300-320 King Street - 31s mixed use (Under Construction) - Page 2

jammer139 · #21 Posted **Mar 30, 2023, 8:15 PM**

The detailed building plan shows only 34 actual residential floors. The 35th floor is the mechanical penthouse and amenity space.

https://london.ca/sites/default/files/20...age%20-%20320%20King%20St%20-%20AODA.pdf

ssiguy · #22 Posted **Mar 31, 2023, 7:30 PM**

It's no masterpiece but still quite a nice looking building and 430 units is huge and would add yet more vitality to the downtown. Also, due to being on the same block as office towers, I can't imagine it will get any NIMBY backlash.

Did it mention about the hotel conversion?

MolsonExport · #23 Posted **Apr 3, 2023, 5:37 PM**

This is great. Some great height and infill for a central part of the city.

ssiguy · #24 Posted **Apr 3, 2023, 7:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer139

Apparently they propose to convert the hotel into residential units. Would take some careful design work with the plumbing, electrical and HVAC but certainly very possible.

It would require little work and hotel conversions usually don't lend themselves to larger longer term rentals but they have proven ideal for student housing. In such cases, the hotels require little updating as just one of the units is often converted to a communal kitchen. They are VERY heavily sought out by students because, unlike standard on-campus student housing, they come with their own full bathrooms. Also due to being large and private, they offer a living space for partners. Most are geared towards more senior/grad students and are fully accessible to the disabled. Both groups are given complete priority and then ,if any, are left they can go to junior students which is very rare. Due to often having large underground parking lots which are far less needed due to students being less likely to have a cars and especially in downtown locations, separate sections are often introduced to be used by the general public which has the added benefit of creating a constant revenue stream for building upkeep.

This is truly a once in a lifetime chance for Western and, to a much smaller extent Fanshawe, to step up to the plate and create a vitally needed housing and restore some presence downtown. Due to being student housing and hence affordable, it would also be able to tap into federal and provincial housing funding.

jammer139 · #25 Posted **Apr 3, 2023, 8:44 PM**

Your assuming they would target students which they have not indicated as of yet. If they were to target students then I would agree the work involved would be far less to convert the hotel. On the other hand if they intend to make normal sized rental suites then they would need to make renovations involving electrical, plumbing and HVAC and moving around walls. We will see when they submit their plans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

It would require little work and hotel conversions usually don't lend themselves to larger longer term rentals but they have proven ideal for student housing. In such cases, the hotels require little updating as just one of the units is often converted to a communal kitchen. They are VERY heavily sought out by students because, unlike standard on-campus student housing, they come with their own full bathrooms. Also due to being large and private, they offer a living space for partners. Most are geared towards more senior/grad students and are fully accessible to the disabled. Both groups are given complete priority and then ,if any, are left they can go to junior students which is very rare. Due to often having large underground parking lots which are far less needed due to students being less likely to have a cars and especially in downtown locations, separate sections are often introduced to be used by the general public which has the added benefit of creating a constant revenue stream for building upkeep.

This is truly a once in a lifetime chance for Western and, to a much smaller extent Fanshawe, to step up to the plate and create a vitally needed housing and restore some presence downtown. Due to being student housing and hence affordable, it would also be able to tap into federal and provincial housing funding.

Djeffery · #26 Posted **Apr 3, 2023, 8:58 PM**

Yeah, I just went back and read the LFP articles linked in this thread and see nothing about students. Not sure where the assumption came from. I'm not even sure this location is super appealing to students either. If it was, they could just do a basic refresh of the building and stick 2 to a room at $800/month each and not spend millions on structural work.

ssiguy · #27 Posted **Apr 4, 2023, 2:02 AM**

That's the whole point of why hotels are ideal for student housing...........they require very little renovations. Turning them into longer term rentals can be very expensive and time consuming due to the huge renovations needed. They also offer the seller the ability to sell the units as furnished when sold which makes them for both students and the owners as they don't have to go to the hassle of having to sell all the furnishings for pennies on the dollar.

MolsonExport · #28 Posted **Apr 4, 2023, 12:21 PM**

Has the hotel market started to dry up in London? The city is growing at its fastest pace, and there is fresh construction all over the core, yet, one of the largest hotel chains is exiting the market. I mean, there is really not a whole lot to do here, but Western and the hospitals must bring in a shitload of guests (I've hosted a great many academics from around the world here at uwo, with more than a few billeted at the Hilton/doubletree....although we usually put them up in the nicer Delta Armouries).

ssiguy · #29 Posted **Apr 4, 2023, 8:30 PM**

Most cities are facing an excess of hotel space since COVID. While that is certainly changing in vacation spots as people are flocking back to their favorite holiday destination after being locked up for 2 years, that is not the case in places like London.

