London Construction - Development News Thread#1 - Page 161

jammer139 · #**3201** Posted **Mar 15, 2024, 9:38 PM**

So the site prep you see on the east side of St Anne Catholic elementary school on 1370 Huron Street is for a new one storey addition for kindergarten and child care centre. The project is budgeted for over $4.4M and should free up space to be repurposed for more classrooms. If they don't waste time they should be able to complete it by the new school year in Sept.

tyeman200 · #**3202** Posted **Mar 15, 2024, 11:47 PM**

A lot of downtown buildings can be repurposed like that. A lot of them Farhi owned too. Like the Market Tower and the Old Rexall building too.

If only I had the money...

Djeffery · #**3203** Posted **Mar 18, 2024, 12:08 AM**

New building on the new-ish Uhaul site on York St (the former Canada Trust/TD building). Not sure if the plan is to consolidate their Clarke Rd operation here.

jammer139 · #**3204** Posted **Mar 27, 2024, 8:59 PM**

New school funding announced for Catholic board in the west end.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...edge-of-london

jammer139 · #**3205** Posted **Apr 11, 2024, 12:37 PM**

CTV article on City and Developers working on collaboration to get housing build.

https://london.ctvnews.ca/developers...rget-1.6842275

jammer139 · #**3206** Posted **Apr 25, 2024, 7:55 PM**

5 developments that will change London.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...e-shape-london

MolsonExport · #**3207** Posted **Apr 26, 2024, 3:31 PM**

Great to see all this fresh construction in London. The skyline is beefing up accordingly.

jammer139 · #**3208** Posted **Apr 27, 2024, 8:21 PM**

Framing now up the 3rd floor for the first of the town homes on this site on 2498-2510 Main Street in Lambeth.

jammer139 · #**3209** Posted **Apr 29, 2024, 11:49 PM**

Formal announcements about the upcoming new school projects.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...ools-in-london

jammer139 · #**3210** Posted **Apr 30, 2024, 12:27 PM**

Wortley Village Black Walnut is still a hole in the ground. Sums up the bureaucracy in city hall Planning department.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...ck-walnut-cafe

MolsonExport · #**3211** Posted **Apr 30, 2024, 1:54 PM**

pisses me off. That place had very good coffee and was perfect for an afternoon strolling about Wortley Village.

Pimpmasterdac · #**3212** Posted **May 6, 2024, 9:38 PM**

Looks like Farhi is finally trying to offload some of his properties..

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...mond-st-london
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...-london-east-k

ssiguy · #**3213** Posted **May 6, 2024, 9:54 PM**

Those 2 Farhi buildings would both make for excellent residential units. The Old one would be ideal for loft type suites and the RBS one for high rise as it has what is essential for a high-rise conversion............a small footprint.

Small footprint is essential for conversion because all units have to have access to light/windows and that is much easier when the building is not large. It's a fantastic location and has a usable basement which is good for storage needs for each unit. The city also wouldn't miss the building as it is older and hence of lower value and higher vacancy as businesses far prefer Grade A buildings with all the higher infrastructure. It also has the added benefit of not getting slack from NIMBYs or parking advocates as it doesn't have any and thus would have no net-loss of parking but conversely bring hundreds of more people {and thus consumers} to the downtown businesses.

The building coming on sale now and emphasizing it's potential as a conversion to housing is not coincidence. Clearly the Mayor has had a rather stern conversation with Farhi about opening up some of his properties less the City start bringing in zoning that will effectively force him to.

jammer139 · #**3214** Posted **May 7, 2024, 12:12 AM**

Great news if he actually sells them.

He also had 231 Dundas St for sale a number of years ago for over $6.5M. It sat for well over a year without any takers and was eventually pulled off the market.

ssiguy · #**3215** Posted **May 7, 2024, 7:01 PM**

Yes, it will depend on the price he's asking but I think he will bring the asking price to realistic levels.

The RBC building is probably half vacant and costing him a lot of money. London's vacancy rate is very high but it greatly depends on the type of building. New tenants want all the modern amenities that new buildings offer ie One London Place. This is the same in every city, the first ones to feel the pain of rising vacancy rates are the Class B buildings. The Mayor's recent incentives for conversions to residential will also make the building more palatable for perspective buyers. Who is going to buy a half empty building for office space when the vacancy rate is so high?

These 2 buildings equate to 200,000 sq feet and with the recent selling of the building at Richmond & Queen with about 70,000 sq feet, this will drop London vacancy rate by a hefty 25% as there is one million square footage of empty office space in the core.

jammer139 · #**3216** Posted **May 7, 2024, 7:46 PM**

The Royal Bank building and the Market Tower building are vacant now. I don't believe they have any tenants left.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Yes, it will depend on the price he's asking but I think he will bring the asking price to realistic levels.

The RBC building is probably half vacant and costing him a lot of money. London's vacancy rate is very high but it greatly depends on the type of building. New tenants want all the modern amenities that new buildings offer ie One London Place. This is the same in every city, the first ones to feel the pain of rising vacancy rates are the Class B buildings. The Mayor's recent incentives for conversions to residential will also make the building more palatable for perspective buyers. Who is going to buy a half empty building for office space when the vacancy rate is so high?

These 2 buildings equate to 200,000 sq feet and with the recent selling of the building at Richmond & Queen with about 70,000 sq feet, this will drop London vacancy rate by a hefty 25% as there is one million square footage of empty office space in the core.

MolsonExport · #**3217** Posted **May 9, 2024, 1:30 PM**

Farhi loves his empty buildings and surface parking lots. What better way to wash money?

jammer139 · #**3218** Posted **May 15, 2024, 3:29 PM**

You'd think a building of this size might have spec'd out dual hot water boilers in the build so that a single point failure would not have resulted in a total hot water loss.

Residents at 700 King Street East, a building owned by Medallion Corporation, said the water turned cold last Thursday. By the next day, they said there was no water at all.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/londo...ixed-1.7203869

GreatTallNorth2 · #**3219** Posted **May 16, 2024, 4:15 PM**

Zedd Architecture has 3 new projects they have designed. I know one or two have probably been mentioned on the forum, but here are the links:

Horton & Waterloo: https://www.zeddarchitecture.com/23-029

415 Oxford West: https://www.zeddarchitecture.com/23-030

Southdale West: https://www.zeddarchitecture.com/23-005

MolsonExport · #**3220** Posted **May 16, 2024, 5:42 PM**

I'll take the density, but when will developers tire of these tedious colors and design features? Every second building going up looks very similar.