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The site is already full, with almost all of the space committed to new tenants.

“What we’re doing here is creating a destination. It will be Canada’s largest indoor family entertainment centre,” said Paul McLaughlin, who manages 100 Kellogg Lane with business partner Martha Leach.

McLaughlin is the son of Edwin McLaughlin, partner with his brother, Ewart, in complex owners E&E McLaughlin Ltd. Leach is the daughter of Archie Leach, a partner with the McLaughlin brothers.

When it’s fully built and businesses are up and running, McLaughlin estimates about 1,000 people will work at the site.

“We will make this a major tourist destination. It will be a major drawing point,” he said. “That is what we’re trying to do here.”

Located near the BMO Centre indoor soccer complex and the Western Fair District, with its ice arena and Agriplex exhibition centre, the redeveloped factory site will buttress the area’s entertainment district, said McLaughlin.

“This may change the whole east side of London,” he said.

“We purchased it for the warehousing, but when we saw what we have here we started thinking we have to fill it and we didn’t know how. We started looking at entertainment.”

Walking through the massive complex now, every floor is bustling with construction work on space for many of the new tenants.

“We were going to sever it, just keep the back half” for warehousing, said McLaughlin. “But there was a ton of space and some of it was not conducive to office or warehousing.”

Dyanna Taylor manages the Powerhouse Tap Room, a bar operated by the on-site brewery, and has seen the bar and brewery draw people to 100 Kellogg Lane.

“It’s been good. People have been very receptive to us being here. We have had a lot of former employees come in and they are amazed at the transformation,” said Taylor.

She, too, suggested that transformation may extend to much of east London, building on the area’s food and beverage sector anchored in Old East Village.

“This brings to London something it doesn’t have. It’s an attraction, a draw,” Taylor said. “This is an amazing space you can’t find anywhere else.”

That distinction will grow when Paradigm Distillery opens next to Powerhouse, making and selling spirits on site, she said.

One of the first attractions to open at the complex was The Factory, a family entertainment centre owned by McLaughlin and Leach. Billed as Canada’s largest indoor entertainment centre, it features a ropes course — North America’s highest, they boast — trampolines, an obstacle course, jousting pit and more.