In cities like London, much of the hotel space is taken up by conventions and their numbers are way down since COVID and it could take MANY years for them to recover. This is primarily due to business having only "on-line" conventions during COVID and the idea seems to have stuck as sending people to conventions is an expensive proposition and one many now see as no longer needed. There will always be conventions and especially larger ones but for smaller ones, they are becoming fewer and farther between.

The hotels in cities such as London would not be put on the block and/or renovated if it didn't make financial sense and clearly with rising rental rates combined with lower hotel usage, they do. It's the same for many older downtown office buildings which are also being repurposed......................if it's a commodity that is no longer needed, you change it into one that is.

GreatTallNorth2 · #30 Posted **Apr 5, 2023, 6:33 AM**

It would make more sense to see a hotel built near Budweiser Gardens as I am sure a lot of people attend concerts and events from outside London. Plus the area around the arena, the market, forks is more attractive and there is more to do in that area vs the area near the convention centre.

I've always said that London needs a major attraction to reach it's full potential as a city. Being halfway between two major metro areas has the possibility to attract tourists but there is nothing much that would attract a family to come stay in London for a weekend.

Djeffery · #31 Posted **Apr 5, 2023, 10:54 AM**

The hotels in the south end do okay because they attract a lot of sports tournaments. It seems like every other weekend in the winter, there is a tournament at the Western Fair arenas, and in the summer, there is always some ball tournament at Dorchester or St Thomas and they lack hotels in those. Downtown hotels have always talked about low occupancy, even back before the pandemic. There was talk some number of years ago about another hotel possibly looking at downtown and the other owners talked about how that was definitely not needed and would drag the others down.

The potential loss of the Doubletree isn't good for the convention center, which already has a hard enough time advertising for longer conventions because of being, well, London. Losing a hotel with a direct indoor connection won't help those efforts. This does show the lack of decent hotels downtown though. Delta and Marriott Residence (which used to be an apartment building itself) and the Park and few small ones that you wouldn't know are there near the Bud. I pity anyone who chooses those small ones on Dundas near Waterloo. If there are any that should be converted to housing, it's those, since that's basically what they are now.

CanadianTalk · #32 Posted **Apr 5, 2023, 4:14 PM**

City staff is recommending that Council approve the zoning change. Goes to planning committee on April 11th.

https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=98390

Page 26 of the report is a letter from the RBC Place Convention Centre, and they are expressing concern regarding the loss of hotel rooms in the immediate area

jammer139 · #33 Posted **Apr 5, 2023, 5:20 PM**

I also notice that they have added another elevator to the design bringing the number to 3. The original 2 elevators made no sense at all and makes you wonder what they were thinking. Also of note they don't plan to touch the Hotel building in the first phase which is the construction of the new tower. Sounds like the hotel will be around for at least another 5 years or longer.

Buys them many years to see if the Hotel demand recovers.

Still no signs the parking lot half of the block south of this has been sold. That empty half of the block shared with the convention centre must be of interest to someone. Wonder why it has not sold as of yet? So much potential for a major proposal.

Djeffery · #34 Posted **Apr 6, 2023, 10:09 PM**

CTV News reporting the hotel conversion idea is being scrapped

ssiguy · #35 Posted **Apr 7, 2023, 2:34 AM**

Oh well, there goes that idea.

jammer139 · #36 Posted **Apr 12, 2023, 2:59 AM**

Planning committee votes to support the 35s project.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/new-...hilton-drops-plans-for-residential-units

jammer139 · #37 Posted **Apr 25, 2023, 10:58 PM**

City council approves zoning application. Hopefully the developer moves quickly with submitting a detailed site plan application and follows with the demolition permit for the parking structure and building permit application. If they have a general contractor lined up who can build this 35s building we might see the demolition contractor onsite by end of this year.

MolsonExport · #38 Posted **Apr 26, 2023, 1:33 AM**

This will help fill in a prominent gap in the London skyline.

jammer139 · #39 Posted **Jul 18, 2023, 1:53 PM**

Minor update to planning webpage for this proposal adding some additional reports. Also change in height from 111m to 112m.

https://london.ca/business-development/p...lanning-applications/300-320-king-street

jammer139 · #40 Posted **Aug 5, 2023, 1:00 AM**

This is like a bad Monty Python skit when they have to waste time on a Heritage assessment of the current parking garage because its in a heritage conservation district. At least the report concluded the parking garage was not heritage and can be demolished.

Can municipal government beaucracy get more absurd then this?

https://pub-london.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=101463