Nearly four years after it was approved by the city council, the site of a planned 40-story tower opposite Museum London remains as it was in June 2021: A cluster of empty buildings.
Owned by Farhi Holdings Corp., the properties at 435-451 Ridout St. N. was the subject of a development application to build a mixed-use tower and add 280 much-needed homes to the core of the city in southwestern Ontario.
At the time, the application raised eyebrows. Farhi is better known for owns properties in central Londonmany of them without tenants.
After debates in council chambers over concerns about flooding, the height of the tower and concerns about preserving the heritage properties, the building was approved by a 12-2 vote.
Stephen Turner, one of the two council members at the time who voted against Farhi’s plan, was skeptical the site would ever see a shovel.
“I don’t have a lot of faith that this building will ever be built,” said Turner, who did not seek re-election in the 2022 municipal election. “I tell the applicant, ‘Prove me wrong,’ but I’m not really convinced.”
In March, CBC News contacted Farhi Holdings Corp. for comments on the status of the project.
The company declined an interview, but said in a statement that it has “carefully developed the 451 Ridout project for over 15 years.”
The CBC also asked for an update this week but his staff declined an interview.
Farhi mentions “number of barriers to project initiation”
The March statement to the CBC said a number of factors have delayed the start date, including the city’s construction of the Downtown Loop bus rapid transit route, the financial fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and an appeal filed by heritage advocates, which has since been dropped.
“Currently we are focused on finalizing our site plan application, an important step before construction begins. Unfortunately, there are a number of obstacles to project initiation beyond the required site plan approvals.”
Among the obstacles listed in Farhi’s statement:
- Steep interest rates.
- High residential turnover in the centre.
- A “lack of incentives” available to developers in London, which Farhi’s statement says are available in other jurisdictions, including Windsor and Oshawa.
The city’s planning office confirmed to the CBC that no site plan application has been submitted for the property, a step that comes before planning permission is issued and construction can begin. The city also hasn’t received a permit to change that property, which is required because the yellow brick buildings on the property are listed. An amendment permit for the cultural monument would be required before a building permit could be issued.
Farhi’s penchant for sitting on properties in London was the focus of a feature film in the Globe and Mail last week.
Other towers come to the core
Meanwhile, a lot has happened in central London since 2021.
A number of residential towers with high density have been approved, i.a a plan by York Developments to build two towers, 53 and 43 stories, nearby at 50 King St. It’s a project that will bring 800 units to London’s core.
Steps away, Old Oak Properties is now leasing and putting the finishing touches on the first tower of the Centro development on the block bordered by Dufferin, Talbot and Fullarton streets. When completed, it will bring more than 650 units to downtown, 110 of them below market value.
London councils have also moved to speed up housing construction, with the city facing rapid growth and falling vacancy rates all contributing to an ongoing the housing crisis.
In 2023, the city pledged to build 47,000 units by 2031, and the council receives regular updates on progress toward that goal.
A staff report to the council in September said development applications amounting to just under 20,000 homes have been approved by the council since the pledge, but remain at various stages of approval. The same report said that 51 percent of these applications are considered “inactive” because they have not progressed to development stages over a two-year period.
Mayor Josh Morgan told CBC News he has no update on Farhi’s plans for the Ridout property but said he is willing to work with any developer to expedite approved projects through to the construction phase.
“There are a large number of buildings, not just from this developer, but from developers across the city, that have council approval and they haven’t moved forward yet,” he said. “My approach is to work with all the developers in the city on the things that the council has approved to find out what the obstacles are and how we can make them happen.”
Tower projects are complex, developers say
London Development Institute (LDI) chief executive Mike Wallace said the city was making progress in getting shovels into the ground on approved projects. He also said that building towers in a downtown core is a complex process affected by several variables.
“The labor needed to build high-rises requires very specialized trades, and these trades are very busy these days,” says Wallace.
He said it takes careful planning to ensure building permits are approved and ready when crews are available. With high demand for labor, crews cannot be kept idle if the approval process is delayed.
His group represents a handful of London’s biggest developers. Farhi Holdings is not represented by LDI and Wallace has no knowledge of why the Ridout project has not started.
Wallace also said economic conditions, such as high interest rates, can throw off the economics of a tower project.
“You get to sit and not build right away until demand comes back, and that’s happening now.”
By August, London had added 4,400 new units, roughly nine per cent of the target of 47,000 units, since the housing pledge was made. According to a staff report, the rate is increasing, but is still below the rate required to reach the target
“While we are ahead of the 2023 results, further efforts will be required to close the gap and meet future targets,” the report said.
