Kellogg Plant Redevelopment - Page 3

jammer139 · #41 Posted **Dec 14, 2023, 4:51 PM**

I agree that the theme restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Hooters are universally mediocre in food quality and over priced but I don't believe this will have a HRC. It's just going to be the Hotel. I may have missed it if in fact they do plan to have the full serve restaurant rather then the typical hotel breakfast service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

It is interesting, but I have never really understood the appeal of HRC. I don't need to see Madonna's underwear, Taylor Swift's toenail clippers, or Geddy Lee's jean jacket. Overpriced food that really isn't all that good. And will it actually bring tourists to London? Maybe those big spenders from Exeter, Fingal, and Strathroy.

But anyhow, it is a net good for East London. Better than the vampiric casino, in any event.

jaradthescot · #42 Posted **Dec 15, 2023, 4:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer139

I agree that the theme restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Hooters are universally mediocre in food quality and over priced but I don't believe this will have a HRC. It's just going to be the Hotel. I may have missed it if in fact they do plan to have the full serve restaurant rather then the typical hotel breakfast service.

The article says that it will include "The hotel will include amenities like a bar lounge, restaurants and patios, meeting rooms, fitness center, retail stores and a pool." (emphasis mine)

Djeffery · #43 Posted **Dec 15, 2023, 11:20 PM**

I didn't take a look at the entire Hard Rock Hotel roster, but from the several I looked at, none had a Hard Rock Cafe on site. They all had your typical mix of onsite restaurants and lounges you would expect at something like a mainline Hilton or Marriott hotel. Now, the separate brand "Hard Rock Hotel and Casino" seems to have more HRC locations on site.

GreatTallNorth2 · #44 Posted **Dec 16, 2023, 4:12 AM**

Either way, I think the Kellogg redevelopment and the Hard Rock Hotel, etc are the closest thing London has to a real attraction, unless you include the world class Storybook Gardens,

Djeffery · #45 Posted **Dec 16, 2023, 1:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

Either way, I think the Kellogg redevelopment and the Hard Rock Hotel, etc are the closest thing London has to a real attraction, unless you include the world class Storybook Gardens,

It's funny, I've worked in Woodstock for 3 years now (and moved here this past year). Our company opened this location and all of the staff were from other southern Ontario locations and most still live where they used to work. Hamilton, Brantford, Kitchener mostly. London is not on the radar for most of these people. A place you drive by on the 401 on the way to Detroit, same as how Kitchener is a place you drive by on the way to Toronto for most of us, but rarely ever go there.

So, it has amazed me how many times I have heard in the last year and a half or so that someone had taken their kids to The Factory that weekend or that a guy and his buddies went there for the Club House and sat outside on the Powerhouse patio. I remember one guy saying to me "My wife wants to go see this thing with some artist projected on the walls in London, do you know where this place is", I tell him where it is, that it's in an old cereal factory, and him looking all suspicious. Then him coming back in on Monday raving about the place. A couple people that had taken their kids to The Factory asked me what I knew about the Childrens Museum and are really looking forward to taking their kids there when it opens. We talked about having a Christmas party at work and everyone talked about going down to London to 100 Kellogg, no one had other suggestions for closer to where they live. Unfortunately we waited too long to put plans in motion to be able to get in there this year.

So yeah, based on my small regional demographic, this place certainly does have the opportunity to be a major attraction that will draw people to London, especially on a year round, on-going basis. I would venture to say when it's all built out, it will be a bigger tourism player in London than Budweiser Gardens, and no taxpayer money has gone into it.

jammer139 · #46 Posted **Jan 17, 2024, 11:29 PM**

Still short of the fund raising goal for the new Children's Museum. Apparently have $18M of the $23M goal now.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/video/c2848848-london-children_s-museum-is-on-the-move

jammer139 · #47 Posted **Mar 24, 2024, 1:25 PM**

Latest update on the progress on the new Children's Museum. Still short on their fund raising goal.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/food...childrens-museum-to-focus-on-agriculture

Djeffery · #48 Posted **Mar 24, 2024, 2:45 PM**

Also in regards to the Hard Rock Hotel, if you are in Dundas, you can see the bottom floor rooms framed in (can't tell if other floors are framed yet but I would assume so). They've also done significant work around on the south side with the new addition for what I guess would be the hotel entrance.

ssiguy · #49 Posted **Mar 26, 2024, 6:47 PM**

The Hard Rock Cafe will be one of the best things to happen to Old East in a very long time.

Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead in the place. I really would attend a Trump convention before I would step a foot into such an establishment. However, this is large corporation and these places cost a LOT of money and they don't throw them up every day. They do a LOT of homework and studies before they commit to such large expenditures and one of the primary considerations is location, location, location.

They want to be absolutely certain that the bar will be financially sustainable over the LONG TERM and obviously their studies have shown that they see Old East as such a location. This bods well very the eventual rejuvenation of the area. Other businesses who are looking to expand will look at Hard Rock and say to themselves, "if a large corporation sees the potential in the area then maybe this is where we should go".

It's not the Hard Rock Cafe that is the issue but rather the very positive sign it sends out to both new businesses and residents..............Old East isn't dead and dying but rather up and coming.

jammer139 · #50 Posted **Mar 26, 2024, 7:09 PM**

Actually I think this is just a Hard Rock Hotel which is being licensed by a different owner. I'm sure there will be the typical hotel food service but not the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant that many people associate with that name brand.

Of note the ground floor rooms which you can see on the Dundas St side previously mentioned have had their steel partition walls up since the end of last year. There has not been any progress on finishing those rooms in months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The Hard Rock Cafe will be one of the best things to happen to Old East in a very long time.

Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead in the place. I really would attend a Trump convention before I would step a foot into such an establishment. However, this is large corporation and these places cost a LOT of money and they don't throw them up every day. They do a LOT of homework and studies before they commit to such large expenditures and one of the primary considerations is location, location, location.

They want to be absolutely certain that the bar will be financially sustainable over the LONG TERM and obviously their studies have shown that they see Old East as such a location. This bods well very the eventual rejuvenation of the area. Other businesses who are looking to expand will look at Hard Rock and say to themselves, "if a large corporation sees the potential in the area then maybe this is where we should go".

It's not the Hard Rock Cafe that is the issue but rather the very positive sign it sends out to both new businesses and residents..............Old East isn't dead and dying but rather up and coming.

Djeffery · #51 Posted **Mar 26, 2024, 8:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer139

Actually I think this is just a Hard Rock Hotel which is being licensed by a different owner. I'm sure there will be the typical hotel food service but not the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant that many people associate with that name brand.

Of note the ground floor rooms which you can see on the Dundas St side previously mentioned have had their steel partition walls up since the end of last year. There has not been any progress on finishing those rooms in months.

I don't think he actually reads the threads he posts in lol. Several times he has said he wouldn't ever be caught dead in a HRC, and several times it's been said there isn't a HRC as part of this, and also that it's not the Hard Rock corporation spending the money on this, but the Leach and McLaughlin families. I'm sure whenever phase 1 opens, he will be back to tell us he won't he caught dead in the place lol.

Pimpmasterdac · #52 Posted **Mar 26, 2024, 11:25 PM**

I occasionally have business lunches at Powerhouse Brewery which we could see a lot of the work being done on the Hard Rock Hotel. They've been doing work since 2021 and still seems like they're not getting any closer to opening date. I remember being told in 2021 by the manager that they were intending to move Powerhouse into the Kellogg building, and it to be a bigger space for that and the existing building to be used as a the actual brewery and for tours. When I've talked to staff recently those plans have been scrubbed.

Paradigm distillery opened up in 2021, and initially it was open similar hours to Powerhouse for lunch and dinner. However this has been significantly scaled back and has effectively been used only for distillery operations and for private special events.

Perhaps they will ramp up again once the Hard Rock Hotel is finally open and is busier with more people staying in the area.

Djeffery · #53 Posted **Apr 27, 2024, 2:00 AM**

Some pics from Thursday. The floor plan one is a closeup of the poster on the fence in the first photo.

jammer139 · #54 Posted **May 2, 2024, 9:35 PM**

Work still continues on the Children's Museum build with a grant announced today of more funding. Hope to finally open by end of 2024.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/video/c2915163-children_s-museum-receives-trillium-grant

jammer139 · #55 Posted **Jun 18, 2024, 3:12 AM**

Big boost for Childrens Museum with $500K coming from 3M of the $24M still leaving the fund raising goal short $4M.

