London Development Rumour Thread

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by tyeman200

I'd assume Staples was contempt in staying where they are. They actually would have lost space moving over that corner. I never knew that was originally an A&P. I thought the A&P was where the Metro is now beside the Mandarin.

Yep, and it was the second A&P on that site. This current building was built in the early 80's behind the original A&P. I don't think Staples would have lost any space, it's not a very big store as it is, and the newbuild would have been built to suit them.

[jammer139]

Top coat of asphalt now installed and painting the lines was starting today. Still no signs that the perimeter around the concrete curbing is going to be repaired.


The plan might be to open the new section and close the old section for repair.

Originally Posted by jammer139

Base coat of asphalt now laid in the section of 120 York St within the concrete curbing. The perimeter outside is still dirt and no indication when it will be regraded and repaired with new asphalt. They will have to close the parking lot to fix the perimeter.

[jammer139]

Interesting purchase by Sifton of the lands on the SW corner of Clarke and Kilally. This is across from their Caverhill sub division proposal.



1511 Clarke Road
type Speculative residential development land
price $16,000,000
seller Bruce Johnson
buyer Sifton Properties Ltd.

[jammer139]

299 Springbank Dr and the other white building (formerly Kensal Rentals) immediately to the west have sold signs up. Wonder who may have purchased these properties and are they planning a redevelopment? Would be an ideal site for a high rise tower opposite the Giant Tiger plaza which York Dev now owns it seems. Springbank Dr is ideal for some new high density high rise developments. Further to the east still no indication that the former Toyota dealership property has been sold after the developer of the twin 15s towers went thru the re-zoning then put it on the market.

[jammer139]

Fencing is going up on south street just east of Wellington around the empty field. Not sure why this is happening unless they are planning to use this for construction staging for the south BRT project.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Fencing is going up on south street just east of Wellington around the empty field. Not sure why this is happening unless they are planning to use this for construction staging for the south BRT project.

Wouldn't be surprised. Noticed they are tearing down houses and what not down Wellington, and many are now empty and abandoned.

[MolsonExport]

I wish they would get rid of those awful shacks on Wellington at Horton. Embarrassing gateway to our city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9801142,...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[ssiguy]

I think you will find that after the BRT is complete, the area will see a renaissance. The foot traffic in the area will greatly increase once the huge SOHO projects are complete.

What's stopping developers right now is that the Wellington Gateway section of the BRT has yet to start construction. When it does it will create a lot of traffic, parking, and pedestrian mayhem to the area. Until the South to Horton section is complete, it's not a great time to start a business or redevelop a property. When that section is done, I think the area will really flourish.

[jammer139]

Workers finally started cleaning up the perimeter edge around the newly paved section of Farhi's parking lot on the NE corner of York and Talbot. They still have not used the new paved section as of yet months after completing it for some strange reason.

[GreatTallNorth2]

IN8 Developments in Kitchener is advertising a new project in London on Richmond Street. I am not aware of any project by them in London previously. No details on their site, but they tend to build tall buildings (two towers in Kitchener, 40 & 45 floors).

https://in8developments.ca/our-projects/

[jammer139]

This is great news. They have a track record of actually building projects and London needs other developers to start working here. I've been waiting for some of the GTA area developers to come into the London market. Maybe its the site up at Richmond and Ross Park that had previously seen a 17s proposal. The homes were finally demolished clearing the site after numerous fires and vandal breakins. There hasn't been any commercial property sales along Richmond in the downtown that I've seen for a redevelopment proposal.

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

IN8 Developments in Kitchener is advertising a new project in London on Richmond Street. I am not aware of any project by them in London previously. No details on their site, but they tend to build tall buildings (two towers in Kitchener, 40 & 45 floors).

https://in8developments.ca/our-projects/

[jammer139]

The old St Peters elementary school is going to be demolished by the Diocese of London. Hopefully they decide to sell it off and the north parking lot to a real developer. Would be great site for a tall mixed used development. Could see two towers straddling the short road joining Clarence and Richmond with large public parking garage, retail (maybe including a grocery store) and 40s plus towers. Great site to think big on.





https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/di...former-downtown-school-in-2023-1.6680554

[CanadianTalk]

Downtown London definitely needs a proper grocery store. There is Valu-Mart, but I would say it's on the outskirts of the downtown. With all the high-rises already there, and many more approved and planned, you would think there would be the demand for one.

Anyone know of any rumours about a grocery store coming to downtown?

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by CanadianTalk

Downtown London definitely needs a proper grocery store. There is Valu-Mart, but I would say it's on the outskirts of the downtown. With all the high-rises already there, and many more approved and planned, you would think there would be the demand for one.

Anyone know of any rumours about a grocery store coming to downtown?

There are not a lot of rumours, just people saying they want a store. I came across plans about a year ago of a Metro store and LCBO opening in Citi Plaza. There were drawings and a proposal to do this, but not sure what happened to this. With all the new towers, you would think we are closer than we have ever been, but there are a lot of bigger cities that don't have a big grocery store downtown. I see that Edmonton just got a mini loblaws or something similar. We might be waiting a while.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by jammer139

The old St Peters elementary school is going to be demolished by the Diocese of London. Hopefully they decide to sell it off and the north parking lot to a real developer. Would be great site for a tall mixed used development. Could see two towers straddling the short road joining Clarence and Richmond with large public parking garage, retail (maybe including a grocery store) and 40s plus towers. Great site to think big on.

