Hamilton, ON

[BMironov]

The Hamilton Spectator:Concert hall, parking lot, hotel part of core revival (Nov 9, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/279162

QUOTE Three major private projects promise to boost downtown Hamilton with lights, music and better parking.

The demolition of the old HMP dealership at the corner of Bay and Main streets is underway to make room for a new Hilton Homewood Suites. Developer Darko Vranich is behind the 15-storey hotel.

Just blocks away, Vranich`s son Denis is planning to tear down a burned out apartment building at the corner of Hess and King streets to build a concert theatre the size of Toronto`s Massey Hall.

"What it will do for Hess Village is huge," said Gord Moodie, the city`s co-ordinator of downtown municipal incentives
...
Moodie expects the approximately $15-million project, which would qualify for a tax break, to start in the spring and take about 18 months to complete. A new parking structure already approved between Hess and Caroline will be perfectly placed to serve concertgoers, said Moodie.

On the other side of downtown, the city`s new development corporation has made its first offer on a parking lot behind the old Sandbar Tavern.

Moodie said the $15-million to $20-million proposal features multiple floors of parking combined with retail and residential units.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:How can Hamilton be more happening? (Nov 9, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/279113

QUOTE The city is hiring a consultant to figure out how it should deal with festivals big and small.

A recent survey of community groups found Hamilton is an "event unfriendly" town, the city`s director of culture Anna Bradford told city councillors this week.
...
An outside consultant will study the problems to develop an events strategy to help the city understand its role in fostering community events, from large-scale festivals to small neighbourhood occasions.

The consultant`s price tag: Up to $120,000.

It`s "not a small number," acknowledged Councillor Brian McHattie, but it`s "money well spent."
...
From her research, Bradford said she has learned the city must focus on events that are unique to Hamilton.

Hamilton`s Mustard Festival is a good local example, Bradford said. She believes Hamilton could make its mark by starting a massive Labour Day picnic to celebrate the city`s industrial heritage.

 

[timk519]

Hamilton-area housing starts fall as prices rise
QUOTE http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/279134

November 09, 2007 The Hamilton Spectator
HAMILTON (Nov 9, 2007) Hamilton`s new home market tightened a little more in October as housing starts fell and prices rose.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported yesterday housing starts fell 18 per cent in Grimsby-Hamilton-Burlington - to 272 units - compared to October 2006. Despite the overall decline in housing starts, multiple-family dwelling starts jumped nearly 30 per cent to 148 units. Total year-to-date housing starts are 2,650 units, almost 7 per cent above last year now. Single-detached home starts dominate the market with 1,505 starts, 10 per cent over last year.

And Statistics Canada said its new home price index for September was up 3.3 per cent to 148.9. That means a house sold for $100,000 in 1997 sells for $148,900 today. They say the rate of growth in new housing prices slowed a 10th straight month.

 

[BMironov]

The Hanilton Spectator:The Rubber Finally Meets the Road (Nov 16, 2007)
http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/282655

It has taken 54 years and $241 million, but at last the Red Hill Valley Parkway will open tomorrow morning. Moments of adventure driving down the parkway

QUOTE As you begin your downbound drive, you hit the Linc almost immediately. There are lots of signs and exit ramps, so pay attention. Then you begin your descent. The road, two lanes down, three up, slopes at a 4 per cent grade as it cuts through escarpment rock.
...
The Red Hill Valley Parkway ends (or begins) when it connects with the QEW. Ramps to and from QEW Niagara are open, as is the ramp from the parkway onto the QEW, Toronto- bound. But commuters returning home from Toronto can only look wistfully as they drive by the closed ramp to the parkway. As construction continues, it might be another year before it is fully open to traffic.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:Red Hill by the numbers (Nov 16, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/282577

QUOTE 8: Length in kilometres6: Number of interchanges

195: Estimated number of fewer accidents on local roads annually because of parkway

$245 million: Cost of Red Hill Valley Parkway

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:Work begins on $15m reno to transform ex-Camco site (Nov 27, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/287865

QUOTE The old brick building and the field of gravel that have been the public`s picture of McMaster Innovation Park are about to change dramatically.Work has begun on $15-million worth of renovations to the former Camco building on Longwood Road South, where MIP president Zachary Douglas has lined up the first eight tenants who will occupy one-third of the building`s 120,000 square feet.

The first of those tenants, as yet unnamed, is expected to be moving in by April, starting in motion a 10- to 15-year plan for the park, where ultimately, the university expects to see as many as 3,000 occupants and 1.7 million square feet of office, laboratory and meeting space.

