Lister Block expansion under negotiation

LiUNA wants to build ‘annex’ then sell it to the city, Farr says

City council is negotiating a possible Lister Block expansion that would “fill the missing tooth” on King William Street.

Council has approved formal talks about the vacant property next to the Lister Block with owner LiUNA — the Laborers’ International Union of North America — which is already building a 21storey student highrise around the corner on James Street North.

Ward councillor Jason Farr said the union-developer approached the city with a pitch to build a Lister “annex” then sell it to the city.

He said most terms of the proposal, which is “not yet a done deal,” remain confidential.

But Farr said he expected the proposed six-storey extension to feature a “seamless facade” with the historic Lister Block and “fill the missing tooth” near the corner of otherwise bustling King William Street.

That gap in the King William smile once hosted the Balfour building, which was demolished after part of the dilapidated structure collapsed onto the street in 2008.

Farr said such a building extension would potentially provide office space for municipal workers currently scattered in leased space across the city. The city already houses employees on the upper floors of the Lister Block.

It’s unclear whether the proposed building would be a candidate for more restaurant space — the most popular ground-floor commercial use along that stretch of King William.

The city has experienced years of difficulty finding a secure longterm tenant for its featured restaurant site in the Lister Block. Wendel Clark’s grill and bar just reopened under corporate control in the highly visible James Street and King William corner location after the brand’s original franchisee floundered.

A LiUNA representative wasn’t immediately available to talk about why the organization wants to pursue the build-and-sale.

But the union-builder remains busy around the Lister Block it helped rehabilitate.

In addition to building the student residence — which will feature the painstakingly replaced frontage of the former William Thomas building — LiUNA is also involved in a planned condo redevelopment of the former Kresge’s store on King William.

The gap in the King William smile once hosted the old Balfour building.