Another St. Thomas manufacturer is closing, throwing 150 people out of work one week before Christmas. Alcoa Electrical and Electronics Solutions told its workers yesterday they are victims of the slowing economy in the U.S. and the downturn in manufacturing.
1008OTWA Court rejects bid to get a look at development documents
Three judges yesterday put the kibosh on efforts by a group of environmentalists to force two local developers to turn over documents related to a residential development in the city`s south end. The judges threw out a request by Greenspace Alliance of Canada`s Capital for a judicial review of a recent Ontario Municipal Board ruling in which the OMB refused to hear the group`s argument as to why the development should not continue.
1008OTWA Committee orders city staff to look at licensing landlords
Over the protest of the area`s landlords association, city council`s community services committee narrowly voted yesterday to consider a licensing regime for private landlords.
The motion came as the committee was discussing recommendations arising out of a recent tenants` conference organized with the city`s help. Participants called for a system that would rate landlords green, yellow or red, "based on their adherence to certain criteria, particularly maintenance issues and management practices," with annual inspections of their properties.
First the bad news: The North American housing market slowdown has finally arrived.
Sales of new and resale housing in the capital region dropped sharply in July and August and appeared to have slid again in in September.
Brian Card of the Corporate Research Group, which tracks new housing sales, said sales of single-family, row and apartment units dropped 44 per cent to 334 units in August from 601 a year earlier. The number of sales was also down sharply from July, when 402 units were sold.
1008OTWA Designers unveil `crystal` Congress Centre
Congress Centre officials released the final design for a redeveloped facility yesterday, showing off a convention centre that will change the face of downtown Ottawa.
The revised design envisions a crystal bubble 100 metres long and several storeys tall, running from the Mackenzie King Bridge to the Westin Hotel on the east side of the Rideau Canal. New landscaping is to lead to the historic waterway in front of the building.
1008OTWA Developer`s highrise plans rile west side neighbours
OTTAWA - Angry residents opposed to a highrise residential development that vastly exceeds the current zoning restrictions on the west side packed a high school auditorium last night and took their frustrations out on representatives of the developer and property manager.
Ottawa-based property manager Regional Group presented drawings and specifics for a plan to construct a 537-unit development, featuring a 20-storey tower on Baseline Road and Draper Avenue.
The city committee that handles requests for minor bylaw exceptions has ruled against an Island Park resident`s application to put up a small wind turbine in his back yard.
Graham Findlay, who lives at 70 Iona St. and sells large-scale wind and solar farms for a living, was asking the committee to exempt his turbine from bylaws governing the height of accessory structures and their proximity to property lines.
1008KWCG Hilltop residents liken proposed retaining wall to prison
GUELPH
Hilltop Road residents may feel imprisoned in their yards if a proposed retaining wall is completed behind their homes.
Where once there was a vista of rolling farm fields, soon there could be a big grey wall.
"It will cut off our view totally," Mark Gallina said. "We won`t be able to see anything but that wall."
Nicknamed Attica, after the maximum-security prison located in Attica, N.Y., the 2.75-metre retaining wall will be topped with a 1.8-metre wooden privacy fence.
Given that making buildings more comfortable is their raison d`etre, it should be no surprise that Honeywell`s new Markham headquarters is designed to set a new standard.
"This new office is a world class showcase both for our clients and for our employees," said Honeywell vice-president of energy solutions Luis Rodrigues at a grand opening party Thursday morning.
Nearly 400 employees will work at the office, just east of Warden Avenue, south of Hwy. 7, consolidating two Toronto divisions of Honeywell`s building solutions division.
OSHAWA -- With the big stuff checked off the list, Glyn Laverick says the finishing touches on the Regent Theatre will come together quickly over the next three weeks. One of the most significant changes took place last weekend, when concrete was poured to create a sloped floor for seating.
The preparation for that job took months, requiring crews to first jackhammer out several feet of flat floor, then cart away piles and piles of rubble.
1008DUXB
Additional infrastructure funds still needed for northern municipalities, say mayors
NORTH DURHAM -- The need for increased, permanent help from the federal government to cover the skyrocketing costs of keeping roads, bridges and other important infrastructure across north Durham from crumbling is unanimously agreed upon by the north`s three mayors. How that money should flow to the lower-tier municipalities, and what it should be used for, is another matter.
At the turn of the 20th century there was a popular bit of doggerel, which ran: "Toronto has two classes, the Masseys and the masses."
You can still see traces of the impact the farm machinery-making Massey family had on the city: Massey Hall, Massey College and UofT`s Hart House are examples. They chose to live along with their extended family, friends and would-be social equals, east of Yonge Street along Jarvis, Sherbourne and Parliament streets. Downtown East was the Victorian and Edwardian equivalent of Rosedale, Forest Hill and Post Road all rolled into one.
By the 1930s, however, Downtown East had slid from crème-de-la-crème to skim milk. For the next 60 years it was better known for its pawn shops, strip clubs and seedy rooming houses.
Housing prices are now falling in Toronto as homes take longer to sell in a market where sales activity continues to decline, the Toronto Real Estate Board said today.
The average price of a home sold in the greater Toronto area was $368,549 last month, a 3% decline from a year ago. The situation was worse in the City of Toronto proper where the average price dipped to $393,647, a 6% drop from a year earlier.
"Zoomers" is a word originally coined by Toronto-based media executive Moses Znaimer. It refers to a growing breed of senior Canadians who aren`t just reasonably affluent, but remain extremely active, live large and still want to enjoy the best that life has to offer.
More importantly, they are partially responsible for one of the newest trends in homebuilding called "aging in place."
The gyrating markets are making people nervous, but yesterday`s groundbreaking for a 26-storey downtown office tower shows big-time investors remain confident in Toronto`s future as a financial centre, says Mayor David Miller.
Miller praised the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC), which invests pension funds, for funding the project despite economic uncertainty.
It has been a very good couple of weeks for homebuyers. First, there was the federal Conservatives promise of a first-time buyer tax rebate to offset the closing costs associated with buying a new home (see my Sept. 27 column).
Even bigger was last week`s announcement by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty that the Development Charges Act will not be opened by his government.
The federal tax credit, should it come to pass, is worth a maximum of $750, which is not to be sneezed at.
However, the impact of the development charges announcement is in the thousands of dollars.
Or so says Scott McLellan, the senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Tribute Communities. While he may be exaggerating, he does say that parking -- at least in the city`s downtown buildings -- isn`t the must-have for condo buyers that it once was. In fact, with gas prices going up and the environmental costs of driving becoming better known, many condo buyers who live and work downtown are choosing not to own cars at all.
