Latest news with #CitiPlaza
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
From shoppers to taxpayers: Citi Plaza touted to become interim City Hall
Owners of Citi Plaza want it to become an interim London City Hall. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London) The owners of Citi Plaza want it to become an interim London City Hall. The mall is pegged as the perfect space to house city employees while the current city hall is renovated and redeveloped. In its early years, Citi Plaza, then Galleria Mall, was briefly a vibrant shopping centre. But that was three decades ago. Today, it is a mix of a few retail outlets, a health club and offices. The rest of the space, which spans some 300,000 square feet, remains vacant. The realtor representing the property concedes it will never be what it once was. 'We are transitioning from a retail facility to a large floor plate office campus. So that's their plan. And they've already got some success in parts of the building,' said George Kerhoulas, of Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Realty. Some of that success is office space occupied by the Middlesex-London Health Unit and the City of London. Now, Citi Plaza wants City Hall to expand its footprint. With the municipality in the earliest stages of planning the renovation and redevelopment of the current city hall, Citi Plaza proposes serving as an interim hub as construction takes place at 300 Dufferin. Kerhoulas said an architect has drawn up renderings of what the space could look like. 060405 - City hall Owners of Citi Plaza want it to become an interim London City Hall. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London) 'We figured it's going to take a lot longer than they think. And you're already in our building, so why don't we move everybody over to our building for a decade while you're doing everything you need to do on Dufferin & Wellington.' The proposal has been in the hands of City Hall since late last year. But as it was unsolicited, there has been no feedback from 300 Dufferin. On the streets outside Citi-Plaza, lifelong Londoner Materia Steele recalled more vibrant days. 'I spent a lot of time in the library and whatnot. It was always packed with people,' said Steele. 'But since then, and since COVID, obviously, just everything has completely collapsed, and it's been very disappointing to see.' This is why she would welcome the temporary move to City Hall. 'Having it in a more accessible location would be significantly better, especially near the library, it is a decent idea,' said Steele. 'I would prefer to see some retail in there, I don't think in-store shopping is necessarily dead yet,' said Richard Cliffen, before adding, 'I do think it is an acceptable solution for the time being.' As part of the enticement package, Kerhoulas said the package reminds the city of the ample parking, plans for a roof garden, and flexible design options offered at Citi Plaza. 'There are just a lot of things that we can do to make it attractive for, you know, ten years while the transition goes.'
CBC
02-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Why sandwich shops are the latest slice of London's food scene
Social Sharing Some London restaurateurs are working to fill a niche in the city which they believe has been lacking for too many years: a good sandwich shop. From the downtown core to Old East Village, at least three new sandwich shop storefronts have popped up in the last six months. "Sandwiches are a comfort food for people," said Shaddy Alkhatib, owner of The Bread Bowl, a new sandwich shop set to open in mid-May at 354 Wellington St., across from Citi Plaza. "I think it all goes back to when we were kids. The first thing your mom makes you for lunch is sandwiches. You grow up eating sandwiches for lunch, and then when you outgrow that and actually get into a work career, you start to feel like you want a sandwich to feel that comfort and nostalgia." With the goal of catering to downtown's office crowd, Alkhatib plans to sell traditional deli sandwiches, such as pastrami, corned beef and turkey, with Halal options available. While the take-out spot will also serve soups and bread bowls, Alkhatib said he primarily wanted to open a sandwich shop because it seemed to be missing from the area. "When I was doing my research, trying to come across sandwich shops was hard to find," he said. "I feel like sandwiches are something that needs to hit the city harder." A 15-minute walk away at 525 Richmond St., Zack Agathos had the same idea when he opened Al Paninos in April. "There was a niche in the market that had to be captured, and I felt with the experience of us being in the industry, it was something that we could bring to London," said Agathos, whose family has run several restaurants throughout the city, including Huron House and Icarus. The increased interest in one type of food isn't something exclusive to sandwich shops, according to Renee's Sandwich Shop co-owner Renee Kaplansky, who added food trends happen often. "It's very indicative of London; London has nothing and then all of a sudden, has 10 of them," said Kaplansky, who opened her sandwich shop at 1018 Dundas St. in October. "I feel like sandwiches have been trendy a little bit," she said. "Maybe it's my algorithm, but it pops up a lot on my TikTok and Instagram, and I just think that London's catching up to the other cities that