London Construction - Development News Thread#1

[Snashcan]

Originally Posted by Snark

Why oh why do some of you guys still think that that a bigger population equals a better place? I guess that means that Calcutta, Mumbai, Lagos, and Mexico City are all better places to live than anywhere in Canada.

If Woodstock were to grow by 30,000 people, and all that resulted from that was more faceless sprawling subdivisions, big-box plazas, and fast food commercial strips, it would hardly be an improvement.

A good city has only a limited relationship to its size.


PS - not a criticism to any one here in any way, but are there any skyscrapers to discuss?

Not saying just cause it was gonna grow meant it was gonna be a better place to live. More saying the economic boom it was a bout to grow through due to the Woodstock plant.

[QuantumLeap]

It's too bad London did not crack the top 5 small cities in terms of quality of life. That is the most important list- being business-friendly is great, if you believe the traditional conservative line about the impact of the economy on quality of life. But quality of life should still be the aim (contra above posts about population, economic spinoffs) etc.

As for new skyscrapers, I don't think we'll see all that many soon, especially downtown because the current construction will likely swamp the market for a year or more. Expect to see cranes at 180 Mill soon though.

[FazDeH]

^^ I understand the concept that there will be an effect on the population in Woodstock, but I doubt that it will double. I have to stick to my guns on the subject. The working force already lives with a relitively short commute. Yes it will effect population But I cant assume by more than 2 or 3 thousand. Again I mention the massive cut backs at the Ford and GM plants, there a literally thousands of able and experienced workers living in London. Some of them will move Im sure and yes there will be others from around the country but I cant imagine it being in such great numbers as has been discribed above. I hope that this a possitive change for woodstock, I love that town, still I dont think it will be as massive a growth as some are suggesting.

[ldoto]

Call centre to stay, expand
Fri, April 27, 2007
By JOE BELANGER, SUN MEDIA





A major downtown London employer has signed a long-term lease to stay with potential to add hundreds more jobs.

Citi Cards Canada, now located at One London Place and another core office, will move into Galleria London’s second floor with 700 call centre employees.
There will be room for another 400 employees in the 110,000 square feet office.

“This is a significant coup for Galleria London and for the downtown,” said Janette MacDonald, manager of MainStreet London.

“To be able to retain a company of this magnitude and this number of employees will benefit all of the businesses in the core.”

Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said the company chose London after a North American search for a new location. In other words, London dodged a bullet because the company could have moved.

“Not only did they say they’re going to stay, but that they are going to expand,” said DeCicco-Best. “That’s why they were searching for a bigger space.”

DeCicco-Best said the deal will bring the city closer to its goal for a “thriving, bustling and attractive downtown streetscape.”

“As we’re trying to revitalize the downtown, it’s important for our future to have a company with that many employees working downtown, close to all the amenities, walking by the stores every day,” DeCicco-Best said.

Citi Cards Canada, is part of Citigroup, which is part of Citi, a leading global financial services company with about 200 million customers in 100 countries.
Its major brand names include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Citi Smith Barney and Banamex.

A Citi spokesperson in San Francisco said the company has “no specific timetable” for expansion but confirmed there was a search for a bigger location beyond London’s boundaries.

“There are many qualified employees in the London area and this location is easily accessible,” said spokesperson Janis Tarter.
The deal also completes the transformation of Galleria London from a struggling retail centre to a multi-use complex now employing an estimated 3,500 people.

Now housed in Galleria are the University of Western Ontario, Axa Insurance, Stevenson-Hunt, a division of IBM, Honeywell Industries and other call centres.

The renovations will include a new restaurant court area, a Wellington Street lobby for second floor offices and a new Wellington Street facade.

Lucas Blois, of Arcturus Realty Corporation, the property management company for Galleria London, said more than 90 per cent of the former shopping centre is now leased, with some remaining ground-level retail and office space.

“We are excited by the potential new retail tenants that will be attracted to the Galleria London’s repositioned format,” said Blois.

Galleria is owned by the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan.

[ldoto]

Graceway Pharmaceuticals had planned to move 3M Canada's division after buying it.

By NORMAN DE BONO, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER




A pharmaceutical business looking to leave London is staying after all -- and just may expand its office here.

Graceway Pharmaceuticals has opened an office on Pall Mall Street with 16 staff.

Graceway bought 3M Canada's pharmaceutical division and was looking to shut it down and move the operation, said Erin Craven, general manager.

"They wanted to keep the talent who knows these products and we were strong advocates of staying in the city," Craven said yesterday.

Graceway has been hiring since the company decided to stay, adding 24 sales representatives across the country as well as office staff here, she said.

