London Construction - Development News Thread#1

[1ajs]

^^ ok txs

[ldoto]

Wed, December 27, 2006

By JONATHAN SHER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER



London taxpayers may need to spend $20 million to build parking garages downtown to revitalize the area, Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell says.

City council voted Dec. 18 to to seek a private partner to build a garage on city-owned land on Queens Avenue and commit as much as $5 million to create 500 parking stalls.

But should the venture do well, the $5 million would only be the first step, Gosnell says.

"(The Dec. 18 vote) was just a starting point. I'd like to have (another) 2,000 spaces downtown, eventually," he said.

The city has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to try to turn around the downtown but Gosnell believes the area is still depressed, evident by the large number of parking lots where buildings should be.

Many buildings downtown are worth more as potential parking lots than sites for redevelopment, he said. That won't change until garages are built that make downtown attractive to businesses seeking office space near convenient, long-term parking.

"If it takes another $10 million to $20 million, why wouldn't we do it?" Gosnell said. "To do nothing condemns the city to what it is now."

Gosnell realizes he faces a political battle on a council that was deeply split when the issue was limited to $5 million.

Some, such as Coun. Joni Baechler, argue taxpayers have spent enough downtown.

Others, like Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen, say the city should leave it to the marketplace. If parking becomes scarce, spaces will increase in value and a garage will be built with private dollars.

"We should not be subsidizing the private sector to build parking spaces with hard-earned taxpayer dollars," Van Meerbergen says.

But Gosnell says a garage on Queens Avenue may not only be warranted, but if successful, it should be repeated elsewhere so offices across the downtown will have access.

If council doesn't invest in parking, it might just as well give up on downtown as a location for office towers, he said.

"Maybe we should let (offices) go elsewhere. That will finish off property values downtown," he said.

Council hasn't debated the expenditure in budget talks -- scheduled next month -- but has narrowly approved a strategy:

- Give as much as $10,000 per parking stall to developers.

- Spend $2.5 million a year on downtown parking.

- Grant a 10-year tax exemption for owners of garages open to the public on weekends and evenings, and a 20-year exemption for garages open to the public at all times.

- Shift the cost of development charges from developers of parking garages to taxpayers.

A study commissioned by council projects parking needs for the next decade in six parts of the downtown. It concludes four parts will have a surplus, one would be near break-even and the last, in the southwest, will be short about 108 spaces.

The shortfall will develop only if a few positive assumptions are met -- a halving of the vacancy rate in office buildings downtown and the replacement of eight surface parking lots with buildings.

The study recommends adding 750 more parking spaces downtown.

[FazDeH]

^^ I agree, for any substantial growth to occur there needs a master plan for the downtown that includes parking, this is a good first step. It's been said in the past that there is lots of parking downtown, but the amount of parking now is barely meeting the current requirements and will not be sufficiant if there were to be more developement in the core. and god willing there will be.

[Snark]

..

[ldoto]

Yes!

I have some pics that I took Saturday.

Update!

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

this may sound like an odd question but what does it coast per month for an apartment in london onterio? my dad is asking cause hes got a job offer out there from esso

I had a large (1100 square feet) 2 bedroom apartment in Southwest London for about a year, renting at 950$, which included utilities. All in all, a good deal.

Now I live in a new house in Hyde Park.

[ldoto]

Sat, January 6, 2007

Construction on the high-end Metro Hotel is set to start next month, for an August opening.

By JOHN MINER, FREE PRESS REPORTER



Downtown London's first boutique hotel -- common in big cities, rare in smaller ones --may be around the corner.

Construction of the Metro Hotel is to start next month, with the upscale lodging place expected to open by August, the owner said yesterday.

"We are going to make it very classy," said Al Velji. "Everything will be on the high-end level."

While some boutique hotels go to extremes, with a different theme for every room, Velji said he plans subtle differences at the Metro Hotel.

"It will create contemporary urban chic, a contemporary look inside the room with a Zen atmosphere," he said.

Velji's company, the Metro Group of Hotels, has bought the four-storey former Geilen Design building on Dundas Street, which backs onto the Covent Garden Market, for the project.

When finished, the converted building will include 20 regular rooms and two extra-large suites.

The emphasis will be on service.

There will be round-the-clock concierges, 24-hour room service, valets and porters.

There will also be a full-service spa, said Velji.

"The size of the property can't be too big so that you can give personalized service," he said.

The total cost of the project hasn't been finalized, he said.

With its location near the John Labatt Centre and neighbouring law offices, Velji expects the hotel will serve young professionals, performers, regional managers, sales representatives, business executives and lawyers.

