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  #1281  
Old Posted Aug 28, 2008, 9:51 AM
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Picton Street site started core boom

Picton Street site started core boom

Thu, August 28, 2008

It's the building that started it all.

The stately, 131-unit apartment tower downtown at 22 Picton St. was the first one built after the city made attracting residents to downtown London a priority.

"That is a very important building for us," says Adam Carapella, vice-president of Tricar Group, which built the tower.

"We really took a leap of faith and it has been a catalyst for the downtown. It showed that we have confidence downtown."

In the late 1990s, the city offered programs to attract more downtown residential buildings, namely waiving development fees and offering a tax break to developers building homes downtown.




"We really benefited from those incentives," says Carapella.

It's been a win for the city, too. The downtown now has five major apartment and condominium projects and a host of other smaller residences either recently built or under construction.

"It (Tricar) was the first to take advantage of what the city was offering. It was a very important first step," says Vic Cote, the city's manager of finance who worked with Tricar on the Picton Place project.

"They had an excellent site on the edge of downtown and I think they benefited considerably."

Picton Place opened in October 2000. The site also features four rented townhouses along Queens Avenue.

"At that time we had a hard time attracting residential development to the downtown and we came up with this program. They responded by assembling the property and it is a great location. It has access to everything, but it feels like you are away," Cote says.

The apartment tower was an immediate hit and has seldom had a vacancy, Carapella says.

"It's because we offered top-quality finishes and it also pushed the envelope of the $1,000-a-month rental barrier," he says. "It is one of the first high-end buildings downtown and it is also an ideal location. It feels off the beaten track, but it is still close to everything."

The treed, quiet neighbourhood offers an almost "park-like setting well away from traffic," he adds.

The apartments now rent for about $1,200 for a two-bedroom unit that is about 1,200 square feet. A two-bedroom with a den is about $1,400 and a penthouse of 1,800 square feet is about $2,000.

The building also features a common room and exercise area.

By the time the tax incentives are over and it begins paying full property taxes, Tricar will have had about $1 million sent back to its coffers, Cote says.

"We are rewarding investment. We are rewarding the increase in value of the property and the investment in the downtown," he says.

The tax break is a complex formula by which the city remits 80 per cent of the difference between the tax paid on the initial value of the property and what the value is after the tower was built in the first year of the program.

If the lot was valued at $50,000 in property tax when it was first purchased, and $250,000 with the tower on it, Tricar got 80 per cent of $200,000 in the first year of the program. That reimbursement dwindles every year over 10 years.

Tricar will start paying the full property tax amount of $250,000 in about two years.

Tricar has also built a luxury condominium on Pall Mall -- which is sold out -- and the Renaissance Towers, the 600-unit apartments on the former Ridout Tavern site, slated to open in the spring of 2009.
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  #1282  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2008, 7:53 PM
LondnPlanr LondnPlanr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LondnPlanr View Post
I'm working on a fairly crude 3D model of the Underpass/Subway that I am envisioning in my head. I will post a PDF or JPG of the concept when I am finished.

Give me a few days...
VOILA!


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


As I'm sure most of you can tell, I paid very little attention to extreme details in this quick 3D mock-up of the area. I think it portrays nicely what I was envisioning in my head... sort of.

Comments?
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  #1283  
Old Posted Aug 29, 2008, 10:50 PM
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Nice work! Gotta love Sketchup.

The only concern I have with an underpass is the sight lines of cars heading south at around 2am friday/saturday night. Richmond/Mill tends to have a lot people in the middle of the street, as well as cabs making u-turns. Aesthetically it works well though.
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  #1284  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2008, 9:37 PM
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Here's some good news for masonville mall!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericlewis91 I asked the CS lady at masonville on sat..is there more new stores coming?

she said "there is a waiting list of around 20!"

i was like "wow"

Is that true

I would love to see IKEA come to London some date. I heard that you must have at least 500,000 in the area before they looking at the city or area!!!! Is that ture?
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  #1285  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2008, 11:39 PM
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I recently moved into The Harriston and posted some pics from my balcony on this thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...75#post3774175
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  #1286  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2008, 10:58 PM
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Those are some cool pics from your balcony.
Keep giving us updates and new pics of the downtown!!!!