The renovation of the red brick building is to be complete by the end of 2008, with new offices, wet and dry labs, conference space, fitness facilities and food concessions. The rear annex of the building will centre on an open atrium that forms the hub of the northeast corner of the park.

Before that work is done, construction for the park`s key tenant, the federal government materials laboratory, CANMET, will be under way next door to the south, with groundbreaking expected in the autumn of 2008. That building is expected to be complete by 2010 and become home to 100 top federal scientists.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:Keith area will get a bus route at last (Nov 27, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/287908

QUOTE Imagine you`re a single mother on a fixed income living in Hamilton`s Keith neighbourhood. On a winter day you need groceries. The bus stop is 1,000 metres away.After your long and chilly journey, you need to take a taxi home from the store because it`s too difficult to carry all your bags. A train stops traffic, so your $5 cab ride costs $7.

Brenda Johnson of Environment Hamilton asked councillors to envision that scenario yesterday as she joined Keith residents to fight for a bus route through their North End neighbourhood.

After hearing several passionate speeches about the desperate need for public transit in the low-income pocket, councillors agreed to add buses on Victoria Avenue and Wentworth Street North.
...
Environment Hamilton completed an extensive survey in the neighbourhood to demonstrate the need for the bus route that will start next year. The city aims to have transit routes within 400 metres of all homes.

Council approved the Keith enhancement in addition to two other new routes yesterday.

For the first time, Waterdown residents will have access to city buses.

A new route will travel from the village`s core down to the Aldershot GO station and link riders to buses headed into Hamilton and downtown Burlington.

The city also added service to Rymal Road between Glancaster and Pritchard roads during peak weekday periods.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:New centres for research at Mac park (Nov 27, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/287876

QUOTE As the first new building of the McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) begins to move from concept to reality, the next stages are already on the drawing board.In addition to the 2008 construction start planned for the new federal materials laboratory, there are "serious, strong" plans under way for two more new buildings, said Mo Elbestawi, McMaster`s vice-president responsible for research.

One building will be for engineering technology research and another for biosciences.
...
As many as 14 buildings are planned for the MIP, with plans that include airy, campus-style landscaping with ponds, trees and interior roadways.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:Supercentres no easy sell at city hall (Dec 4, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/291107

QUOTE Wal-Mart is gearing up for a major expansion in Hamilton, with two new superstores planned for the city`s eastern end.

Plans for the mega-stores are on hold, however, due to planning issues at city hall.
...
Mady Development is behind plans to build an $85-million power centre in Stoney Creek. Wal-Mart has signed on as the anchor tenant for the project, to be located on a 17-hectare site on the southwest corner of the QEW and Fifty Road.

Wal-Mart also wants to relocate its existing store at Eastgate Square to a $100-million power centre planned for the corner of Centennial Parkway North and South Service Road. The 12-hectare site, a former scrapyard and the current location of Fox 40 International, was bought by power centre developer SmartCentres for $23.8 million last year.

Both stores would resemble Wal-Mart`s Ancaster location, with a full complement of groceries including meats, fruits, vegetables and baked goods, said Wal-Mart spokesperson Kevin Groh.

Neither development will go ahead, however, until the city decides what should happen to the land.
...
The comprehensive review of employment land should be complete early next year.

It will then go to city council for approval.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:Landlord gets rare 70-day jail term for fire code violations (Dec 4, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/291136

Lottridge Street house called haven for crackheads

QUOTE Mattresses lie strewn across the front lawn of the rooming house.The landlord of an east-end rooming house has been sentenced to a "unusual" 70 days in jail for seven fire code violations.

Stephen Birch pleaded not guilty to all counts against him but was convicted and, on Friday, was sentenced.

Only twice in his 28 years with the fire department has chief fire prevention officer Jim Winn seen anyone thrown in jail for fire code violations.
...
Birch`s sentence of 10 days each for seven different charges will be served consecutively.

He was fined nearly $13,000 in previous charges for fire code violations but didn`t pay.

Birch was convicted of a range of offences, from failing to install a portable fire extinguisher to failing to make sure rooms are blocked off with barriers, like a door, to help contain a fire.

At the 142 Lottridge St. rooming house, a stack of mattresses lie on the lawn and a mountain of junk is piled on the porch, including an old bathtub. The glass on the front door is broken and stuffed with a shirt.

Neighbours on Lottridge Street, which is between Barton Street East and Beechwood Avenue, say they`ve had it with the building`s shady traffic -- including crack addicts.

 

[BMironov]

Hamilton Spectator:House prices rise, apartment vacancies drop (Dec 14, 2007)
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/296233

QUOTE Housing prices in Hamilton continued to rise in October as demand increased faster than supply. At the same time, the vacancy rate for apartments in the city dropped.