Velji said his family has been in the hotel business for 17 years and has operations in Milton and London.

[ldoto]

Mon, January 8, 2007

The developer insists a proposed garage on Queens Avenue "is not going to help."

By JONATHAN SHER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER



You might think a city hall proposal to spend millions to build parking garages in the core would be backed by downtown's biggest property owner.

After all, it was Shmuel Farhi, owner of more than 80 properties downtown, who has demanded more parking before he'll rehabilitate heritage buildings and secure tenants.

But Farhi says he's upset with a city plan to seek a private partner to build a garage at 185 Queens Ave., next to the London Club.

"A parking (garage) is not going to help rejuvenate this area . . . Parking is not needed there," said Farhi, who owns about 250,000 square feet of vacant space downtown.

"I want to work with the city but I'm losing my patience," Farhi said yesterday.

When Farhi speaks, city hall listens, as was the case 10 weeks ago, when he told politicians to step up with plans for parking or he'd raze or let rot some heritage properties.

"Literally, I can knock down 20 buildings tomorrow," he said then.

But while Farhi wants parking, he doesn't want a parking garage on the city-owned lot at Queens Avenue.

With the downtown so much in need of residents and key services such as a supermarket, the city shouldn't commit key real estate to a stand-alone garage, he said.

Instead the city should partner with a developer who could build parking underground, a supermarket on the main floor and residential apartments above, he insisted.

The city also needs to stop renewing temporary permits for parking lots such as the one at the old London Mews, which has been a lot for seven years and is seeking another three years, he said.

Temporary lots do nothing to fill vacant office space because those seeking to develop those spaces need permanent parking.

"I have four heritage buildings within a block (of the London Mews) and that lot does nothing for long-term development," Farhi said.

Farhi also contends the city examined the Queens Avenue location and rejected it for a parking structure.

"Why are they bringing this dead horse out now?" he said.

E-mail and phone messages detailing Farhi's concerns were sent last week to city finance head Vic Cote.

A divided city council voted last month to seek a partner to build a parking garage at the Queens site, the first step in a plan that could cost taxpayers as much as $5 million.

Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell later said if the venture succeeds the city should spend up to $20 million to build more garages.

Council will debate in budget talks this month a strategy that has been approved in principle:

- Give up to $10,000 a parking stall to developers and spend $2.5 million a year on downtown parking.

- Grant a 10-year tax exemption for owners of garages open to the public on weekends and evenings, and a 20-year exemption for garages open to the public at all times.

- Shift development charges from developers of parking garages to taxpayers.

The city is so Dum!

[ldoto]

"I want to work with the city but I'm losing my patience," Farhi said yesterday.

When Farhi speaks, city hall listens, as was the case 10 weeks ago, when he told politicians to step up with plans for parking or he'd raze or let rot some heritage properties.




No kidding. I vote we email all the councillors. I Email all the councillors and the Mayor! Please Email also.

City of london web site.http://www.london.ca/Council/ccm_mayor.htm

Anne Marie DeCicco-Best
(Mayor)
City Hall: 519 661-2500 Ext. 4920
City Hall Fax: 519 661-5308
E-mail: adecicco@london.ca



Tom Gosnell
(Deputy Mayor)
City Hall: 519 661-2500 Ext. 0332
City Hall Fax: 519 661-5933
E-mail: tgosnell@london.ca


Gina Barber
City Hall: 519 661-2500 Ext. 7011
City Hall Fax: 519 661-5933
E-mail: gbarber@london.ca



Bud Polhill
City Hall: 519 661-2500 Ext. 4882
City Hall Fax: 519 661-5933
E-mail: bpolhill@london.ca


Gord Hume
City Hall: 519 661-2500 Ext. 4877
City Hall Fax: 519 661-5933
E-mail: ghume@london.ca

[GreatTallNorth2]

Here is a letter to the editor in the LFP from Mr. Farhi, the developer who owns most of downtown London. Notice that he is calling for a new tower in combination with more parking downtown. If anyone saw his proposal last year for a tower beside the old library, you may recall that it was first class and his proposal was going to cost $100 million for just one 30 storey tower. That is what Tricar is spending to build two 28 storey towers and parking. Hopefully Farhi gets to build a structure downtown. I have talked with him personally and he wants to build a landmark structure.

Developer clarifies core parking concerns

The headline, Farhi rejects parking plan for core area (Jan. 8), painted an inaccurate picture of my position on the city's downtown parking strategy.

Farhi Holdings Corp. fully supports the city's efforts to increase parking in the core. It would, however, be a shame if the scarce lots still available were merely turned into parking garages.

