London Construction - Development News Thread #1

[upinottawa]

If businesses in downtown London are not expanding and businesses are not interested in moving a) to London and b) to downtown London, then all the parking in the world is not going to help fill London's office towers.

[ldoto]

London airport business booms

Thu, January 18, 2007

Passenger traffic at London International Airport has grown 38 per cent over the last 2 years.

By NORMAN DE BONO, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER



Traffic is up at London International Airport, setting a record for the number of people boarding flights, the airport announced yesterday.

And traffic may increase even more this year because WestJet Airlines announced it is doubling its daily flights from London to Calgary.

"This is fantastic news, it demonstrates to us that our developing the airport as a hub has paid huge dividends," said Steve Baker, the airport's president and chief executive.

Passenger traffic increased 12 per cent last year over 2005 and has grown 38 per cent over the last two years, as 415,000 people boarded planes from the airport, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country, said Baker.

"Most airports have six to nine per cent growth, we are leading and I'm very pleased."

Much of that growth has been from outside London. Fifty-five per cent of passengers are from outside the city, drawing from Windsor to Kitchener-Waterloo.

"We are linking Southwestern Ontario to the world," said Baker.

WestJet said yesterday it will add a second daily flight to Calgary, in addition to its existing daily flight to Winnipeg.

"Southwestern Ontario is a very good market for us, we are very pleased with London, couldn't be happier really," said Mark Brown, WestJet's director of airports for Eastern Canada.

While the airline declined to reveal exact passenger load numbers, they are near capacity on all flights out of London.

"We are finding people want to avoid Pearson (in Toronto) and we are seeing traffic up at more medium-sized markets," added Brown.

The additional flights and passenger growth is good news for the London business community because more direct flights out of the city is something business is always looking for, said John Kime, chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp.

"If you don't have an airport that connects nationally and internationally, people do not look at your community," he said. "We are very fortunate to have it here. When we talk to business people invariably they ask where are the flights to and from at the airport."

The airport's investment in a $20-million renovation has helped attract airlines and customers.

"We had a strategic plan which had us listening to customers. They wanted new facilities, fast service, direct flights, reasonable fares and we have been able to go out and attract those," he said.

Baker wants to continue growth by adding flights to the U.S. and Maritimes.

"What has been working for us is we have seen a continuous enhancement of service. There are still lots of targets and opportunities," he said.

[MolsonExport]

I want direct London-Montreal flights, goddamit! I mean, fer crissakes, it is the second largest city in Canada!

[Snark]

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[upinottawa]

With respect to London to Montreal, the business travel is simply not there (so on that point I agree with the above). However, business travel is only one factor. London is but a spoke on Air Canada's and Westjet's systems.

However, Northwest flies London to Detroit in order to compete with Air Canada's flights to Toronto. Northwest does not fly London to Detroit because of business travel purposes.

There is one flight from London to Ottawa another flight returning each day. One flight. Again, London to Ottawa is not a major business run (Ottawa does, however, provide flights to other Canadian cities that also have no business connection to London). It is Air Canada's recent policy to provide more regional flights and to use Ottawa as a mini-hub for Canadian destinations (in order to avoid transfers in Toronto) that keeps the Ottawa-London route in business.

[ldoto]

Fri, January 19, 2007

By NORMAN DE BONO, FREE PRESS BUSINESS REPORTER



London is going "vertical," with so many new highrise apartments it's become Ontario's rental capital.

Fuelled by baby boomers leaving their homes into carefree rental living, London is building more apartments than any other city in the province on a per capita basis.

And that's not including the biggest new rental project rising on the city's skyline, Tricar's twin-tower Renaissance project downtown.

The city led the province over the last three years in per capita rental units built, while other cities are building more condominiums for sale, said Ken Sumnall, senior market analyst at Canada Mortgage Housing Corp.

From 2003 to 2006, 12,859 rental units were built in Ontario, 2,948 -- or 23 per cent -- in London. Only Toronto, at 47.4 per cent, had more.

