London Little interest in land deal with Farhi Holdings to move city hall to Richmond Street Share The public may never know exactly why council distanced itself from an unsolicited proposal to relocate city hall to the heart of Downtown London. On Tuesday, a council committee went behind closed doors to discuss real estate matters related to its Master Accommodation Plan to increase its office space and bring city hall workers under one roof. When politicians emerged, they carefully avoided making direct references to an offer by Farhi Holdings Corporation (FHC) to sell Market Tower, the adjoining annex building, and former RBC Tower on Richmond Street so they can be renovated into London’s next city hall.
A motion by Coun. Peter Cuddy and Coun. Susan Stevenson sought a one month deferral to engage with the public before a competitive procurement process is launched to find a partner in the redevelopment of 300 Dufferin St.
, the existing city hall campus. The delay would have given more time for FHC’s unsolicited proposal to be analyzed and considered by civic administration and council. Cuddy’s motion was defeated 5 to 10.
Counc. Hadleigh McAlister did not want to reopen the door to other locations, “Sure we could go down that road, but I think there’s a lot of unknowns in terms of what we’d be paying, renovation costs, maybe even building something from scratch.” Conceptual drawing of proposed city hall on Richmond Street (Source: Supplied) Instead, the commi.