I encourage council's long-term commitment to the heart of downtown and hope the city will be able to attract a larger-scale development, such as a supermarket and residential tower that includes significant parking, in key areas north (Dundas-Clarence-Queens) and south (the

Millennium parking lot at 195 Dundas) of Dundas Street, between Clarence and Richmond streets.

It is also my understanding that the city had studied the possibility of building a parking garage on the Queens Avenue lot several months ago and concluded it was not feasible, so I don't understand why it is back on the table. These are the points I believe I made to your reporter.

The city and Farhi Holdings are holding ongoing discussions to find a way to alleviate the shortage of parking for our downtown heritage buildings. To date, nothing has been "rejected."

Shmuel Farhi

President, Farhi Holdings Corp.

[summersideguy]

Does anyone have any updates on the new Summerside Shopping Centre at Highbury and Commissioners?

We know there is a Rona, Bank of Montreal and a strip plaza with Starbucks and Pizza Pizza going in, but we have heard rumblings of a Real Canadian Superstore and an LCBO.

Anyone connected enough to let us know?

Thanks!

SummersideGuy

[ldoto]

I live down behide the zellers in a 4 year house off commissoners.
I had no idea that a Starbucks was coming

By the way welcome to the London Thread. You live just down the road from me hope hear you soon!

[summersideguy]

Yes a Starbucks is coming which is very exciting!

Looks like the Lobalws/RCSS might be confirmed, here is a link to the site plans....


https://riocan.com/property/property...roperty_id=204

[MolsonExport]

More big-box sprawl. Just what downtown London needs!

[upinottawa]

^ I was down near the Old Navy at the Hyde Park Wal-Mart complex during March break -- man has the chainstore sprawl expanded up there. The funny thing being that the old farm house and silo beside Sam's Club is still there!

I also love all the new Starbucks popping up on the fringes (Fanshawe at Wonderland now has one). I guess the SUV driving soccer moms need Starbucks, too.

BTW, was there any press on the Catholic Board's decision to more its headquarters from Wortley Village to RMC (southend) a year or so ago? I am not sure what is going to happen to that old building, and it is too bad that Wortley Village lost one of its bigger employers to the city's fringes.




On a separate matter, here is an interesting read from the London Free Press (archives): http://www.lfpress.com/specialreport...20050312F3.pdf

[ldoto]

London construction, housing boom continues to build

Wed, January 10, 2007

By HANK DANISZEWSKI, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER



London's construction and housing market completed a triple play in 2006 with new numbers showing housing starts hit a 17-year high and building permits surged past the old record by nearly 20 per cent.

Last week, the London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors announced that annual sales for 2006 set a record of 8,916 housing units.

Figures released yesterday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. show 3,674 house starts last year in the London area, nearly 20 per cent above 2005 and the best showing since 1989.

The housing starts reflect an overall boom in construction in 2006, with apartment buildings leading the way.

A December start for a $35-million downtown apartment building by Tricar Developments made for a strong finish and boosted the total value of building permits issued by the City of London in 2006 to $772.7 million.

The city beat the old building permit record of $647 million well before year's end.

Rocky Cerminara, the city's director of building controls, said the Tricar project and two new buildings at the University of Western Ontario boosted the December total to an unusually strong $97 million.

He said 2006 was exceptional and he expects the construction market to cool this year, which would come as something of a relief for his department.

"I'm not going to say, 'I hope so,' but we can't take much more of this here in the office. We have a backlog of permits to get to," Cerminara said.

He expects building permits to total about $600 million this year, based on surveys by his department and forecasts from other agencies.

"That may sound like quite a drop from this year, but that would still give us one of the best five years we ever had," Cerminara said.

CMHC analyst Penny Wu said she also expects a strong market in 2007.

"A continuation of low mortgage rates and an environment of growing employment in 2007 will bode well for housing demand," she said.

CMHC reports 227,400 new homes were built across Canada in 2006, the second-highest total in nearly two decades.

Chief economist Bob Dugan says the growth was driven by low mortgage rates, solid employment and income growth and high consumer confidence.

However, all regions saw urban starts fall in December compared with a month earlier.

The largest declines were in the Prairie provinces, where urban starts fell 20.5 per cent. Ontario recorded a decline of 3.6 per cent.

Dugan said housing starts are expected to remain strong in 2007, but are forecast to decrease to 210,900 units.

[ldoto]

The intersection of Wellington and Horton in London hasn't been a welcome sight in recent years, but now steps are being taken to change that.
The Salvation Army has purchased two properties on Wellington Street and another property owned by the Teen Drop-In Centre Street Connection.

It's part of an effort to beautify the streetscape.