"London, for its size, has been very active. We have seen numbers go up the last few years," said Sumnall.

The figures back up what many developers in the city are saying, said Derek Anderson, president of the London Home Builders Association: London appears to have more baby boomers set to retire and move into rental units.

"It is very attractive for seniors who want to take the equity in their homes and go out and travel," said Anderson, president of Graystone Development Group in London.

"We hear all the time people do not plan for retirement, but they have $400,000 in equity after their home is sold."

With the vacancy rate hovering at about 3.6 per cent, "there appears to be demand, but developers are primarily targeting the empty-nester market with the apartment developments," said Sumnall.

Of the apartment units now under construction in the city, "they are all local developers with extensive portfolios, they know the market and have capacity to build," he said. "These are not short-term investments, they are building now because they think the market will grow for a while."

Londoners want to rent highrise units more than residents in other cities because it remains a good value, said Anderson. And if they're interested in buying, there's a large selection of homes.

"People still look at London as having open space, they have more choices before they go vertical," he said. "We are also gaining a lot of young professionals who want to rent; it's an attractive option."

The next great wave could be retirement home construction as leading-edge boomers -- now turning 60 -- start looking at options, said Barry Parker, vice-president residential for Sifton Properties.

[ldoto]

Research project 'huge'

Fri, January 19, 2007

The $26M deal promises new insight into diseases through world-class imaging.

By JOHN MINER, FREE PRESS HEALTH REPORTER



A new $26-million medical research project, based in London, will tackle everything from cancer and chronic pain to mental illness.

Still being assembled, the project is already making London a destination of choice for some of the world's top research talent.

"It is absolutely huge," Dr. David Hill, scientific director of the Lawson Health Research Institute, the research arm of London's two hospitals, said yesterday.

Officially called the Biomedical Multimodality Hybrid Imaging project, it's expected to bring medical breakthroughs by uniting what are now separate medical imaging systems, such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography), into one unit to probe diseases.

"We want to focus on being able to see things with all of the possible tools we have," said Dr. Frank Prato, co-leader of the project.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is contributing $12.9 million to buy equipment that primarily will be located at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Other costs will be covered by a grant from the province and contributions from the private sector.

The London Regional Cancer Program at London Health Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, Robarts Research Institute and Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are also taking part in the project.

It will involve 105 researchers in London, 26 Canadian researchers outside the city and 23 foreign scientists.

Some Canadian-trained scientists who moved to the U.S. to work at Harvard University, Scripps Research Institute in California and the National Institutes of Health are returning to work in London, said project co-leader Dr. Jim Koropatnick.

"They have returned to Canada because they have found the infrastructure support available here," Koropatnick said.

CFI president Dr. Eliot Phillipson said his institute, an independent corporation created by the Canadian government, rigorously assesses projects before investing in them to ensure they have the potential to enhance the lives of Canadians.

"There should be no question this is a highly meritorious project," he said.

A $10-million investment by CFI in 1999 in imaging and cancer research in London led to an extra $84.2 million in research money flowing into the city, creation of five spin-off firms and 41 new jobs.

This latest investment will do more, Prato predicted.

"The success will be significantly greater. We have a track record now, so it will be easier to convince people to invest in our programs," he said.

When existing medical imaging technology is used on its own, it's like someone colour-blind looking around a room. Some things are missed, Prato said.

By combining different imaging technologies to operate simultaneously, the researchers hope to get a more complete picture of how diseases develop, he said.

For example, schizophrenia researchers in London have been successful studying the changes of some chemicals in the brain using MRI technology, while other groups in the world have studied different chemicals in the brain using PET, Prato said.

"They never got the full picture. They never knew how these chemicals interplayed and we don't know, therefore, what the real nature of the disease is," he said.

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IMAGING TECHNOLOGY

Doctors can use different imaging technologies to detect and decide how to treat disease. They include:

- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a diagnostic procedure that uses a magnetic field to provide three-dimensional images of internal body structures.

