Weekly Regional Business Intelligence | | | Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc. | | | City to tap reserve fund for District Energy retrofit The city is facing an $8-million bill to retrofit four municipally owned buildings after London District Energy, owned by Toronto-based Enwave Energy Corporation, made the call to shut down its medium-pressure steam line by next October. There won’t be steam in the pipes for long, but there sure is some coming out of the ears of a number of city officials. “I’m very unhappy with Enwave’s decision to decommission,” said Councillor David Ferreira, “and I’m very unhappy with the time frame.” Assuming council approves a plan to tap contingency funds to cover the cost of the retrofit, the city is left with just 13 months to design its replacement, conduct procurement and install the actual systems. Mayor Josh Morgan is also unhappy about the situation the city’s been put in. “If [Enwave] want to have a good reputation in our community, and want to continue to have a great partnership with the city, it needs to do a little bit more than just a community liaison,” he told a city committee on Monday. He’s hoping that Enwave coughs up some cash. The upshot: The four municipal buildings — City Hall, the Central Library, Museum London and Centennial Hall — are top of mind for the city politicians, but there are some residential buildings and homes to think about as well. In May, Enwave suggested there are 12 customers overall that will be affected by the closure of the medium-pressure line, which (if your math is as razor sharp as it is over here at London Inc.) leaves eight buildings that will also need to be retrofit, one of which is Centennial House, the apartment complex nestled between City Hall and Centennial Hall. City staff said that the tight timeline means that accessing materials, expertise and labour are all going to be challenges. Ferreira said the eight additional customers include condo buildings, meaning that some residents may be forced to bear some of these costs directly. “Raising this money could be impossible for some of [the condo boards],” Ferreira said. “What does that mean, does that mean that this building is going to go without heat? That’s what I’m concerned about.” Read more: CBC News London | CTV News London | | | Iconic Bud Gowan building gets green light for residential redevelopment Work should start soon at the old Bud Gowan Antiques building on Clarence Street that will see the old building redeveloped to comprise 12 apartments and some main-level commercial space. Behind the redevelopment is Cento Commercial, an arm of Niagara-based Cento Capital. “The bones are good,” said Andrei Pershin, COO of Cento. “We have had a structural inspection of the building, and the project will be predominantly interior renovations.” The city seems to have been keen to forward the plan that maintains the exterior of the building, including its iconic mural on the south wall. Cento was singing the praises of its relationship with City Hall and suggested the small boutique development firm may be interested in further investment in London. “Your city council has been very supportive the whole way through,” said chief marketing officer Adam Krawec. “If this does go well you could see us here in the future with other projects.” The upshot: Seeing a project to repurpose the Victorian yellow brick building is welcome news. Constructed in 1892, the former factory for women’s corsets was most recently known as the location of Bud Gowan Antiques until its closure in 2012. There have been plans in the past to repurpose this building, including a proposal by lawyer Ian Johnstone in 2017 to turn it into a boutique hotel called Hotel Featherbone. Prior to that, a previous owner — former city councillor John Fyfe-Millar — had planned on turning it into a restaurant called Bud. You can neither stay at the Hotel Featherbone nor eat at Bud, but in 12 to 18 months, you might be able to live there. Read more: CTV News London | | | City Hall revamp pitch yields little private sector interest The city is heading back to the drawing board on its plan to redevelop the City Hall campus after its request for pre-qualification (RFPQ) process yielded only two actual submissions, one of which was subsequently withdrawn. Councillors on the corporate services committee then endorsed a motion by Councillor Steve Lehman to seek a further report from city staff looking into why, of the 35 parties that initially expressed interest, all but one pulled out. “I think all of us were disappointed, quite frankly,” he said. “We’ve been at this now for over 10 years, before my last term of council, it’s time we get moving on what I think we all realize is much needed.” Staff are suggesting the city rethink its procurement process here, recommending that officials cancel the existing RFPQ and issue a negotiated RFP, which they hope will “ensure competitive integrity by opening access to the broader market, with the potential to attract additional proponents and encourage stronger innovation.” The upshot: Council is heading into an election year next year, so there’s a big question to answer: does council want to lock in the redevelopment of the City Hall campus now (and potentially saddle a radically new council with executing the project), or does it want to kick the can down the road for another term? Nobody has more investment in that question than Mayor Morgan, who may face an election where this becomes an issue. He told reporters after the meeting “there is no rush. We’ve got a good capital plan for this building so I think we can take our time on this.” Other councillors want to get things moving. “I would hate to have our ability to act on