"London offers tremendous quality of life and the growing biotech sector in London makes this a great fit for Graceway."

Lesley Cornelius, acting communications and marketing director for the London Economic Development Corp., said keeping Graceway is a big win and will help London expand its technology sector.

"Their plan is to grow and this may help create opportunities down the road," she said.

"London offers them the whole package and there may be collaboration with the university (of Western Ontario) or research centres. Those are important elements."

Graceway makes pharmaceutical products, specifically in the areas of dermatology and respiratory illness, in England.

The local office will house its national sales and marketing division. Graceway also will look to buy smaller life sciences businesses -- and that will be done out of the London office as well, Craven said.

"The focus is on strategic growth and that will happen through strategic acquisitions," she said. "We are really building a growing specialty pharmaceutical company."

Of the drugs now made by Graceway, one is a cream that treats skin cancer and another is a treatment for asthma.

"We feel now that we can really maximize the potential we have," she said. "I could see us doubling our size in the next five years."

Based in Bristol, Tenn., Graceway Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a privately held company.

[ldoto]

It's building at Highway 401 and Wonderland.
By NORMAN DE BONO, SUN MEDIA




Canada's largest industrial landlord is making a $32-million investment in London.

ING Real Estate Canada has bought 25 acres (10 hectares) of land south of Highway 401, at Wellington Road, and is constructing four buildings for industrial tenants, Matt Johnson, regional manager of transactions for ING, said yesterday.

"We like London a lot. We would not be buying land there if we didn't. We have had a lot of success there."

The developments will double ING's real estate holdings in the city. Its other properties are about 92 per cent occupied and are looking to expand, he added.

"London is a significant city, with a significant labour pool. It makes sense," he said of the development.

There are no tenants for the property yet, but ING is confident it will be filled, he added.

ING bought the land from Drewlo Holdings. Toronto construction firm Urbacon is doing the work.

ING Real Estate Canada is a subsidiary of ING Real Estate, part of Dutch-based ING Group, a financial giant.

"They see opportunity for growth here in the industrial sector," said Lesley Cornelius, acting director of marketing and communications for the London Economic Development Corp.

"They see activity in London and the region as prime for future growth. They want to be ready for companies to come here."

ING has two separate developments on the site. One under construction now is on five acres of land and a 100,000- square-foot building is under construction, to be finished by the fall.

The second development is on an adjacent piece of land on Castleton Road, which will see ING construct three new industrial buildings totaling 330,000 square feet.

"We see that market with a lot of potential and we have a fairly large tenant base there now," added Johnson.

ING has also built with Toyota's new Woodstock assembly plant in mind and wanted to be near the 401-Wellington Road interchange, Johnson said.

"This is great news because the development community is very big and they have opportunities to be out there, to promote available lands and building," said Cornelius.

ING now has 120 tenants in about 430,000 square feet of existing buildings in the area.

ING Real Estate Canada owns more than 33 million square feet of industrial space across Canada.

[Snashcan]

Originally Posted by FazDeH

^^ I understand the concept that there will be an effect on the population in Woodstock, but I doubt that it will double. I have to stick to my guns on the subject. The working force already lives with a relitively short commute. Yes it will effect population But I cant assume by more than 2 or 3 thousand. Again I mention the massive cut backs at the Ford and GM plants, there a literally thousands of able and experienced workers living in London. Some of them will move Im sure and yes there will be others from around the country but I cant imagine it being in such great numbers as has been discribed above. I hope that this a possitive change for woodstock, I love that town, still I dont think it will be as massive a growth as some are suggesting.

I can understand what you're saying, but also there are a few supply plants planned for London due to the Toyota Plant. I'm just going by what the experts are saying, and I've been told that the applications the town is getting for new development is unbelievable.

[ssiguy]

Nothing but fantastic news for London, especially the one for Galleria.
This will also help dry up some of the overcapacity London has in office space downtown.

[MolsonExport]

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

[upinottawa]

The Galleria first sucked the life and the stores from downtown London's streets, relocated them into the mall, and eventually, when the mall collasped when Eaton's went under, exported the stores (and the shoppers) to Masonville.

In 1997 (when I first started my undergrad at UWO), the Galleria was full and vibrant (for a mall). Two years later, it was a giant fortress-like ghost town.

[FazDeH]

^^^ Now the Galleria isnt a mall, or at least cannot be called one. Its an office/learning center. With a drizzling of stores and shops, a food court, and a movie theatre. Personally Im still waiting for the mixed use apt. tower to be added, I think there was a proposal for one a few years back, I always thought it would have been an interesting idea.