- Positron emission tomography. Also called PET imaging or a PET scan, it obtains images by detecting radiation from the emission of positrons -- tiny particles emitted from a radioactive substance administered to the patient.

- Computed tomography (CT) uses special X-ray techniques to produce multiple images of the body. The images are produced by an X-ray tube that rotates 360 degrees around the patient's body.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by upinottawa

With respect to London to Montreal, the business travel is simply not there (so on that point I agree with the above). However, business travel is only one factor. London is but a spoke on Air Canada's and Westjet's systems.

However, Northwest flies London to Detroit in order to compete with Air Canada's flights to Toronto. Northwest does not fly London to Detroit because of business travel purposes.

There is one flight from London to Ottawa another flight returning each day. One flight. Again, London to Ottawa is not a major business run (Ottawa does, however, provide flights to other Canadian cities that also have no business connection to London). It is Air Canada's recent policy to provide more regional flights and to use Ottawa as a mini-hub for Canadian destinations (in order to avoid transfers in Toronto) that keeps the Ottawa-London route in business.

As a passenger, I hate the hub-and-spoke system. Adds HOURS to flights, with all the damned security. And out of the 4 times that I flew into London, my luggage did NOT accompany me on three of those times.

[ldoto]

Canada tops housing survey

Tue, January 23, 2007

London did well as a city in a study looking at the affordability of homes in six countries.

By IAN WILSON, SUN MEDIA



Canada is tops when it comes to housing affordability, said an international study that found citizens here would need only 3.2 years of annual income, on average, to buy a home.

The Demographia International survey of housing affordability -- which examined 159 cities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S. -- found it takes more than twice as long to buy a home in Australia as it does in Canada.

By dividing house prices in individual markets by the annual gross household income in those cities, researchers determined how long it would take to purchase a home if all of the income was devoted to paying for it.

However, survey results also showed homes on Canada's West Coast are growing increasingly unattainable. Meanwhile, houses on the Prairies and in parts of Ontario remain affordable.

With 7.7 years of income typically needed to purchase a home, Vancouver ranked No. 13 out of the markets surveyed; Victoria was 25th.

Residents in Toronto and Calgary averaged 4.4 years of annual income to pay for a home, while Edmontonians can own a house in 3.5 years.

Regina was tied with Fort Wayne, Ind., and Youngstown, Ohio as the survey's most affordable city -- people there need just two years of income.

Quebec City, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Ottawa, London and Oshawa also placed highly on the list of affordable cities.

The least affordable city studied was Los Angeles and Orange County, where people needed 11.4 years of annual income to buy a home.

While it finished second to Canada in terms of overall affordability, the U.S. had seven of the top eight least affordable cities, with six of those coming from California.

"The housing cost escalation is principally the result of supply factors," said the study.

"Where there are significant constraints on the supply of land for residential development, housing inflation has occurred. Where there are no such constraints, housing cost inflation has not occurred."

CANADIAN RANKING

Median Median City price income

1. Regina $115,000 $57,500

2. Winnipeg $130,100 $52,300

Quebec $128,200 $51,100

4. Saskatoon $138,000 $52,100

5. Ottawa $201,500 $70,300

6. London $166,700 $56,100

Oshawa $222,900 $75,400

8. Halifax $176,000 $56,800

9. Kitchener $211,300 $65,500

10. Edmonton $233,800 $66,500

Hamilton $215,700 $61,300

[Remontech]

Hello all...

I know first hand of London's booming construction industry. Our London-based company specializes in remote monitoring of construction sites. The number of projects we are and have monitored recently is proof of a healthy construction industry.

I'll see if I can post a live feed from one of our internet cameras. In the meantime, you can visit our website: http://www.remontech.com

This forum is great!

[ldoto]

UPDATE!
Here are some new pics of down town London. The new crane is going to be The Harriston 23 floors. I will soon have the 28 floor Renaissance crane pics from a new viewing point.

[ldoto]

Downtown arts centre drawing increased interest

Thu, February 1, 2007

By JONATHAN SHER, SUN MEDIA



For months there have been excited whispers by Londoners who want a performing arts centre downtown.