probably already had a few sandwich shops there." Simple meal, without the work While the three restaurateurs all agree that sandwiches can be a relatively simple meal, they say there is something special about getting it from a restaurant. "Everything tastes good if somebody else makes it for you," Alkhatib said. Agathos said he wants his customers to enjoy the service and atmosphere of his restaurant when they pick up a bite. "It's a family feel, what we're doing here," he said. "Most people are good cooks, but when you come here, you just see it put together a little differently. We don't complicate things and just try to give everybody a good, comfortable experience." Despite more sandwich shops opening in the city, it's the personal touches that will allow them to exist among each other, Kaplansky said. "The beautiful thing is that we're a huge city so there's more than enough business to go around and I wish everybody great success," she said. Her shop serves both hot and cold items, including chicken schnitzel and turkey brie sandwiches, all using homemade sauces and bread baked in-house daily. Meanwhile, Al Paninos has a Greek-Italian menu, with classic items such as chicken parmesan, Philly cheesesteak and club sandwiches. The shop uses homemade ingredients and bread from a local London bakery, Agathos said. "It's the best thing I've eaten in my entire life," said Travis Moffat, who was eating the "Big Al" meatball sandwich at Al Paninos Thursday. He said it was already his second visit to the shop since it opened three weeks ago. "I get to get out of the house and I don't have to do any of the work."
CBC
09-04-2025
- CBC
London police chief launches new strategy to curb blatant drug use in public
London, Ont., police officers will no longer pass by people who are using illegal drugs on city streets and will instead try to talk to them and get them help, the police chief said Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, the new approach, dubbed Project Pathways, will enable officers to crack down on open-air drug use, which has made downtown, midtown and Old East Village feel unsafe, Chief Thai Truong said. Officers will also arrest people and take away their drugs if they become combative, he added. "One of the complaints in this community is that open drug use is occurring, and our officers are just walking by. We've heard that loud and clear. We're expecting our officers to engage. There's an expectation they will engage," he said. "We need to pivot." All the officers involved in the project will have body-worn cameras, Truong said, and have undergone additional training to deal with people who might be high or coming off drugs. Officers will work alongside mental health and addiction workers, he added. "Part of this is about outreach, about policing with kindness and compassion. Arrest is not the first course of action. We have to ask, 'What does that person need?' If an individual is not compliant, then enforcement is an option." In most cases, people using drugs need help, and that's what officers will try to offer them. But, those who have a "complete disregard for others will be held to account," Truong said. "This is about balanced enforcement when appropriate." It'll be up to officers to decide if they should arrest someone or arrest and charge them, but either way, illegal drugs will be confiscated, Truong said. The project will be re-evaluated in six months to see if it should be made permanent. Right now, one or two teams of foot patrol officers walk the beat. That will increase to three or four teams. Some teams will be paired with workers with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Thames Valley. "This collaboration builds on existing partnerships ... The current demand outweighs our capacity to provide care to those who want it in our community. Through partnerships, we can continue to expand our reach. We will direct people to our community programs that are tailored to their needs," said Pam Tobin, CEO of CMHA Thames Valley. "By meeting people where they are, we remove barriers, ease system navigation, and ensure that support is delivered with compassion and respect." Funding from the program will come from the existing police budget. For business owners such as Kadhim Hasan, who owns a variety store at Dundas and Clarence streets, it's a small step in the right direction. "We need more to be done, clearly," he said after listening to the news conference at the police station. "We have to deal with the roots of the problem. That's very important, because it affects every society and community. The problem is much bigger than just local people can solve." Bonnie Wludyka, the property manager at Citi Plaza, in the heart of downtown, said she's hopeful the new approach will work. "It's a good strategy to get started with," she said. "I think it will be fluid, and I think that's important. To be too regimented at this point, we probably wouldn't see the results." Officers will walk the beat and get to know people who need help, Truong said. They'll work alongside outreach workers from London Cares, who are on the street every day helping people. "We have really solid relationships with people; they know every single person out on the street, so they're going to leverage those relationships to create trust and make sure there is care for people," said Chris Moss, the executive director of London Cares.