Still are planning on opening the end of 2024.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/video/c2942247-big-boost-for-london-children-s-museum

haljackey · #56 Posted **Aug 19, 2024, 4:07 PM**

https://100kellogglane.com/

Surprised we don't have a dedicated thread for this, or I was just stupid and couldn't find one.

Anyhoo, the Children's Museum is closing next month in preparation for their move to 100 Kellogg. I am not sure how long it will take- 3, 6 months? Goona suck for anyone wanting to visit in the meantime. That was a good place to take kids on rainy days and whatnot, and the prices were ok.

I am sure once it opens here, prices will be higher.

---

Work on the Hard Rock Hotel is progressing. It might be open by the end of the year, or in 2025.

https://www.londontourism.ca/hard-rock-hotel-london-ontario

Seems like a miss not to put the casino in here. Hard Rock casinos have been successful elsewhere- they took over Trump's failed Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and are currently replacing the old Mirage in Vegas with a new hotel/casino. They could have perhaps taken over after Gateway bailed out of their Wonderland build. I guess the Western Fair needs something to pull people in with?

There will be some competition between these complexes in terms of what they offer for entertainment / shopping.

jammer139 · #57 Posted **Aug 19, 2024, 4:50 PM**

Yes there already is a thread for all things Kelloggs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by haljackey

https://100kellogglane.com/

Surprised we don't have a dedicated thread for this, or I was just stupid and couldn't find one.

Anyhoo, the Children's Museum is closing next month in preparation for their move to 100 Kellogg. I am not sure how long it will take- 3, 6 months? Goona suck for anyone wanting to visit in the meantime. That was a good place to take kids on rainy days and whatnot, and the prices were ok.

I am sure once it opens here, prices will be higher.

---

Work on the Hard Rock Hotel is progressing. It might be open by the end of the year, or in 2025.

https://www.londontourism.ca/hard-rock-hotel-london-ontario

Seems like a miss not to put the casino in here. Hard Rock casinos have been successful elsewhere- they took over Trump's failed Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and are currently replacing the old Mirage in Vegas with a new hotel/casino. They could have perhaps taken over after Gateway bailed out of their Wonderland build. I guess the Western Fair needs something to pull people in with?

There will be some competition between these complexes in terms of what they offer for entertainment / shopping.

CanadianTalk · #58 Posted **Aug 19, 2024, 6:32 PM**

No worries... I just moved your post to the existing thread we had

Djeffery · #59 Posted **Aug 19, 2024, 8:43 PM**

The suggestion has been made to the powers that be in the 100 Kellogg ownership about the casino. Unfortunately, the timing of when 100 thought they could do it didn't jive with the timeline Gateway was working with pre-Covid, so they never pursued deeper discussions. 100 Kellogg probably wouldn't have survived the pandemic if they had pushed for the casino because the only thing paying the bills during that time was the lease on the warehouse space that Drexel is in, and that is likely the space the casino would have gone. If they even were able to get Drexel out in that timeframe (they only moved in at the end of 2016 so likely had a longer term lease), there wouldn't have been any income during Covid. The McLaughlin and Leach families are rich but I don't think even they would have weathered that very well.

Speaking of Drexel, and maybe this should go in the development thread, but they have opened a 4th warehouse in London, on Hubrey Rd south of Wilton Grove. This building, the former Green Giant Foods, was recently expanded and contains several businesses. Drexel is in the expansion along the east side of the property. Interesting in that Drexel had moved out of this building (pre-expansion) in 2016 when they opened their new warehouse at 100 Kellogg. Their other 2 locations are the old Westinghouse/ABB warehouse at Clarke and Huron and the Wilton Grove Rd warehouse just east of the LCBO that used to be home to Bendix, Big V and Brose Automotive. That last building was also more than doubled in size 2 years ago. Drexel, for those that aren't aware of this company, is a third party online order fulfillment centre for various companies including Amazon, Canadian Tire, Best Buy and many others. Their London warehouses total more space than the Talbotville Amazon warehouse.

K85 · #60 Posted **Aug 21, 2024, 2:15 AM**

I was not aware of what Drexel was, but they seem like, a normal delivery services that isn't ripping off the drivers?