But now it appears that issue may take centre stage.

Talk of an arts centre has been mostly below the radar since June 2005, when city council delayed a debate over a recommendation by the Creative Cities Task Force to set aside half of each municipal surplus for a centre.

The issue bubbled to the surface yesterday as Orchestra London expressed concern about the viability of Centennial Hall -- and it appears there may be a full debate by council this year.

Executive director Rob Gloor gave a positive report on the orchestra, which has seen attendance and income soar and is on the verge of settling protracted contract negotiations with musicians.

But he said success has been achieved despite Centennial Hall, which turns 40 this year.

"All sorts of people tell us they just won't go to Centennial Hall," Gloor told board of control before calling for a performing arts centre.

He doesn't have to convince Controller Gord Hume, who's played a leading role calling for an arts centre.

In the next few months council should receive a report on the condition and future of Centennial Hall. That should spark a debate about a replacement, Hume said.

"Council later this year will probably want to put everything on the table," he said.

There's little doubt many on council would love to see a performing arts centre downtown that would boost the core and make the city a more attractive place to live.

"It's the last missing piece for us to become a grownup city," said Coun. Nancy Branscombe.

But whether the city can afford it is another matter.

Big spending on major projects in the late 1990s and early 2000s put the city in such debt council capped how much it borrows for capital projects.

The cap is $30 million and nearly all that money has been earmarked for basics such as road work and the expansion of the London police headquarters. There's little left to address a wide range of requests.

"There's $200,000 left over this year. That's nothing," said Controller Gina Barber.

That's frustrating, she said, since London needs a performing arts centre.

"In a city the size of London we have wonderful artists who can't perform here because we don't have a place to showcase them."

In short, the need for a performing arts centre is great but the fiscal constraints are even greater, Barber said.

All agreed if a centre is to be built, it would need help from private donors and federal and provincial governments.

Hume hopes the city could accelerate those donations by giving itself, an effort he hopes would lead not only to a new centre by 2015 but an endowment fund that would cover what would likely be operating deficits.

But Deputy Mayor Tom Gosnell is skeptical because the costs he hears bandied about frighten him.

"I've heard $60 million to $70 million, including an endowment fund," Gosnell said. "There's nothing now in the budget or in the foreseeable future to do it."

[ldoto]

^^
I just noticed that the reporters Names say Sun Media not Free press!

[Snark]

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[GreatTallNorth2]

From what I understand (inside info), the LFP will be turned into a tabloid soon to fit the other Sun formats. Also we will continue to notice less local coverage as time goes on. Hopefully someone else decides to start a paper here.

On a different note, did anyone notice the article in the LFP regarding a heritage property downtown that is owned by Drewlo? The paper said Drewlo wants to build a highrise on the property and if he can salvage the heritage building, the city will consider higher density. London's downtown has had a lot of residential tower activity in the last few years. I don't know of any other city 500,000 or less with more activity in Canada. Too bad Drewlo has his blind grandmother design his buildings. Most of his buildings look pretty bad.

[MolsonExport]

Stats Canada (July 2006 estimates):
London 465,720 2,059

I was amazed how low the growth was, given the explosion of development on the city fringes, not to mention the commie slabs and downtown towers.

[Snark]

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[GreatTallNorth2]

Here is the quote from January 30th LFP:

In a related issue, the planning committee was advised the 147-year-old landmark, Locust Mount, at 661 Talbot St., has been nominated to be listed as one of the top 10 Endangered Place by Heritage Canada.

Once owned by Elijah Leonard, London's mayor in 1857, and a senator from 1867 to 1891, the home was damaged by fire six years ago.

Its current owner, Drewlo Holdings, applied for a demolition permit but has agreed to hold off as the city tries to find a way to keep it standing. He plans to use the site for a high-rise development.

It says high rise, but I don't think there are specific drawings for the tower yet.

[ssiguy]

I too am surprised by the slow growth of London as I understood London was growing at 1.1% per year, the fastest since the 80s.

[Snark]

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