There is a lovely area in London, Ontario, that used to house a large hospital and many ancillary buildings and operations. It is near downtown and abuts the south branch of the Thames River. In keeping with our adaptation and adoption of Brit names, the area is referred to as "SOHO", in part because the hospital was on South Street and was often referred to as SOuth HOspital.
The hospital has moved, as have the ancillary operations. The space and real estate could likely be a prime development area. Enter the local politicians, dreamers, possibly shady dealings, and perhaps even undetailed and undefined cronyism.
Mayor Joe Fontana’s dream of reaping political bang from a $300-million mega-project he touted as a huge boost for London’s core may be going bust.
More than two years after the mayor unveiled the downtown gateway project, it appears developer Fincore Canada might have difficulty pulling it off, given apparent troubles at a much smaller project outside the city.
Fincore isn’t talking about the status of the twin-towered project Fontana announced in his “state of the city” address two years ago. Neither is Fontana...
Repeated calls for an update from Fincore principal Loredana Onesan, once a fellow board member with Fontana for a charity whose charitable status was yanked, have gone unanswered.
The massive anti-aging and wellness development was announced for the north bank of the Thames River, east of Wellington St. Its design features towers of 26 and 18 storeys, linked by medical, commercial and residential components and even a church.Fincore rezoned some land it doesn’t yet own for the development, prompting landowners to appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board. Those issues were resolved and there’s no legal barrier to the project’s first phase on land Fincore owns or controls.
The Free Press has learned the company has a troubled history as a developer, raising questions about its SoHo development.
The confused and confusing layers of intricacies of entwined dealings in this city make me wonder how any municipal politician can keep track of what goes on here (or in any large city).
Irrelevant Digression: I met the current mayor once. He was at a mystery dinner theatre show I did a year or two ago.