Downtown London's vacancy is 25 per cent, with few easy or cheap solutions, report says

A city staff report pegs downtown London's commercial vacancy rate at 24.5 per cent while suggesting the city look at a  handful of solutions, some that would require the co-operation of property owners and others with a hefty price tag. 

Released this week, the Core Area Land and Building Vacancy Reduction Strategy flags a number of factors hindering the overall economic vibrancy of London's downtown. 

It also confirms what many Londoners have long suspected — that "highly concentrated" ownership in the city's downtown buildings are a problem. 

Farhi Holdings Corporation, owned by landowner Shmuel Farhi, owns 59 per cent of the vacant properties downtown, all of them older and some needing to be redeveloped to be functional. 

Council called for the report last summer, with London's downtown struggling to rebound from the COVID-19 shutdowns and many companies opting to keep employees working from home. 

City staff were asked to deliver a comprehensive look at downtown buildings, assessing how many are vacant while proposing ways to shift empty properties back into use 

Here's a breakdown of some of the factors highlighted in the 67-page report, which you can read here:

The report warns London's vacancy problem could easily get worse without investment in its stock of downtown buildings.

"Without vacant commercial properties being renovated, adapted, or transformed, vacancy levels will continue to increase," the report says.

The report recommends some measures the city could take address these problems, however many of them come with significant budget impacts. 

Office conversions 

With a residential vacancy rate of less than two per cent, office conversions are flagged in the report as a potential part of the solution. It's also something Mayor Josh Morgan directed staff to look into earlier this year. The report is supportive of incentives for conversions and studying their viability but also says it's not a quick or easy solution. One study of 28 downtown Calgary buildings found less than a third were viable conversion candidates.

Coun. David Ferriera, whose Ward 13 includes most of the downtown core, sees the report as a "first step" providing essential information the city needs to tackle the problem. 

He said despite the challenges, converting office space to residential needs a close look.