The article basically says that. $50m is apparently the contractual minimum but they are hoping to be able to do more.

I wonder how they propose to finance it, they must be expecting to fill the stadium a lot more to recoup expenses. Probably try to tap into overflows of large shows from the GTA like Markham was thinking of doing a decade ago when they were trying to build an arena.

April 2016:

The second phase of a $240,000 study on updating the aging city-owned FirstOntario Centre is now underway thanks to billionaire Ron Joyce and other private sector funders.

When complete, the study will include costed options for a possible two-phase transformation of the 30-year-old downtown arena.

The first phase could see the lower bowl turned into a state-of-the-art 8,000 or so seat facility.

The second phase could see the entire building upgraded to 21st-century NHL standards…

Kujavsky estimates that full transformation into an NHL-ready arena would cost about $300 million. He figures a standalone lower bowl conversion would cost about $100 million.


The 2016 estimate was twice as much as the current commitment and would have achieved less than half of the functional capacity.

I imagine things like 7-day restaurant/shop leases may also help with financing a larger spend.

I wonder how the concourse plans may differ from the 2016 estimates as well. More space for concessions and product sales, especially if contracted/leased out at good terms for HUPEG, may make for more building revenue.

If the expanded concourses are basically just getting a coat of paint and some minor cladding changes, that won't be too expensive. But I recall that the ice-making system needed a total replacement (i.e., the pipes and coolant that run through the rink concrete). That's not cheap, but the original system was way beyond its lifespan. Roof needed replacing too. The city didn't do any of that work, did they?

It'll be nice to see this wall of white go away.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.25967...7i16384!8i8192

This is very exciting, I love what they are proposing! And a whole York Blvd entertainment precinct??? YES PLEASE!!!

Whatever renovation is being done, there's no chance it will make the arena NHL-read - nor should it.
It would be a big waste of money.

Let's just get the exterior to stop looking like an eye-sore.

I hope they set up a nice scoreboard as part of this renovation. The current one is an embarrassment.

I imagine that the restaurants will be owned and operated by Carmens or hospitality allies at The Other Bird and/or LIUNA and/or contracted out to franchises. Either way, that’s value they’ll capture, and they have decades to recoup.

The Bell Centre underwent a similar revamp a few years back and their budget (which admittedly included replacing 21K seats) ran to around $100 million.

The City’s own don’t-ask-to-see-our-math estimate is that status quo operation of First Ontario Centre, First Ontario Concert Hall and Hamilton Convention Centre would cost the City $155 million over the next 30 years (with $88 million of that in lifecycle renewals in the 2022-2029 period alone), so a true upgrade would presumably cost considerably more than the $52.5 million in renovations announced for the three facilities.

The City was originally prepared to give them a Jackson Square-grade lease: O&M of the FirstOntario Centre and the FirstOntario Concert Hall for a period of 99 years and of the Hamilton Convention Centre indefinitely.

Eleven months later, they had geared down to a blanket 49-year term, a barometer of one kind or another.

Curious to see how they bring Live Nation onboard, since the capacity crowds are unlikely to happen without their involvement.

This sounds great to be honest, if it all comes to fruition.

I could never understand the C$50M figure based on what they were outlining. Now this makes more sense that's a minimum figure. Please feel free, I encourage to spend much more to make the arena a functioning gem. I'd ballpark this around C$200M before done at least based on comparable renovations at other North American arena, if they're going to execute the noted plans.

Pretty cool there's areas never been seen or used by the public that could be part of the layout going forward. The whole York BLVD side stairs removals sounds pretty interesting. It's not hard now to envision with the new buildings across the street, the city centre distillery vibes and the KW pathway connection; this area could be really awesome in 5-10years when completed.

Downtown entertainment group would like to see Hamilton men’s shelter relocated

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-district.html

Now that plans are in the works to renovate FirstOntario Centre and build a glitzy entertainment district at York and Bay, some are asking what might happen to the area around the arena.

More specifically: What about the Salvation Army men’s shelter across the street?

It’s a delicate question.

“It’s very delicate,” says Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group partner and director of the arena renovation project, Jasper Kujavsky.

The question really comes down to whether that facility and the work it does for homeless and transient men is an ideal fit with the vision for the area as a fashionable spot that will draw people from around the city and beyond to hang out downtown. And can you lean towards ‘no’ without sounding uncompassionate?

The answer?

Kujavsky says HUPEG — which is planning to spend between $400 million and $500 million of private money to rejuvenate the downtown entertainment facilities and create other mixed-use development in the core — has spoken to the Salvation Army about the possibility of a relocation, which expresses pretty clearly what the consortium’s position is. To redefine this part of the city and give it a more upscale feel might require a change.