I am sure the parking lot would also go as it would no longer serve a purpose and would be worth a fortune for the church.

That said, I totally DISAGREE with everything else you said.

Londoner's love their Victoria Park but I think they also don't appreciate what a unique park it is. Almost no other city in the country has such a beautiful park right smack down in the downtown core. Many have river/lake walks {which London also has} but few have a real park. The only other city I can think of is Kelowna which has a breathtaking situation but not the sheer beauty of Victoria Park surrounded by exceptionally beautiful buildings and housing. In Canada, Victoria truly is one of a kind.

The last thing they need is huge high rises to block it's view, cause shadowing, and reduce it's significance as an urban oasis. Any building over 7 stories at that location would be simply too obtrusive. A grocery store would also be a no-go as the Valu-Mart is only 4 blocks away and would also need some parking. I also don't think it would be near as successful nor serve as many potential consumers as one closer to Dundas and probably south of it. It would serve not only the Core but also SOHO and Old East.

[Djeffery]

Yes, building tall buildings at the edge of a Park in the Central area of a city would never work out.

[jammer139]

We can agree to disagree and here is why.


Not sure who's view your trying to protect. There are only around 60 people who actually live on the periphery of the park. Those would be the couple of apartments in Farhi's 4s building on Central Ave with south facing windows. The remaining houses along Central and on Wellington are mostly now office conversions with no residents. The remaining border of the park are offices or churches or parking lots. The reality is Old Oaks 32s tower on Richmond has more residents with a spectacular view of the park. We need alot more of that kind of views.



I won't waste any time on the Shadows of Mordor thinking.



A FarmBoy, Sunripe sized grocery store could work very well in a nice mixed use development in the St Peters school location along Richmond. The Valumart up at Oxford is also small and dated. To be honest I'd like to see that Valumart and the bank on the corner replaced by a twin tower high rise mixed use development. The NE corner of Oxford and Richmond is ripe for redevelopment and high density residential. I'd also like to see a grocery store at Wellington and South that would serve the SOHO and south side of the core and the future density increases we will have along the Wellington Street corridor.


The name of the game is density density density. Build up and not out.

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I am sure the parking lot would also go as it would no longer serve a purpose and would be worth a fortune for the church.

That said, I totally DISAGREE with everything else you said.

Londoner's love their Victoria Park but I think they also don't appreciate what a unique park it is. Almost no other city in the country has such a beautiful park right smack down in the downtown core. Many have river/lake walks {which London also has} but few have a real park. The only other city I can think of is Kelowna which has a breathtaking situation but not the sheer beauty of Victoria Park surrounded by exceptionally beautiful buildings and housing. In Canada, Victoria truly is one of a kind.

The last thing they need is huge high rises to block it's view, cause shadowing, and reduce it's significance as an urban oasis. Any building over 7 stories at that location would be simply too obtrusive. A grocery store would also be a no-go as the Valu-Mart is only 4 blocks away and would also need some parking. I also don't think it would be near as successful nor serve as many potential consumers as one closer to Dundas and probably south of it. It would serve not only the Core but also SOHO and Old East.

[plcan1]

100% agre with you 🙌🙌🙌



We can agree to disagree and here is why.


Not sure who's view your trying to protect. There are only around 60 people who actually live on the periphery of the park. Those would be the couple of apartments in Farhi's 4s building on Central Ave with south facing windows. The remaining houses along Central and on Wellington are mostly now office conversions with no residents. The remaining border of the park are offices or churches or parking lots. The reality is Old Oaks 32s tower on Richmond has more residents with a spectacular view of the park. We need alot more of that kind of views.



I won't waste any time on the Shadows of Mordor thinking.



A FarmBoy, Sunripe sized grocery store could work very well in a nice mixed use development in the St Peters school location along Richmond. The Valumart up at Oxford is also small and dated. To be honest I'd like to see that Valumart and the bank on the corner replaced by a twin tower high rise mixed use development. The NE corner of Oxford and Richmond is ripe for redevelopment and high density residential. It also like to see a grocery store at Wellington and South that would serve the SOHO and south side of the core and the future density increases we will have along the Wellington Street corridor.


The name of the game is density density density. Build up and not out

[CanadianTalk]

Saw a FB post from the Hyde Park ward councillor, and it looks like the City of London will be developing the lands they own at 1364, 1376, 1390 & 1408 Hyde Park Road (west side of Hyde Park Road south of South Carriage Road) at some point.

Very early in the planning process but here is a brief backgrounder.

https://www.siv-ik.ca/_files/ugd/571599_037a15f650e941708e577e2ad144e9a9.pdf

No proposed conceptual or site plan yet, but it mentions that the development should be a "good fit within the existing surrounding neighbourhood". We have seen lots of low/mid-rises built and approved in this area, so I would imagine this new development would be similar.

These lands are outlined in red below, along with some neighbourhood context:

[MolsonExport]

^interesting report but it is filled with sloganeering and platitudes.