Jim Chapman - Follow the Money
From the October 22nd edition of 'Jim Chapman's The Voice of London,' in an column called 'Downtown: The Heart of the Matter,' Jim gives a good free plug for Ward 13 City Council candidate Mary Bray and quotes at length from her campaign material about the importance of our historic downtown, preserving heritage buildings etc.
Now, as the councillor who represents downtown, incumbent Judy Bryant has been saying all this stuff in council chambers for the past two terms and is downtown London's biggest booster and most vocal advocate - AND actually gets things done.
But why quote Judy when you have access to Mary Bray's election flyer. To tell you the truth, until 71-year-old Bray announced her candidacy a couple of months ago, I didn't even know she was still alive, let alone living in town. Mary Bray, as everyone knows is the former business partner of Downtown London's Biggest Landlord - who just also happens to be the most important client in Jim's public-relations consulting business.
What Jim is leading up to in all this is the new retail development to be built on the existing parking lot at "Richmond and Clarence" streets. Well actually Jim, it's Richmond and CARLING - but that's okay.
It's to be a giant Shoppers Drug Mart. The big kind which also sells groceries. Everyone keeps saying if you want people to move and live downtown, we need a grocery store there. Well, for the time being, this is as good as we're going to get.
What ruffles Jim's feathers is that overtop the store, there will be office space for rent. There is also talk of residential space for rent, but Jim doesn't mention that.
Downtown office space is a big issue for Jim. According to him, many city councillors "fail to grasp the essential reality of London's downtown: we have too much empty office space, more than 700,000 square feet of it in fact."
Not so uncoincidently, most of that space is owned by Downtown London's Biggest Landlord. Now, I'm no financial genius, but it would seem to me that if there is a glut of unrented office space downtown, it might be a good idea to STOP BUYING HALF EMPTY OFFICE BUILDINGS! Such as the recent purchase of the Market Tower at Richmond and Dundas.
The only other person who complains about this more than Jim is Downtown London's Biggest Landlord, himself. That and about the lack of parking for the few people who do live and work in his buildings.
Which brings us to Jim's last paragraph on the matter is when he admonishes city council for its recent "approval of significant zoning exemptions for a new building at Richmond and Clarence which will eat up existing and badly needed parking spaces, provide a new home for a drug-store chain that will then close its existing outlet a block away on Dundas Street, and create thousands of feet of - wait for it - new office space!"
Can you imagine that? Normally, Jim rants about how developers have to jump through hoops of red-tape and road-blocks at City Hall when they want to initiate a new project. But now he's criticizing city council for actually trying to help this group.
God forbid, we don't want any new retail, office or residential development in our dying downtown. Especially if it means getting rid of a parking lot. Just what world is this guy fuckin' living in?
As with all head-scratching statements from Jim, all you have to do is follow the money. That drug-store chain which will close their existing store on Dundas Street when it moves into the bigger location? They currently are located in Market Tower. They are soon-to-be former tenants of Downtown London's Biggest Landlord.
Now, as the councillor who represents downtown, incumbent Judy Bryant has been saying all this stuff in council chambers for the past two terms and is downtown London's biggest booster and most vocal advocate - AND actually gets things done.
But why quote Judy when you have access to Mary Bray's election flyer. To tell you the truth, until 71-year-old Bray announced her candidacy a couple of months ago, I didn't even know she was still alive, let alone living in town. Mary Bray, as everyone knows is the former business partner of Downtown London's Biggest Landlord - who just also happens to be the most important client in Jim's public-relations consulting business.
What Jim is leading up to in all this is the new retail development to be built on the existing parking lot at "Richmond and Clarence" streets. Well actually Jim, it's Richmond and CARLING - but that's okay.
It's to be a giant Shoppers Drug Mart. The big kind which also sells groceries. Everyone keeps saying if you want people to move and live downtown, we need a grocery store there. Well, for the time being, this is as good as we're going to get.
What ruffles Jim's feathers is that overtop the store, there will be office space for rent. There is also talk of residential space for rent, but Jim doesn't mention that.
Downtown office space is a big issue for Jim. According to him, many city councillors "fail to grasp the essential reality of London's downtown: we have too much empty office space, more than 700,000 square feet of it in fact."
Not so uncoincidently, most of that space is owned by Downtown London's Biggest Landlord. Now, I'm no financial genius, but it would seem to me that if there is a glut of unrented office space downtown, it might be a good idea to STOP BUYING HALF EMPTY OFFICE BUILDINGS! Such as the recent purchase of the Market Tower at Richmond and Dundas.
The only other person who complains about this more than Jim is Downtown London's Biggest Landlord, himself. That and about the lack of parking for the few people who do live and work in his buildings.
Which brings us to Jim's last paragraph on the matter is when he admonishes city council for its recent "approval of significant zoning exemptions for a new building at Richmond and Clarence which will eat up existing and badly needed parking spaces, provide a new home for a drug-store chain that will then close its existing outlet a block away on Dundas Street, and create thousands of feet of - wait for it - new office space!"
Can you imagine that? Normally, Jim rants about how developers have to jump through hoops of red-tape and road-blocks at City Hall when they want to initiate a new project. But now he's criticizing city council for actually trying to help this group.
God forbid, we don't want any new retail, office or residential development in our dying downtown. Especially if it means getting rid of a parking lot. Just what world is this guy fuckin' living in?
As with all head-scratching statements from Jim, all you have to do is follow the money. That drug-store chain which will close their existing store on Dundas Street when it moves into the bigger location? They currently are located in Market Tower. They are soon-to-be former tenants of Downtown London's Biggest Landlord.
posted by Sonny Drysdale at 5:33 AM
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