Ikea dream, warehouse reality: New plan floated for south London site

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Published Jan 09, 2024 • 3 minute read

The company that owns nearly 27 hectares south of Highway 401 and west of Wellington Road has applied to the city for a bylaw amendment to allow warehouses and other light industrial uses on the property that was designated as the location of an Ikea store before it was scrapped in 2020. Photograph taken on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)

A prime site in south London where Ikea once planned to open a store could soon have the green light from the city for warehouses.

City council’s planning and environment committee endorsed an application Tuesday from Goal Ventures Inc. and Goal Ventures Southwest Inc. to amend the zoning for a nearly 27-hectare site bounded by Highway 401, Wellington Road and Dingman Drive to permit a range of industrial uses such as warehousing/distribution, craft brewery and other lower impact light industrial uses.

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PenEquity/Goal Ventures Inc. submitted applications in October 2018 to build a Costco store and an Ikea store on the site that would anchor a proposed commercial development of nearly two dozen buildings.

The Costco store was built at 3140 Dingman Dr. and opened last May, but the Ikea store – announced in 2017, officially scrapped by the company three years later – was never built.

Rob Walker of KWA Site Development Consulting Inc. represents the owners of the land and addressed the committee at its meeting Tuesday.

He described the company’s new plan as “turning back the clock a little bit on this site.

“We are in support of the staff recommendations as they’re set out,” he said.

The staff recommendations for the site are outlined in report to the committee. Staff said they support allowing a broader mix of uses on the site along the Highway 401 corridor within the city’s urban growth boundary.

Coun. Elizabeth Peloza represents the area on city council but does not sit on the planning committee. She attended the meeting and said she’s heard both optimism and concerns from residents about the land.

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“There’s been lots of excitement, lots of disappointment over the years. Residents are still hoping, if we say ‘No’ to this that the Ikea will come,” Peloza said. “It is serviced, it’s prime development land with great potential, very visible from the highway coming in . . . our bus rapid transit corridors at the Wellington gateway, lots of opportunity regional transportation connections into this area.”

Peloza said residents are confused by the incomplete roadways in the area, specifically intersections with stop signs for side streets that don’t exist.

Staff said the segment of road in question is private land, and the stop signs were placed there for traffic calming with future development in mind. Concerns with the roadway should be directed to the city or the developer, they said.

Part of the proposal the committee also was considering was safe pedestrian connections from other properties, but also “providing a high-quality gateway image along Highway 401 East and Wellington Road South and enhanced landscaping along the gateway corridor.”

Several councillors acknowledged the importance of the city’s gateway image, and as a result, singled out potential self-storage uses as not ideal for the area given the potential for visitors and newcomers.

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“We do have neighbouring municipalities just down the highway who did allow self-storage, and it’s one of the first things you see coming into their city,” Peloza said. “I do believe London has more potential than self-storage facilities . . . This is the gateway into the city.”

Coun. Corrine Rahman put forward a motion to remove self-storage as a permitted use, which was unanimously approved. The motion was later amended by Coun. Skylar Franke to add consideration of EV charging, solar installation on industrial buildings, enhanced tree planting with no invasive species, and bird-friendly glazing.

The proposed zoning amendment is subject to final approval by city council at its next meeting on Jan. 23.

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