The next phases for the wildly successful reconverted former Kellogg factory in London, Ont. are about to take place, and this will “complete the puzzle” of reviving a once dormant neighbourhood east of the city’s core, according to a local observer.
Alexander Wray, a planning and development expert at the city’s Western University, said the planned mixed-use development of residential and office towers with low-rise housing – to take place over several years — will make the area a “complete precinct.”
This builds on the past decade’s ambitious conversion of the cereal plant into an entertainment and shopping district, highlighted by Canada’s first Hard Rock Hotel, which opened this spring. Overall, more than $100 million has been invested by principals to date, including the three-partner local Cribbage Group and Dora Hotel Co., into what’s marketed as 100 Kellogg Lane.
Kellogg closed the 100-year-old factory in 2014 and two years later the Cribbage Group purchased the multi-storey brick buildings and began transforming them into Canada’s biggest indoor adventure park, the Powerhouse Brewery, The Club House indoor sports and dining, Paradigm Spirits Co. and the London Children’s Museum.
The hotel completed the picture.
Wray called the reimagined campus a “fantastic example of industrial conversion. You really don’t see this large of an industrial property in a lot of places anymore. It also was in quite good condition to be ready for conversion.”
The site, four kilometres east of downtown, has been a success, drawing locals and a regional market within two hours away.
Cribbage Group spokeswoman Katrina Strickland said the appeal came from repurposing the area, creating “a sense of nostalgia while preserving the city’s history.”
The scale, profile and quality of tenants may seem out of place for a city of 420,000 but the development fulfilled a gap. Wray said the mid-sized city was “starved” for quality commercial and retail. He said the current malls are small and outdated and downtown has been moribund. Plus, there are large swaths of parking with good road access.
The next phases consist of one 44-storey, two 30-storey and one six-storey tower, along with stacked townhouses with a five-storey integrated and one standalone parking garages.
There will be almost 1,000 apartments, 200 additional hotel suites and 2,500 parking spaces. There will be 18,000 square metres of commercial, office and entertainment spaces and 4,500 square metres of converted office space. The buildings would be located on separate blocks on two sides east and north of the current campus.
The developer has submitted the official plan and bylaw amendments and a public meeting will be held in September.
The development would also be a “transit village” – a kind of transit-oriented development on steroids – integrated into the city’s bus rapid transit network now under construction.
Wray likes the fact it may also open the depressed Old East Village of London, located east of the downtown core.
“It’s kind of ground zero, unfortunately, for London’s social challenges,” he said.
Strickland wouldn’t discuss the future cost but London Coun. Steve Lehman, who chairs the planning committee, suggested “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Strickland said the development dovetails on the original entertainment district with attributes that are “character, heritage, green, sustainable and connected.”
She also suggested it will be a “catalyst for long-term urban renewal, making Old East Village a more vibrant, livable and inclusive part of the city.”
London’s planning director Heather McNeely said this isn’t the city’s largest clustered development. Those are the former London Psychiatric Hospital lands and the proposed Esam Group (a staggering 51 buildings) subdivision.
But this “may be the largest industrial-to-mixed-use adaptive reuse campus.”
City Coun. Susan Stevenson said there are concerns around traffic.
“Certainly, the (building) heights are huge compared to what is there now,” she said.
She hopes the BRT will work its magic, but two intersections could face overcapacity.
“I would just really be looking to see where we can be proactive around ensuring that the traffic does flow in the areas where it needs to flow and that there’s safety on side streets,” she said.
