ON Economic Fundamentals 2008-10

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1008TNTO
Zoning problems, not credit crunch, doomed condo project: developer

A major Toronto developer says his condo projects are on track despite the global credit crunch and real estate downturn, but one east end loft has been scrapped after losing a zoning battle.

The sign has come down for Leslieville Lofts, off Queen Street East, after the Ontario Municipal Board ruled against the nine-storey proposal from Lamb Development Corp and Hyde Park Homes.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=896638

 

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1008TNTO
Homeowners reeling from revaluations

Many Toronto homeowners are suffering assessment shock after receiving new estimates of their home`s value, including a North Toronto man whose house has shot up 52%.

Notices started arriving in the mail last week, with the average Toronto increase at 5.4%. But many homeowners are receiving valuation increases many times higher.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=896647

 

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1008LNDN
Wal-Mart plans on hold

London city council voted unanimously yesterday to buck the wishes of the world`s biggest retailer and instead have public officials lead an inquiry over how best to develop land next to Meadowlily Woods. The vote puts on hold plans by a developer tied to Wal-Mart to use experts of its own choice to propose a big box mall, allowing city hall to engage its own experts to decide what sort of development suits an area in south London that`s now largely a mix of rural and residential.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...150391-sun.html

 

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1008BTFD
City urged to expand transit

City councillors are looking at a plan to expand Brantford Transit and improve service in a bid to win a major increase in ridership.

The plan, developed after a review of the service by Entra Consulting, carries a long list of recommendations that calls for capital expenditures of $19 million over five years to buy more buses, replace aging ones, upgrade the downtown terminal and enhance customer service.

It also calls for $1.3 million in additional costs in the operating budget over the same period to: Hire more bus drivers;

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDi....aspx?e=1256055

 

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1008OTWA
Illegal rooming house green lit

A group of Hintonburg residents failed to shut down a rooming house they say is bad for their neighbourhood and that has operated illegally for almost a decade.

But the city`s licence committee granted the landlord a licence to operate after several "pie in the sky" ideas became conditions. Coun. Maria McRae, who heads the three-member committee, asked the city`s lawyer Stuart Huxley if the rooming house at 1108 Somerset St. West was operating illegally.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...149721-sun.html

 

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1008OTWA
Ottawa new home sales off 37.6% in September

Ottawa new house sales fell 37.6 per cent in September as buyers worried about the federal election outcome and the growing global financial crisis.

The sales slowdown was across the board, with townhouse and double-unit sales dropping faster at 44 per cent, single-family unit sales off 32 per cent and condominium apartment sales were also down sharply. It was the third straight month of declines.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...8f-6e0fba21806e

 

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1008OTWA
Chelsea Creek developers clear major hurdle

The proposed Chelsea Creek project in Old Chelsea has taken a significant step forward, thanks to a surprising reverse petition that blocks a referendum on the controversial housing project.

InHarmony developers Marc Shank and Mike Simon were able to obtain 41 signatures -- 50 per cent plus one -- of eligible voters whose property is contiguous to the 83-acre development area.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/c...7b-858aac574a48

 

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1008HAMN
Hwy 6 improvements not enough: Critics

The province has launched a series of improvements to a deadly stretch of Highway 6, but critics say the upgrades are not enough.

In briefing note sent to Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott from Transportation Minister Jim Bradley`s office, the ministry said it recently added better signs and pavement markings to the section of the highway between Highways 403 and 401.

The upgrades come in after an investigation by The Record revealed that 22 people have been killed on the 24-km stretch of Highway 6 since 2000, the highest number of fatalities in on any stretch of provincial highway in recent years.

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/453254

 

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1008HAMN
All on board for light rail line

Hamilton has taken a united, symbolic step to show its support for light rail transit -- as long as Metrolinx pays for a new system.

The city`s public works committee voted unanimously yesterday to let staff push Metrolinx to include an east-west light rail transit (LRT) line in the provincial Crown agency`s 2009-13 budget.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/453147

 

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1008KWCG
Cambridge getting train relief

CAMBRIDGE

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is ready to move its slow freight trains out of the way on Hespeler Road -- permanently.

In return, Waterloo Region would scrap plans to build a $25-million bridge over the tracks just north of the delta intersection. Construction of that two-year project was set to start next year.

"This is a great deal for the region," Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said yesterday.