[MolsonExport]

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

[ldoto]

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<<
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[WaterlooInvestor]

CBRE:

[QuantumLeap]

I am not sure what the solution here is, but London's office market is really in the dumps

[MolsonExport]

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

[ldoto]

CBC eyes growth in region

Fri, May 4, 2007

The London area is at the top of the list for a Radio One station.

By HANK DANISZEWSKI, SUN MEDIA



Fans of CBC Radio One in the London-Kitchener area might finally get their own full-scale station.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is considering a plan to beef up its presence in 15 areas across Canada it considers "underserviced."

The Southwestern Ontario market is at the top in the list because it's the most populous, said Ted Kennedy, chief of staff for CBC's English Radio network.

"Southwestern Ontario is the No. 1 priority . . . we're talking about one-and-a-half million people," he said.

CBC has a two-person news bureau in London but local listeners get a morning show based in Toronto and an afternoon show out of Ottawa.

Kennedy said the CBC recognizes the region deserves better service.

"There was a time when Toronto was more representative of southern Ontario than it is now. Many people in Southwestern Ontario define themselves as 'not being Toronto,' " Kennedy said.

Kennedy said if the plan goes ahead the London-Kitchener outlet would be the largest of the new stations and would employ more than 20.

He doesn't expect strong opposition from private broadcasters serving the London and Kitchener markets because the CBC doesn't sell advertising and has a different focus. "They recognize we're fishing in a different pond."

Kennedy quietly held a meeting at the University of Western Ontario this week to unveil the CBC's plans to an invited group of about 30 civic and business leaders and academics. He said the plan to service all 15 areas will cost about $25 million a year and hinges on funding approval by the Harper government.

David Spencer, a professor of media and information studies at UWO, said the London area is a "gaping hole" in CBC radio coverage and a new station would be welcomed. He expects most of the staff in a London-Kitchener station would be in London.

Spencer said the new station would offer a full range of local news and programming.

"The station here would be very little different from the one in Toronto," he said.

Spencer expects there will be an outcry from private broadcasters in the area. But he said the Harper government, struggling to build its political base, may be surprisingly supportive.

"There are a lot of things happening with the government right now, but alienating the CBC is not one of them."

[ldoto]

Only 40 years after it was built to celebrate Canada's 100th birthday, London's Centennial Hall is falling apart, literally. Is now the time to renovate it extensively, in the process fixing its many concert deficiencies? Or should London bite the bullet, get ready to tear down the old hall and erect a proper performing arts centre.

Decision day is almost at hand.

Last October the city council contracted Novita Techne Ltd., a Toronto engineering firm which had previously worked on Central Secondary School's auditorium and the Central Library's theatre, in partnership with Malhotra Nicholson Architects of London to conduct a feasibility and condition study. That report is now done and working its way through the committee overseeing the study and eventually will be presented to Board of Control in June.

John Nicholson, principal architect with Malhotra Nicholson, says the report covers "a broad review" of Centennial Hall, which has been the city's main concert venue since it opened.

"I think we need to be careful on how we compare things," Mr. Nicholson explains. "We want to ensure we're meeting the needs of the community."

But he notes the report will certainly focus everyone's attention.

Centennial Hall, he says, "comes with a cost just sitting there. There's a cost to have it and a cost to keep it in considerable repair. We're at a point where decisions will have to be made."

Vic Cote, the city's general manager of finance and corporate services, has overseen the project.

"We are continuing to put money into Centennial Hall. Its future has been a frequent question now that we have the John Labatt Centre. The purpose of this report was to look at its long term future, to access uses of Centennial Hall if it was different, access whether improvements could be made to continue to use it as a performance hall and to access whether it's worth investing in to bring it up to a better standard."

When Centennial Hall was built on Wellington St. just north of City Hall, the primary focus was to mark the country's centennial. Not a lot of thought was given to the who, what, when and whys of those who would eventually be clients of the hall.

"The consultants say Centennial Hall is typical of the structures built at that time - no one at that time considered the needs of a performance centre," Mr. Cote says. "There are many things that weren't addressed in that original structure. It has so many deficiencies in terms of a performance hall. You see most of the events aren't related to a performance hall but other business, small bands, craft shows and others. They don't require strong acoustics and amenities."

By contrast, the much older Grand Theatre was built with performance in mind. "The Grand Theatre was built to be a theatre and continues to be a jewel," Mr. Cote says, explaining the difference between the two buildings.

Rob Gloor, executive director of Orchestra London, one of the primary users of Centennial Hall, concurs with Mr. Cote's assessment.

"It was built in 1967 under different guidelines. Under the category of acoustics - the real problems are all the uncontrollable extraneous noises in the building that make acoustic performances difficult - like the sound of pipes hissing and lights buzzing," Mr. Gloor says.