this expire without taking some action, I think it would reflect poorly on this council, and I just don’t want to put the next council in a difficult position,” said Councillor Sam Trosow. Read more: London Free Press | | | Element5 unveils expanded facility St. Thomas-based mass timber maker Element5 has completed its $107-million expansion project, with plans to add around 150 employees, the company said as it unveiled the newly built facility on Wednesday. “We’re tripling the size of the square footage and doubling the capacity of the line, from 40,000 cubic metres to 80,000 cubic metres. Our trajectory just keeps going up and up and up every year,” said Element5 president Chris Latour. “It really places us as the leading manufacturer in mass timber in North America.” The province, which invested $3.5 million in the facility last year amid a push to modernize building codes as it relates to mass timber, cheered on the expansion. “This investment will strengthen made-in-Ontario supply chains and create new opportunities for Ontario forestry workers well into the future,” said natural resources minister Mike Harris. The upshot: As we’ve written before when it comes to Element5, there’s a lot of buzz in mass timber as an eco-friendly, cost-effective building material that will help the province hit its housing targets (which it certainly needs help doing). Mass timber buildings use large, solid wood panels for structural elements such as floors, walls and roofs, utilizing engineered wood products like cross-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber. “Our affordable housing series that we did in Kitchener for the YWCA, we got the building up in 18 days, which is by far the fastest in the industry,” Latour told CTV News London. “It really changes the whole trajectory of how housing is built. And they were able to move tenants in 12 months after starting the project.” The province said it is looking into how high they would be willing to go with mass timber buildings. With speedy construction timelines like that, Element5 might also have the feds calling soon, given the recent announcement of its plan to build thousands of homes through the Build Canada Homes agency. Read more: CTV News London | Ontario.ca | | | City retains AAA credit rating The city has held onto its AAA credit rating from Moody’s, city officials announced this week. The rating is the highest rating a municipality can achieve. “As London grows, maintaining our AAA credit rating for another consecutive year is a strong sign of our city’s sound financial management,” said Mayor Josh Morgan. “This top rating helps ensure we have the flexibility to invest in our community while keeping costs manageable for residents. It’s a testament to the commitment and professionalism of our senior financial team and everyone at City Hall.” In a press release, the city said that while growth has put some upward pressure on the city’s debt levels, Moody’s “does not see this as a change in the city’s strong debt management policies.” The upshot: You’re excused if we had to nudge you from a slumber you fell into reading about municipal fiscal capacity. We know it’s not the most exciting of topics, but it is one you might start to hear about a little more frequently. There are some debt hawks who have claimed that some municipalities in Ontario (Sudbury is one example) are seeing their per-capita debt expand to the limits of sustainability, particularly in a higher interest rate era. But on the flipside, there are housing advocates, like those at the Missing Middle Initiative, who point to the generally high credit ratings of Ontario municipalities and argue that cities have more fiscal room than they make use of, and that using it would allow them to reduce reliance on development charges. Like we said, not the sexiest topic in the world, but one you’ll likely start hearing more about as cities try to tackle gaps in housing and infrastructure. Read more: London.ca | | | Cafézia partners with Children’s Health Foundation London-based Cafézia, makers of herb-infused, slow-release caffeine coffee that helps reduce jitters and enhance mental focus, is partnering with the Children’s Health Foundation on a new campaign. The partnership will see Cafézia donate 15 per cent of proceeds to the Children’s Health Foundation. It’s a nice news story amid the persistent storm clouds that seem to hover over London’s hospitals these days. “If you take the Children’s Hospital, tip it upside down, and give it a shake, everything that falls out is donor funded,” said CHF’s director of corporate partnerships, Becky Malacaria. “We hope to leverage this meaningful partnership with Cafézia and their network, to raise awareness and vital funds to help children receiving care at Children’s Hospital, LHSC. I hope this partnership inspires other companies to consider donating to Children’s Health Foundation.” The upshot: Cafézia’s owner, Jenna Goodhand (pictured), said the campaign was personal for her. “My son Beckett was born three months early,” she said in a press release. “I was terrified and felt completely dependent on the hospital’s team and resources to keep my son alive, safe and healthy. Thirteen years later, I feel like my full-grown healthy son is the result of the life-saving equipment, resources and team at Children’s Hospital.” Josh Taylor, manager of business development at the London Economic Development Corp., added it is “a great example of how businesses here are finding creative ways to support families and strengthen our community.” Read more: LEDC | | | Dispatch: September 19, 2025 A summary of recent business appointments and announcements, plus event listings for the upcoming week. View listings here | | | | |