The old London Free Press building will be getting new life as Venture London, billed as “the largest entrepreneurship centre” in Southwestern Ontario.
Venture London is a collaboration between TechAlliance, the London Small Business Centre, The London Institute and Farhi Holdings. The 180,000 square foot facility will include a 8,000 square foot main hall for hosting events as well as a restaurant, café, street level retail space, and 400 parking spots both surface and underground.
The London Institute executive director Amir Farahi is the project manager and states that the city has a lot of great services but they are difficult to navigate.
“What we’re doing is we’re creating a one-stop shop location for entrepreneurs,” said Farahi.
“If they need legal advice, we’ve got legal service providers here. If they need insurance, if they need accounting, if they need mentorship to start a business plan, if they need advisers, if they need investors, if they need to approach a bank – all that is in the plan, to have it housed in this building.”
According to Farahi, the entrepreneurs will be able to access the space rent-free through tenants’ programs. For example, TechAlliance has a program dubbed Burst which focuses on entrepreneurs in the life sciences sector.
The London Free Press announced in September that it would be moving from its location at 369 York Street to 210 Dundas Street in the downtown core.
“Small Business Centre and Tech Alliance will be moving in by the end of the year. Renovations will be definitely done by then,” Farahi added.
“It should be of note that we are waiting for the London Free Press to essentially tell us when they are ready to move to their new location and that all is contingent on when we start work on the building.”
Renovations are expected to begin this spring with tenancy beginning in late 2018.