"What I see as some of the challenges are the inconsistent acoustics depending on where you are in the hall. Other failures are extraordinary like sight lines because of its flat floor and side balcony seating; very limited audience amenities and reception areas; and accessibility, there's no elevator to the second floor. It has an ongoing need for minor repairs like leaks also."

The city could continue to invest and improve upon these shortcomings but Mr. Gloor questions to what end.

"If the report was to say that for $5 million we could improve Centennial Hall's functionality and secure its future for the next 50 years it would impact plans for a performing arts centre but I doubt that's possible. I don't think for a little bit of money we'd be able to make Centennial Hall work better and last longer because I think it has, in its current state, a life span that is coming towards its conclusion," Mr. Gloor says.

Centennial Hall is described on its website as a multi-purpose facility offering specialized facilities for events such as concerts, dances, dinner dances, banquets, meetings, conventions, exhibitions, trade shows, craft shows, fashion shows, travel shows and bridal showers just to name a few offering different configurations for your use.

Concerts or music is only one of the many functions listed while others would work equally well in the recently constructed London Convention Centre.

Brad Jones of Don Jones Management, the company which manages the 1,650-seat facility, defends its acoustics. "We really get a bad rap. It's only as good as the sound guy at the back of the hall turning the knobs," he says.

He also notes that, unlike many other London venues, Centennial Hal is seeing profitability.

"Last year, 2006, was the first year that a multi-purpose arts centre made a profit," Mr. Jones says. "No other centre can say that because they're all subsidised. We're granted about $60,000 from the city last year but we never used any of it. Kitchener's Centre in the Square receives about $1.3 million per year and Thunder Bay was subsidised by $700,000 per year."

Cote does not dispute these figures and confirms the outcome but also notes that a majority of that revenue came for events other than major performance concerts.

"He was in the black by $6,000. It's not a performance hall. Although the orchestra plays there and they host musical shows and generate higher ticket sales it's easier to be in the black when you're running events that are outside of the performing arts centre. Many of them couldn't be done in Kitchener's Centre in the Square," Mr. Cote says.

This is what seems to be at the heart of the discussion and what will be generated once the report is made public - that even thought Centennial Hall performs a specific function there is still a gap in service within our community, Mr. Gloor explains.

"If Centennial Hall were removed you would still need a facility between the size of the Grand Theatre and the RBC Theatre (at the John Labatt Centre). The Grand has been used before for things like a Beethoven music festival.

"What we're looking for is something where the primary use is music so it would be built different. The Grand is perfect for theatre. There are some possibilities with the RBC Theatre but you couldn't do a whole series there because the conversion cost each time is prohibitive. It's not practical for us. For most of our major productions that size works well. We have some that would be best served by a 500 or 600 seat rehearsal hall and that also doesn't exist. An ideal structure would have both."

It all boils down to the content of this report.

"The consultants have talked to a number of organizations, including Orchestra London, about our needs and our use of Centennial Hall and other venues. Hopefully they'll have an in-depth report and some recommendations on where to go next. I look forward to the results of the report because it gets the future of Centennial Hall on the agenda of public discussion," Mr. Gloor says.

"It may change how we go about securing a permanent home for music and a broad spectrum of arts activities. It will be a part of the context of the city's infrastructure and it will, regardless of the report's outcome, move the discussion of a future performing arts centre into the forefront. Until then there is just a bunch of uncertainty. From there we'll have some context for working on its replacement within a specific timeframe. I look forward to the public discussion."

As for what's next and how this will impact future discussions at City Hall, Mr. Cote says: "I've had a lot of discussions around this. It's clear that this will spin into a performing arts centre discussion and we need to look at the capital requirements and expenses to ensure people are realistically focused on the business conditions if that's the way we go."

As for his personal opinion, "I will provide that when I go to council. My job is to take the information that is available and advise council as to what is possible. I led the John Labatt Centre project and took a very business like approach and it's been successful which doesn't always happen. My approach here will also be very realistic."

[ldoto]

Today I will be going downtown to get some new pics and update some of the towers!

[ldoto]

Update!

Originally Posted by will.exe
On my way home yesterday I noticed that the Ridout-Fullarton-Talbot-Queens block has been sold. But to who? And will they build on it or will it remain a parking lot?

Parking Lot Investment 100 Queens Avenue, London

Bitmap 2.34 acre Downtown London parking lot
Part of the exclusive London Portfolio.

Located across from the Court House
Carefree lease and no depreciating asset
Enormous upside re: rent and development

Asking $8,200,000

Look at This!
http://www.colliers-international.co.../queens100.pdf