Economy Thread - Page 40

Djeffery · #**781** Posted **Jul 2, 2021, 9:50 PM**

I was reading the Project Python thread in the Ottawa forum, which is about the new Amazon distribution centre under construction there, and it's amazing how fast it went from nobody even knowing about it to it being under construction. Southwold Township is going to be very motivated to get this approved and under construction, no matter who is going there. I was also comparing land sizes, and Python is 64 acres. Ford, according to the Free Press, is 254 hectares, or over 600 acres.

So, even if Amazon was looking at something that size (2.7 million sq ft on 5 levels), there is plenty of land for a huge multi-tenant industrial park out there. I can't see what any holdups could be to build there. Ford employed thousands of people who came and went in multiple shifts a day and there was a huge number of trucks coming and going. Kinda like Amazon lol. The property is barely 2 miles off the 401 and highway 4 is 4 lanes wide. And there isn't any more residential anywhere nearby that there was when Ford still ran. Should be no reason that type of facility gets approved.

MolsonExport · #**782** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 4:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

Rumour is that IKEA is building 2 Mega IKEA stores on the site.

Lies. they are building 4 Ikeas.

GreatTallNorth2 · #**783** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 4:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Lies. they are building 4 Ikeas.

Sorry, I saw the renderings for 2 IKEAs but failed to see there are 2 more IKEAs stacked on top on the other ones.

Djeffery · #**784** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 5:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Lies. they are building 4 Ikeas.

One for each letter. And of course, the desk is in I and the dresser will be in E.

MolsonExport · #**785** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 6:32 PM**

Indeed. Abba also has four letters and is Swedish.
I sense a sinister plot.

ssiguy · #**786** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 6:46 PM**

Is this land in Elgin or Middlesex counties?

Djeffery · #**787** Posted **Jul 3, 2021, 9:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Is this land in Elgin or Middlesex counties?

Elgin. The county line (and London city limit) runs along Southminster Bourne, on the north side of the property. Back in the mid-80's, my step-dad used to work for a company that hauled cars out of Ford. He used to bitch that when he got fuel at the Flying M (which is at the northeast corner of that intersection), he would go to the payphone to call dispatch, which was along county rd 11 south of the plant, and it was long distance, because the M was in Middlesex and dispatch was in Elgin.

K85 · #**788** Posted **Jul 4, 2021, 3:35 AM**

I'm so confused... why do I have to hate Abba again?

MolsonExport · #**789** Posted **Jul 4, 2021, 5:21 PM**

Abba is a guilty pleasure that many people have.

Djeffery · #**790** Posted **Jul 5, 2021, 12:49 AM**

Free Press now reporting preliminary construction work for Amazon is starting tomorrow (Monday).

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...9KXOqMKzKrdb1Y

jammer139 · #**791** Posted **Jul 6, 2021, 2:12 PM**

Interesting LFP article on office space in London.

https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/...n-office-space

Interesting piece is the large increase in sublet space. Signs of existing tenants downsizing.

manny_santos · #**792** Posted **Jul 6, 2021, 10:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Elgin. The county line (and London city limit) runs along Southminster Bourne, on the north side of the property. Back in the mid-80's, my step-dad used to work for a company that hauled cars out of Ford. He used to bitch that when he got fuel at the Flying M (which is at the northeast corner of that intersection), he would go to the payphone to call dispatch, which was along county rd 11 south of the plant, and it was long distance, because the M was in Middlesex and dispatch was in Elgin.

Probably was considered to be Lambeth by Bell. I remember for a number of years even after Lambeth was annexed into London, the 652 exchange could still only call local to London (which for Bell's purposes also included areas like Komoka and Hyde Park), and maybe a couple other areas to the west in Middlesex County. There were areas where you could call from anywhere else in London and have it considered a local call, but it would be long distance if you called from Lambeth. It was a major point of contention, though eventually Bell added some additional locations to the local calling area. Nowadays Lambeth is still considered separate by Bell, but it has more or less the same local calling area as the rest of London.

