Interest by 35 companies to partner in building London’s new City Hall Campus withered to just one submission

Following wave of interest from developers, the new city hall seems to have hit a roadblock. CTV’s Daryl Newcombe reports.

London went looking for a qualified private developer to partner in the design and construction of a new City Hall Campus, but an initial tidal wave of interest from across Ontario eventually generated just one submission to a Request For Pre-Qualification (RFPQ) process.

The disappointing response could delay London’s plan to redevelop the existing City Hall Campus site at 300 Dufferin Ave., into a mix of municipal administration offices, high-rise residential units, and a parking garage.

A report to the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) explained that after the RFPQ opened on the city’s Bids and Tenders website on May 26, a total of 35 architectural firms and private developers requested copies of the bid documents.

By June 12, interest remained strong with 19 firms taking part in a mandatory site visit to observe site conditions, discuss redevelopment objectives, and clarify the project’s scope.

However, when the submission period ended in July just two proposals were received (EllisDon Corp. and WZMH Architects)

One of those respondents later withdrew, citing a misunderstanding of the joint venture requirement, leaving just a single submission to evaluate.

The staff report warns that the low response to the RFPQ threatens the intent of conducting the competitive process to narrow the list of candidates, “This limited market response highlights potential concern around competitiveness and best value.”

City staff believe the diminishing interest from private partners was caused by:

• a misinterpretation of the Joint Venture Requirement with the city
• perceived complexity and risk related to the project
• current economic conditions facing private developers

“The RFPQ outlined the requirement that the respondents must be capable of delivering a complex, multi-disciplinary design-build project of this scale and the use of joint venture partnerships was identified. This may not have been clearly understood by respondents,” the report concludes.

Opened in 1971, the current city hall building is too small to accommodate the municipality’s workforce and has incurred rising maintenance and repair costs.

In 2024, council decided that partnering with a private developer on redeveloping the existing property at Dufferin and Wellington was the preferred option.

“This is the only site that has been endorsed by Council to move forward in that respect,” explained Downtown Counc. David Ferreira. “It’s obviously important because we do need to increase [city hall’s] capacity so we can have our employees working here.”

City staff propose three options for Council’s consideration:

• advance to the next stage in the process with the one qualified candidate
• cancel the project
• take a step backwards by cancelling the RFPQ and launching a Public Negotiated Request For Proposals (PNRFP)

Ferreira tells CTV News, “I do like the third recommendation, the Public Negotiated Request For Proposals to see if we can get more of the plan takers that are interested. Then we’d be able to get right down to the end before we actually make a selection.”

The report recommends a PNRFP even though it will extend the timeline, “This approach will restore competitive integrity, broaden market participation, and reinforce public confidence in a high-profile civic project.”

Before a PNRFP is released, a brief survey would be circulated to the original plan takers to gather feedback on barriers to participation.

The information would be used to refine the PNRFP and improve engagement with the market.

Ferreira remains optimistic, “This has happened before. You have seen private-public partnerships to do this type of work before. They’re just a little bit more complex.”

The Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee will consider next steps at a meeting Sept. 16.