of any documents on the london city website dealing with this?

Hmmm, I haven't seen anything go through the city. I have a feeling this was just GoodWill feeling out what the community would have to say about a development like this.

I can tell you this: I did some work for GoodWill on this project while I was at Fanshawe College for GIS and Urban Planning a few years back. They approached our class to do a sort of 'mock-proposal' for this area, and I do know that my proposal was one that was retained by GoodWill for 'future use'. If I had of known about this meeting on Oct. 29, I would have been in attendance for sure to see just what 'their' site plan for the area looked like... interesting indeed.

As far as 30 stories go, I don't think they were dreaming that big. We were told 8-12, possibly 15. At no time was 'condos' or 'expensive penthouse suites' mentioned at all. This was to be strictly affordable housing, but placed within a strong redesign of the existing GoodWill property.

If anyone else on here attended that Oct. 29 meeting, I am very curious to see what came out of that. I do plan on contacting someone down at GoodWill to see what they have to say... I can't help but think they incorporated some of my 'proposal' into their plans. Interesting.