Djeffery · #**793** Posted **Jul 6, 2021, 10:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Probably was considered to be Lambeth by Bell. I remember for a number of years even after Lambeth was annexed into London, the 652 exchange could still only call local to London (which for Bell's purposes also included areas like Komoka and Hyde Park), and maybe a couple other areas to the west in Middlesex County. There were areas where you could call from anywhere else in London and have it considered a local call, but it would be long distance if you called from Lambeth. It was a major point of contention, though eventually Bell added some additional locations to the local calling area. Nowadays Lambeth is still considered separate by Bell, but it has more or less the same local calling area as the rest of London.

I remember back then, 1983 or so, that we lived in White Oaks. Bell had just opened up our area to be able to call Lambeth and St Thomas locally, but you couldn't call St Thomas from Lambeth

jammer139 · #**794** Posted **Jul 7, 2021, 5:53 PM**

Redberry buying 2 London Taco Bells as part of larger deal.

https://londonincmagazine.ca/2021/07...o-bell-stores/

ssiguy · #**795** Posted **Jul 15, 2021, 1:47 AM**

Some truly fantastic news for London.

CBRE has released their "tech talent" info for 2021 for cities across NA. London had the fastest rate of employment in technology than any other and it wasn't even close. London tech employment has grown by a staggering 67% in the last 5 years and no other city any where in NA was higher than 60%. Canada's growth has been very high compared to US counter parts and the 2nd highest growth in Canadian cities was Edmonton way back at 53%.

jammer139 · #**796** Posted **Aug 10, 2021, 2:07 PM**

Government funding to built a Moderna plant in Canada. Wouldn't London be a great location for such a facility?

- https://www.cp24.com/news/moderna-to...nada-1.5541028

jammer139 · #**797** Posted **Sep 13, 2021, 11:49 PM**

A numbered company just purchased the BW Lamplighter Inn on Wellington Rd for over $15M.

jammer139 · #**798** Posted **Oct 3, 2021, 6:25 PM**

Commercial real estate market facing challenges.

- https://londonincmagazine.ca/2021/09/30/real-estate-q3/

ssiguy · #**799** Posted **Oct 4, 2021, 4:51 AM**

Ya, commercial real estate is facing challenges in all of our cities and especially downtowns.

We have seen vacancy rates rise in all of our downtown cores which makes sense. Downtown office workers tend to be the 9 to 5 computer punchers who's work can be done , at least in part, at home. This is not the case for suburban offices which tend to be more hands-on and/or industrial in nature.

You can look at it as either a challenge or opportunity. Most of the vacancies tend to be in older buildings of lower Office Class rankings with large footprints. If done properly these developments could be ripe for transformations over to housing, education, or life/work environments. This has been really taking off in Calgary where there is a massive glut of office space since the oil collapse.

Just because a building was built for one purpose doesn't mean it has to stay that way.. Just look at Citi Plaza which transformed from a dying mall to a centre of entertainment, education, library, and offices.

London was the first city in Canada to move it's central library into it's "Eatons Centre" and it has a huge success and now has been emulated across NA.

ssiguy · #**800** Posted **Oct 4, 2021, 7:21 PM**

^^^^ Funny how I made that comment yesterday and proof of it comes today.

Western has just bought the Swift Building on Queen. It will be a centre for lectures, art, classes, and cultural events. The law business that is in the building is moving to Dufferin Court lowering their vacancies while not adding any new office space. Whether this is being done for no other reason than Fanshawe embarrassing Western by greatly increasing it's downtown presence I don't know but who cares.

Also saw that last year a company named Aspire is opening up an automated "cricket protein" manufacturing centre in the city. It is the first of it's kind in the world and further cements the city's growing reputation as one of Canada's primary agri-food centres. Agric-food is an EXCELLENT and near recession proof industry as demand for food with less environmental impact will only grow and no matter how deep the recession, people will always have to eat. When was the last time you say a grocery store go under? Insect-based protein is growing exponentially and this will continue as climate change increasingly effects our more traditional sources of protein.

London really has created a "critical mass" in terms in technology, workers, infrastructure, innovation, and research to make it one {if not the leading} agri-food centres of the country.