City, LIUNA reach deal on Lister’s ‘missing tooth’

The city has formalized an agreement for a Lister Block expansion that would fill in the “missing tooth” on King William Street.

The agreement with LIUNA — the Labourers’ International Union of North America — will see the union-developer build a Lister “annex” on a parcel of land next to the historic building then sell it to the city.

“Everything is in place from the people, tools and technology to cost effectively build-out the new annex,” Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr said in a news release.

This development is expected to fill in the gap in the King William smile that once hosted the Balfour building, which was demolished after part of the dilapidated structure collapsed onto the street in 2008.

The six-floor extension, which is expected to be finished later this year, will include almost 16,000 square feet of new office space directly connected to existing city offices, plus more than 3,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space suited to a restaurant.

“This development will provide value for money as it allows us to house city staff that are currently housed in leased space while generating revenue through the commercial space,” Mayor Fred Eisenberger said in the news release.

In addition to offices, the Lister Block space currently houses a centre for tourism promotion, a café and a restaurant.

The city has experienced difficulty finding a secure long-term tenant for its featured restaurant site in the Lister Block. Wendel Clark’s Classic Grill and Bar reopened in June under corporate control in the highly visible James Street North and King William Street corner location after the brand’s original franchisee floundered.

The Lister Block — a designated heritage building — underwent a large-scale restoration by LIUNA from 2008 to 2012 when the city purchased it.

LIUNA, the project developer, submitted a site plan to the city on Jan. 18.

“LIUNA is pleased to continue our commitment to city building and to be part of the next stage of the Lister Block development,” Joseph Mancinelli, LiUNA’s international vice-president, said in a release.

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

In addition to building a 21-storey 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.