Thanks
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  #1287  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2008, 2:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ldoto View Post

I would love to see IKEA come to London some date. I heard that you must have at least 500,000 in the area before they looking at the city or area!!!! Is that ture?
People used to say it was a million, but I think it's an urban legend.
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  #1288  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2008, 8:49 AM
Luker Luker is offline
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ahha, well.. ottawa has had one since i can remmeber (moved here form london in early 90's) population of greater ottawa was prolly just over 600k, now its a mil but I assume they know its becasue they can get u to go to the GTA anyways, higher profits better efficeny why not...

anyways an hour up the 401, or an hour stuck in london traffic lights, whats the diff? ahaha
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  #1289  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2008, 5:29 PM
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Nice work, Londnpalnr
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  #1290  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 4:12 AM
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Board of Control Looks at Street Performer Licensing

Board of Control Looks at Street Performer Licensing

A proposal to license street performers in London appears to be gaining momentum.

The idea was debated at Board of Control today.

The Board looked at a proposal from city councillor Judy Bryant.

Bryant brought forward the idea not to make it more difficult for buskers, but, rather to increase the quality of street performers.

Controller Gord Hume said he likes the idea.

The proposal was referred to city staff for further investigation.

Other cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa have busker licenses that range in price from 34 to 300 dollars a year.

Here's more good news LTC to get a new name and makeover?

http://fusetransit.com/
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  #1291  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 8:04 AM
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you can put down all the dancing banana's you want but that's still the dumbest idea ever.

did you even click the link?
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  #1292  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 12:51 PM
LondnPlanr LondnPlanr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by worldwide View Post
you can put down all the dancing banana's you want but that's still the dumbest idea ever.

did you even click the link?
Care to elaborate?

It looks to me like this is something completely seperate from the LTC.
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  #1293  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 2:08 PM
GreatTallNorth2 GreatTallNorth2 is offline
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You can put lipstick on a bad transit system, but at the end of the day, it's still a bad transit system.
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  #1294  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 5:10 PM
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I'm pretty certain this is just a website for trip planning, not some new image for LTC.
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  #1295  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 5:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LondnPlanr View Post
VOILA!


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


By zoolander24 at 2008-08-29


As I'm sure most of you can tell, I paid very little attention to extreme details in this quick 3D mock-up of the area. I think it portrays nicely what I was envisioning in my head... sort of.

Comments?
I know its rough but give me a day with desktop, vis or rivit. and I will have it done in 3d and looking real.
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  #1296  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 6:37 PM
LondnPlanr LondnPlanr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by architect1 View Post
I know its rough but give me a day with desktop, vis or rivit. and I will have it done in 3d and looking real.
Be my guest...

Are you commenting because you are not impressed with the rendering I have done? I spent about... an hour total on it. Probably the best I can do with my knowledge of the program.
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  #1297  
Old Posted Sep 11, 2008, 6:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremy_haak View Post
I'm pretty certain this is just a website for trip planning, not some new image for LTC.
I hope youre right cause the cheese factor is way up there
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  #1298  
Old Posted Sep 12, 2008, 10:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LondnPlanr View Post
Be my guest...

Are you commenting because you are not impressed with the rendering I have done? I spent about... an hour total on it. Probably the best I can do with my knowledge of the program.
I like it a lot, LondnPlanr.
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  #1299  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2008, 12:13 AM
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manny_santos manny_santos is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ldoto View Post
Board of Control Looks at Street Performer Licensing

A proposal to license street performers in London appears to be gaining momentum.

The idea was debated at Board of Control today.

The Board looked at a proposal from city councillor Judy Bryant.

Bryant brought forward the idea not to make it more difficult for buskers, but, rather to increase the quality of street performers.

Controller Gord Hume said he likes the idea.

The proposal was referred to city staff for further investigation.

Other cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa have busker licenses that range in price from 34 to 300 dollars a year.
And as part of the deal, they should ban the performers from harassing spectators who take photos of them. The bongo drum guy at Dundas and Richmond plays on public property, in view of municipal security cameras, and he has the nerve to demand I pay him money after I took a photo of him. I paid him this time but he's not getting my money again.

Last edited by manny_santos; Sep 16, 2008 at 1:14 AM.
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  #1300  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2008, 12:42 PM
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I was beginning to wonder if the bongo dude had left London, as I hadn't seen him this summer.
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