Heritage Issues

[jammer139]

Work to begin on the renovations to the interior of St Peters Basilica.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/st-peters-basilica-9.7223454

[jammer139]

Noticed the For Sale or Lease signs are up on the "Landlords" former Childrens Museum on Wharncliffe overlooking the river. Hopefully a real developer buys this former school/museum and builds a high rise residential tower that incorporates as much of the old school building in the design. The location is excellent given the view of the river below and towards the downtown and forks. The property sits on higher ground on the south side of the river above the flood plain. An Architect would have alot of fun figuring out how to incorporate a tall high rise building into the existing structure. Obviously the construction and engineering costs would be high.

[K85]

If they build a tower there, I would be absolutely jealous of some of the views those units would have. Facing north, with downtown and Labatt Park to the right, Thames to the left...........

[jammer139]

Interesting story on a couple of properties being considered for heritage designation.


The six-storey former Hunt Bros. Flour Mill at 471 Nightingale Ave. was constructed in 1917 in the heart of what’s been dubbed the Smokestack District, a historic industrial area that also includes 100 Kellogg Lane and the former Beta Brands/McCormick’s Biscuit factory.


The provincial government has set a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline for municipalities to remove buildings from their heritage registry that have not been designated.


The former flower mill is one of just 13 shortlisted buildings chosen for evaluation from London’s registry of more than 2,000 potential heritage buildings.




https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/in...itage-designation-but-committee-says-no/

[MolsonExport]

I've always been curious about that building. I hope it can be preserved or rehabilitated. There are few interesting structures in London. This is one of them. Imagine loft apartments.

[DireRaven]

Originally Posted by jammer139

Interesting story on a couple of properties being considered for heritage designation.


The six-storey former Hunt Bros. Flour Mill at 471 Nightingale Ave. was constructed in 1917 in the heart of what’s been dubbed the Smokestack District, a historic industrial area that also includes 100 Kellogg Lane and the former Beta Brands/McCormick’s Biscuit factory.


The provincial government has set a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline for municipalities to remove buildings from their heritage registry that have not been designated.


The former flower mill is one of just 13 shortlisted buildings chosen for evaluation from London’s registry of more than 2,000 potential heritage buildings.




https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/in...itage-designation-but-committee-says-no/

I agree with the PEC on this one... doesn't feel like it or many of the buildings on that list should be listed as heritage buildings. The cost to maintain them gets really high. The owner hopefully has some interesting plans for it.

[jammer139]

It's been Nova Craft Canoe for decades now although I believe the top floors have been empty. If it was structurally sound it could be renovated into loft apartments and be part of the new community the owners of Kelloggs is planning.

[Snark]

Originally Posted by DireRaven

I agree with the PEC on this one... doesn't feel like it or many of the buildings on that list should be listed as heritage buildings. The cost to maintain them gets really high. The owner hopefully has some interesting plans for it.

The problem with an official designation is that it is only welcome by hardcore heritage advocates, or niche owners/developers with a deep commitment to heritage. For the mainstream owner or developer however such a designation is a bit like a woman of hundreds of years ago being forced to wear a scarlet letter: an untouchable to be ostracized and persona non grata. Unless someone is willing to put their money where their mouth is, much like the aforementioned woman no one else would touch that building with that designation with a 10 foot pole.

It would be very difficult to find a developer who will pay double or triple the nominal construction cost to rehabilitate the ancient structure and then convert it into residential, jump through the labyrinth of special heritage restrictions and approvals, and then be able to turn a profit considering the limited number of units that could go into that size of building and what the asking price per unit could be charged to tenets/condo owners considering the working class/post-industrial wasteland that neighbourhood is. It might be economically feasible if this was in a trendy spot in Manhattan, but it certainly isn’t that.

Yes, the building is very interesting and it would be very interesting to see what could be done with it by a dedicated heritage developer with very, very deep pockets and patience. I can’t imagine that the current owner is that guy though (unless he’s a lot richer than he seemed on TV). I suspect that he just wants to be able to sell it for a reasonable price in the future, and an official heritage designation would likely badly handicap that price, or even no one being interested in buying it at all.

[MolsonExport]

We could let Farhi take it over and watch the building crumble for another 20 years. Buy, empty, rot, and somehow still make money.
As Farhi’s slogan goes: An empty building is our most prized asset

The guy already owns half of London.

[Djeffery]

I suspect that the owner has it because it came with the somewhat newer attached warehouse that his manufacturing takes place in. I wouldn't be shocked if this gets heritage status put on it that he looks for an exit strategy out of London completely. Sure, loft apartments are cool, but in this location? Railway spur right outside the windows, which surprisingly gets a lot of rail traffic on it being a wye. Big stamping plant across the road that isn't going anywhere. Maybe the possibility that the lands to the south between this and Dundas gets developed decades down the road? Maybe by that point, someone wants to take this on.

I don't know that there's enough potential revenue out of this building to make it worth someone's while to acquire that whole property, demolish or develop the one floor warehouse and then all the money required in the 6 floor building to renovate it. Rough google earth estimate says each floor is about 5000 sq ft, so what's that, about 6 ok size one bedroom units per floor? People talk about affordable housing here. Gonna take a lot of government money to make that happen because an owner likely wouldn't pay the interest on a construction loan with the rent off 30-35 units at what that area could command in rent.

[MolsonExport]

it would be a shame if it were lost, but I get the reality of the situation. There is only one or two of its kind in this part of Ontario (I am thinking about that warehouse near the CNR tracks, south of downtown).

[jammer139]

Great news with purchase of Beth Emanuel Episcopal Church.

One of Canada's oldest Black churches has been sold to a community leader who plans to keep the historical gathering place for London's Black community, while adding affordable housing and other amenities to the site.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/be...ethodist-episcopal-church-sold-9.7298581

[MolsonExport]

good news.