London, Ont. approves first application for office-to-residential program
Global News
The former Rexall building at 166 Dundas St., at the corner of Dundas and Richmond streets, is being transformed into 15 residential units.
The City of London has approved its first successful application to the new office-to-residential community improvement program (CIP).
The former Rexall building at 166 Dundas St., at the corner of Dundas and Richmond streets, is being transformed into 15 residential units. Floors three through five will be primarily two-bedroom residential units, with one of these units being a one-bedroom. On the first and second floors, there will still be commercial space. At this time, it is still undetermined what store, or stores, will occupy the lower levels.
“This project is significant because it sees the achievement of multiple strategic initiatives all rolled into one: the creation of new housing, the repurposing of vacant commercial space, and our walk towards the revitalization of downtown,” Ward 13 Coun. David Ferreira says. “It highlights what our city is doing in a time of crisis and need, and it shows what happens when we come together with ideas.”
The real estate development firm MAAS Group recently purchased the building from Farhi Holdings and promptly decided to convert the unused office spaces into residential units.
“Construction is underway now, and those units will be ready for occupancy by this fall,” Mayor Josh Morgan says.
The project for this building received $414,947 of the available $10 million in funding from the city, but there is flexibility in the event it requires more, or if there are funds remaining post-construction that can be allocated to another project.
“When we see people investing money in this core of the city at this iconic corner of our city, we know things are changing and on the move,” Morgan says. “Downtown is getting better and things are improving. It’s unquestionable that we are moving in the right direction. Now that doesn’t mean there’s not a ton of work left to do, but we are undeniably better than we were 12 to 18 months ago.”
The program provides a grant that functions as a forgivable loan, up to $2 million per property. Across the city, there are 7,100 high-density residential units under construction.
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