The buildings are rundown and most are abandoned on the West side of Wellington, North of Horton but some of those buildings will soon be coming down.

The Salvation Army plans to put up a wrought iron fence and some trees to try and spruce things up.

Some neighbours say the Centre of Hope continues to bring more problems than solutions.

Anthony Veilleux has been with Blue Dragon Tattoo for almost 20 years. He says business has taken a real hit because of the Centre of Hope clients and the people they attract.

Centre of Hope officials say they're stepping up efforts to improve relations with area homeowners and business.

There are no plans for the properties at this time but the Salvation Army says it may put up a warehouse there in the future, but for now they will concentrate on cleaning up the corner.

[ldoto]

UPDATE!
Auburn Developments's 23-storey, 200-unit apartment building at Ridout Street and Dufferin Avenue -- a project valued at $35 million.
Here's some pics from my new 3.2 mega pixels Sony Ericsson cyber-shot cell phone. Today it is a little clouded over but it turned out not to bad for a camera phone!

It looks like in the pics works are adding more pieces to the crane.

[ldoto]

Mon, January 15, 2007

By JONATHAN SHER, FREE PRESS CITY HALL REPORTER



City hall's plan to spend millions to build parking garages downtown is being questioned by two of London's leading players in the core.

Leading commercial realtor George Kerhoulas and Bernie Bierbaum, a partner in Old Oak Properties and past president of the London Chamber of Commerce, both say the city has yet to make a persuasive case taxpayers should subsidize new parking garages.

"There is a huge supply of parking downtown," said Bierbaum, whose company owns 750,000 square feet of office space, 175 units of residential space and about 2,000 parking spaces.

It would be cheaper, easier on the roads and more environmentally friendly to create satellite lots from which people can carpool or take buses, Bierbaum said.

City staff contend more parking will drive down commercial vacancies by making downtown more attractive to commercial tenants.

But Kerhoulas, whose career in real estate spans decades, believes high vacancies have been endemic to downtown for reasons unrelated to parking.

"I don't think the office leasing momentum is being held back by a lack of parking," said Kerhoulas, of Cushman and Wakefield LePage.

"I don't see (the) evidence."

Nor was there evidence of a link found by the consultant, whose study led city staff to recommend $2.5 million a year be set aside for parking.

The consultant, Marshall Macklin Monaghan, examined downtown and found no link between the availability of parking and vacancy rates.

"There is no specific evidence showing that the shortage of parking in some areas contributes to the higher commercial space vacancy," the consultant wrote. "The construction of a new parking facility may not be able to reduce the commercial space vacancy."

The consultant's findings may surprise those on city council who received a draft budget for 2007 in which city staff wrote Marshall Macklin Monaghan concluded more parking would reduce office vacancy.

The budget claim troubled councillors David Winninger and Joni Baechler, both opponents of a new garage.

"I'm concerned there be accuracy in our budget making. (The statement about the study and the study) seem to be at odds," Winninger said.

The belief a parking garage would reduce office vacancy was a driving force behind a failed venture in Windsor that cost taxpayers $3 million.

"It's been an unqualified disaster," said London realtor Peter Whatmore, vice-president of CB Richard Ellis .

Asked why such a project would fail in Windsor but succeed here, London's finance head Vic Cote wrote, "I am not aware of the specific issues relating to Windsor."

His response didn't sit well with Baechler.

"I think members of council and staff would make themselves aware," she said.

Whatmore believes more parking won't put a big dent in the office vacancy rate, but he supports a new garage, to help retail in particular.

The key question, Whatmore believes, is timing.

If the city waits too long, it may forego new investment downtown.

But if it goes ahead now, it will pay a premium. That's because there's so much parking now, rates are too low to sustain a new garage -- the consultant estimated rates would need to be 2 1/2 times higher, a gap taxpayers would have to cover.

The yearly gap would exceed $500,000, the consultant found.

If the city waits until surface spaces are lost to development, there will be higher prices and a smaller gap for taxpayers to fill.

A divided city council voted last month to seek a partner to build a parking garage at a Queens Avenue site, the first step in a plan that could cost taxpayers as much as $5 million.

Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell later said if the venture succeeds, the city should spend as much as $20 million to build more garages.

Council will debate in budget talks this month a strategy it approved last year in principle:

- Give up to $10,000 per parking stall to developers and spend $2.5 million a year on core parking.

- Grant a 10-year tax exemption for owners of garages open to the public on weekends and evenings and a 20-year exemption for garages open to the public at all times.

- Shift development charges from developers of parking garages to taxpayers.
__________________

[FazDeH]

is the Auburn developement the Harristion?