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/432000

 

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1008KWCG
Wal-Mart blends with local esthetic

WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP

A new Wal-Mart taking shape north of Waterloo, near the St. Jacobs Farmers` Market, will have an unusual clock tower, fieldstone facade and a partially pitched roof to blend in with architecture in the surrounding area.

"One foot in rural, one foot in urban," is the theme for the design of the 134,000-square-foot store, says store manager James Meagher.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/432009

 

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1008DSCG
Tax hike of 5 per-cent for 2009 not likely, warns Scugog mayor

SCUGOG -- A five per-cent hike on the municipal portion of 2009`s property taxes is "not going to fly" with council and local residents, warned Scugog`s mayor as the Township turned its attention Monday to upcoming budget talks. As the Oct. 20 municipal committees meeting wrapped up, Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce queried staff on the timetable and process being used to formulate the 2009 budget.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/scugog/article/110956

 

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1008DUXB
Proposed hall site comes under fire

UXBRIDGE -- It looks like it will be a tough job for Uxbridge to settle on a location for a new fire hall.

Unlike the first meeting in mid-September to gather public feedback about where to build a new hall, which drew little interest, residents packed council chambers on Oct. 15 to hear about the short-listed options from consultant Jim Gough, a senior project manager with MMM Group. The current hall on Bascom Street is too small, as identified by the Fire Underwriters Survey. Renovating it is not an option, the audience heard.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/uxbridge/article/110882

 

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1008TNTO
Councillor queries city`s land transfer tax `math`

The City of Toronto now says it has collected $130 million from its new land transfer tax since the levy on real estate sales came into effect Feb. 1.

The updated figure was provided in a news release yesterday after the Star reported that the take for the first five months (February through June) was $54.8 million.

City finance officials did not respond to repeated requests for further details yesterday or Monday.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/521673

 

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1008LNDN
Huron`s $300M wind farm project axed

Huron County has been dealt another economic blow with the cancellation of a $300-million wind farm project.

Edmonton-based Epcor Utilities Inc. and the Ontario Power Authority terminated their agreement that would have the company build a wind farm called Kingsbridge II in AshfieldColborne-Wawanosh. Epcor planned to erect 69 wind turbines, producing 160 megawatts -- enough to power almost 50,000 homes.

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/200...161266-sun.html

 

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1008CATH
Region faces $670M shortfall

Niagara Region faces a $670- million capital funding shortfall over the next 10 years, raising the spectre of higher taxes or axed projects.

Regional councillors learned last week the Region will need about $1.6 billion to pay for the next decade of water, sewer, garbage and road projects.

The problem is, Niagara could have less than $1 billion available to do it.

"It`s a major concern," St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan said Tuesday.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/Article....aspx?e=1258670

 

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1008ONTR
Charge more for water: report

Ontario`s environment commissioner is urging the province to impose higher fees on more factories and industrial plants when they take large amounts of water from Lake Ontario and other watercourses. In his annual report released yesterday, Gord Miller said the Ministry of the Environment didn`t go far enough in its new water-taking charges that apply to water-bottling companies, as well as to other commercial and industrial permit holders that remove massive quantities of water from lakes and rivers across the province.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/200...22/7163521.html

 

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1008OTWA
City vulnerable to economic downturn: Watchdog

A local economic watchdog suggests that, while the city has not suffered so far from the economic slowdown, it may yet be vulnerable. In its third quarter report for 2008, the Corporate Research Group says Ottawa`s economy is clearly driven by the federal government, and so far there is little sign the nation`s capital has been affected by the global economic slowdown.

http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndReg...159686-sun.html

 

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1008HAMN
City committee wants to save St. Mark`s

Hamilton`s economic development and planning committee wants to save, not sell, the 130-year-old former St. Mark`s Anglican church that the city owns.

The committee yesterday recommended city council rescind a motion declaring the property at Bay and Hunter streets surplus and take it off the market.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/453452

 

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1008HAMN
Halton threatens development ban in cash fight

Memo from Halton Region:

Show us the money.

Otherwise, we won`t connect our pipes to the toilet or kitchen sink in the brand new home you have planned for the suburbs.

Regional chair Gary Carr would like to send that ultimatum to Queen`s Park and developers in a showdown over funding for hospitals and other infrastructure that could bring final approvals for 40,000 new homes in Milton and north Oakville to a grinding halt.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/453449