New addition to London skyline would rank among region’s tallest buildings
The high-rise building boom in downtown London, Ont. shows no sign of slowing down.
Holoway Lodging, the owner of the DoubleTree by Hilton, is seeking to rezone the property where its parking garage stands at the northwest corner of King and Waterloo streets.
An application submitted to city hall seeks permission to build a 35-storey, 435 unit, mixed use residential building at 300-320 King Street.
“Thirty-five [storeys], that’s a big tall building!” said neighbour Mike Couture. “We need that kind of development downtown and to support the businesses.”
Towering 110 meters above the ground, the new building would be among the tallest in southwestern Ontario.
However, a skyscraper on that specific property creates a unique challenge.
The parking garage that would be demolished to accommodate a new skyscraper in London, Ont. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)
It would block a line-of-sight communications signal from the top of the City Centre building to London Police Services headquarters in Old East Village.
A consultant’s report recommends either installing a relay link or relocating all the police communications equipment onto the new building.
“We need to make [downtown] a community where people live if we are going to see downtown revitalization,” explained Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis.
Speaking about London’s housing targets to address the current crisis, Lewis said the southeast area of downtown London is in need of intensification.
He’d like to see more applications for parking lots and underutilized properties near the RBC Place Convention Centre.
“This is exactly the type of development that was envisioned when King Street was designated as a rapid transit corridor,” he said. “This is not only a win for our housing targets, but in terms of the overall burden on infrastructure and what it means for the property taxpayer — it’s a win for them as well.
The rezoning request for the 35-storey high rise will be considered by city council in the new year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.