“They, I believe, recognize that there is a desire on many peoples’ parts to see if a relocation can be made possible,” he says. “In a way that benefits the Salvation Army (and) takes into account all of their needs, all of their requirements.”

And the other concern? The one about not sounding bad?

Kujavsky suggests that shouldn’t be an issue because any plan would require the Salvation Army’s approval. The Booth Centre fills an incredibly important role, he says, and nobody is forcing it to vacate. HUPEG wants to be respectful and collaborate with the charity to find a solution downtown that satisfies it rather than trying to squeeze it out.

“Every major city has to have important social services,” Kujavsky says. “But at the same time, cities also want to have entertainment zones where people can come and sit on a patio and go to a show. Things that all appropriately belong in a vibrant, balanced and inclusive urban core are not automatically all going to be immediate neighbours.”

What’s the Salvation Army’s position on all this?

“The only thing right now that we can confirm is our commitment to Hamilton’s most vulnerable,” its divisional manager of marketing and communications, Billy Canning, said in an email to The Spectator. “This pandemic has really impacted so many in the community which you are aware of, and we at The Salvation Army are continuing to focus on how we can provide essential programs and services to those in need.”

Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr says he’s heard there have been conversations between HUPEG and the Salvation Army but says talk of a move is hardly new. There have been some challenges inside and outside that facility for some time, he says.

“Since I’ve been a councillor (he was elected in 2010) there’s been discussions about the relocation,” he says.

He says the city has no direct stake in this negotiation. The future of the men’s shelter was not part of the official entertainment precinct agreement with the city. But if this reimagining of the downtown could satisfy both sides and if the Salvation Army chooses to work with HUPEG to make this happen, he’d be happy to do what he could to help.

While Kujavsky says no alternate site has yet been found, discussions are underway with a number of property owners in the downtown to see if there’s a spot that would fit the needs of the men’s centre. A wide net is being cast to find that location.

“We’re committed to doing anything within our power to assist them and even help facilitate a relocation that meets all of their requirements and expectations,” he says.

Not unexpected. Even without the FOC plan, you'd think other developers in the area would be trying to coax the shelter to move.
EDIT: the question of "where to move" will be contentious too. It shouldn't be, but it will be.

Wasn't there mention some time ago of that property being redeveloped? Before all this FOC stuff happened?

I did some work for the other proposal that City Council chose not to go with, and it did include a new modern scoreboard. However, it requires some significant reinforcing of the roof structure to support additional weight - we were looking at basically doubling the amount of roof trusses in the middle third of the building to spread the weight onto.

One other concept was to build a large mega-truss above the building running the long way, and transferring loads up to that. More steel but less expensive interior reno work.

Delicate situation for sure, but as the article mentioned, this isn't a new topic, just a refocused discussion with plans to increase the vibrancy of the area. There's been many challenges with the shelter in the past and those don't disappear regardless of where the Salvation Army moves.

While it won't change the planning of services, the city shouldn't have clustered all the shelters, rehabilitation or rooming houses in the lower city.

Guessing we could see the new shelter around Ferguson/Cannon/Cathcart area.

Historically, the arena has hosted around three months of events per year, with the rest being dark days. The Booth Centre serves 365 days a year.

The Good Shepherd's facility relocation to Ferguson & Cannon was undertaken to increase the real estate appeal of the complex across the street, eventually making way for "deeply affordable" subsidized housing on its former site and, in theory at least, catalyzing mixed-use residential in the process.

If HUPEG and the City were truly committed to expanding the circle of care and not simply aesthetic mop-up, the optics would be different. As with the Carmens-led Commonwealth Games bid, however, affordable housing is being treated as an afterthought, with just enough units to be able to talk proudly of "mixed-income housing" on a technicality.

As to moving the shelter, my wife worked there for a few years many years ago and she would come home with story's almost daily. She had a window office onto York Blvd. First thing in the morning after they all get kicked out for the day, they would come over to the Copp's side. They would pee on the windows. Occasionally crap in the flower boxes. (I would not sit or stand anywhere close to the windows or flower boxes.) They did drugs in this area and also fights would occasionally break out. They would be shewed away and just come back in a half hour.

I'm so so so excited for this to start. Didn't realize the Vine St parking lot was part of the deal either. I just bought a place down the street and work nearly next door to this new entertainment district, so with this and LRT my neighborhood is going to be bumping!

It says that this development will get started fall of 2021. Any ideas what that will involve?