Statistics Canada`s new house price index for October stood at 149.1 in Hamilton, up 3.2 per cent from the same time last year. The gain in Hamilton was one of the strongest in Ontario. St. Catharines led southern Ontario`s numbers with an increase of 4.5 per cent (151.9).

For renters, there`s bad news in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation figures which show the apartment vacancy rate in Hamilton was down to 3.5 per cent in October from 4.3 per cent a year earlier. Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was up 1.2 per cent from the same month in 2006.

 

[JimSalmon]

More news about Downtown Rehab Project

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/297463

 

[JimSalmon]

December 19, 2007

Further info on Downtown Rehab Project at this link

http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/298465

 

[JimSalmon]

Dip in December, but 2007 hot for housing

January 05, 2008 Hamilton Spectator staff
There were 625 homes sold in Hamilton and Burlington in December.

That`s a four-per cent drop from the same month in 2006.

Notwithstanding the December dip, the number of homes sold in 2007 was the highest on record, the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington said yesterday. A total of 14,410 properties were sold last year, up from 13,637 in 2006.

"Although December sales were down slightly, compared to last year, there is every indication that 2008 will be another strong year for resale housing activity in the Hamilton-Burlington area," said RAHB president Ann Cosens.

"Despite the sub-prime loan problems in the U.S., the Canadian market remains strong."

The average price of a home (including condominiums and freehold residential properties) was up in 2007, hitting $272,866 -- a 7.4-per cent increase over 2006, according to the RAHB.

During the final month of 2007, the average price of freehold residential property was $283,380, up from $262,610 in the same month in 2006. In the condominium market, the average price in December was $193,761, compared to $188,094 in the same month in 2006.



click here for the story.

 

[JimSalmon]

Some sad news for the downtown area

click here

QUOTE The deal to save the Lister Block is dead.

Council balked yesterday at paying $37 a square foot-- or $44 million over 20 years -- to lease space in the downtown building.

"That`s just not a rational deal for taxpayers," said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. "It`s a non-starter."

As the Lister deal crumbled, council voted to start talks with the public school board to lease space in a proposed development on the board headquarters site that would house a McMaster downtown family medical centre. The city is eyeing the space for its public health department, which it had previously pegged for the Lister Block.

Council is also asking the province to let the city keep the $7 million it donated with great fanfare to the Lister project for other downtown initiatives.Eisenberger said the city is still interested in being part of the Lister project in some cheaper form. He wants to ask the building`s owner, Labourers` International Union of North America (LIUNA), about tearing down the building and rebuilding by replicating the facade -- the same plan first approved by council and stopped by the province.

"Replication is a far sight better than nothing at all," he said, adding he doesn`t think the province would intervene again.

But Tim McCabe, the city`s general manager of planning and economic development, and LIUNA vice-president Joe Mancinelli agreed its unlikely the province would let the wrecking ball swing.

"I don`t think that`s possible at this time," said Mancinelli, adding he has no other plans for the building.

The province didn`t designate the Lister Block as a heritage building but it did rule the landmark was significant and could be saved. Provincial cabinet ministers refused to comment about the building`s future until council has its final vote on the deal tomorrow night.

Mountain MPP Sophia Aggelonitis is meeting with the mayor and the developers Friday to discuss possible solutions to retaining the old commercial mall in the downtown core.

Councillor Brian McHattie, who asked the province to intervene and was heralded as a hero when the government offered funding, was dismayed by council`s decision yesterday. He fought to ask LIUNA for more information to justify its numbers and to have the province complete a peer review of the costs to continue negotiations to lower the cost.

His motion failed 8-5.

"I think the whole thing is done now," said McHattie, who believes the city played into LIUNA`s hands.

"A vote to end negotiations is a vote to demolish the Lister," agreed Councillor Sam Merulla.

LIUNA, which was partnering with Hi-Rise Group for the restoration, blames the higher lease price on the increased costs of renovating versus building new.

This marks the third time a plan to restore the heritage building has fallen through. In 1995 a proposal to turn the building into student housing failed. Five years later, Ottawa also rejected the site for the federal building later built on Bay Street North.

Harry Stinson, once known as Toronto`s Condo King, watched yesterday`s debate. He has expressed interest in buying the Lister Block, but Mancinelli maintains it`s not for sale.

[email protected]

 

[JimSalmon]

Jan. 17/08 Hamilton Spectator

Deparature area expansion at Hamilton International

Go here for details.

 

[JimSalmon]

Jan. 23/08

From the Hamilton Spectator

Local Economy Faces Growth Spurt

Full story at the following link.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/312960