It's behind the paywall. Can anybody post a general rundown of what it says?

Try this

https://outline.com/725htJ

Depends where you saw that, I didn't see that in this article.

I guess I saw that here,

https://www.hamilton.ca/government-i...urban-precinct

Today’s announcement signals an important first step in the development process. Next steps include negotiations between the City and the Precinct Group to create a “Master Agreement”, which is expected to be finalized in late 2020. The completion of this “Master Agreement” would see arena renovations beginning in the Fall of 2021

Thanks

If construction does start this fall, I'd imagine there would be massive scaffolding covering Copps.

Crazy boom time for Hamilton, and we're even in a pandemic. Within a year or two, it'll be like every major intersection in downtown Hamilton will have some kind of project happening. It's a major difference when I first joined here; the Federal building on York was the only significant project built in downtown Hamilton in ages and that was public money.

More details on the construction phase...

Speaking of redevelopment. Does anyone know who owns the Fortinos plaza at Dundurn? And if it is all owned by a single company?

I was always under the impression this was owned by Fortinos/Loblaws hence the lack of updates to the Fortinos while every other location was upgraded, because the plan was to redevelop to property or sell it for a massive profit once LRT started up.

I believe Metrolinx is expropriating part of it and demolishing a bit of the north end of the plaza so I could see Choice REIT not wanting to sink money into it until that was finalized.. which... well... is taking a while.

I still remember when that property was a steel plant. :wiseman:

From before my time (but not too long before it because this is basically what I recall):
https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...82&oe=61853576
Source

Thought it was developed by Robert Properties. But does not show up on their inventory (sad one that it is)

Well this just got a whole lot more interesting.

Former MLSE boss now part of Hamilton’s downtown arena renovation project

Former MLSE boss now part of Hamilton’s downtown arena renovation project

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-district.html

For a couple years now, the proposed budget for a private-sector renovation of FirstOntario Centre has been pegged at $50 million or so.

That just got considerably bigger.

The local consortium that won the right to redevelop Hamilton’s downtown entertainment venues has partnered with Oak View Group (OVG), a Los Angeles-based arena development company headed by former Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke who says his organization will be making a significant financial contribution toward the arena.

“(The building) needs an upgrade,” Leiweke says. “It needs some tender loving care. It needs an investment. It needs to be brought up to the standards that now are pretty traditional in arenas ... We’ve got to put some real money into that building and fix it.”

How much more money?

Jasper Kujavsky, Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG) partner and director of the arena project, says the new budget will be “at least $80 million.”

This will lead to a far-more impressive venue than initially planned with greater amenities and a vastly improved experience for users, says HUPEG president PJ Mercanti.

The specific improvements haven’t been determined yet. Those details are still being worked out. A final budget should be announced in a month or so, Kujavsky adds.

A 2016 study pegged the cost of a complete rebuild of the arena at about $250 million. This new figure clearly doesn’t reach that level. It would, however, cover another option from that same study which would see a remodel of the lower bowl with new private boxes, seating, party areas and more.

Whatever is done to the 36-year-old building, it’ll be done right, Leiweke insists.

“We don’t believe in Band Aids,” he says. “That troubles some of my financial people but if we do something we’ll do it well.”

But it’s not just the money that changes with the arrival of OVG. This partnership will likely bolster the credibility of the entire downtown project. Give it heft, as Mercanti describes it.

Oak View Group was created six years ago by Leiweke and legendary music executive Irving Azoff. It’s developing the New York Islanders’ and the Seattle Kraken’s new billion-dollar arenas, among other projects.

“We’re the largest developer of arenas today in the world,” Leiweke says. “And we wanted to have a place and a presence in Ontario.”

HUPEG, meanwhile, is the consortium of local investors who won the right to redevelop the arena, FirstOntario Concert Hall and Hamilton Convention Centre as well as creating mixed-used development and housing in the core. The whole project is estimated to cost between $400 million and $500 million in private money.

Whether OVG manages the renovated facility remains to be seen.

Spectra currently manages FirstOntario Centre. Leiweke says that contract which runs until the end of 2024 will be honoured. However, in late August, OVG and Spectra announced a merger. If American regulators approve that deal, OVG would essentially become part of the new blended company that would run things.

This will leave questions for some: What’s the catch? Why here? Why Hamilton?

Leiweke says this city is ideal because of its growth potential, proximity to Toronto and his familiarity with the southern Ontario market after spending two-and-a-half years in charge of MLSE.

He doesn’t intend to compete for shows with his old employer down the QEW because he doesn’t believe that’s necessary. Scotiabank Arena is already busy with the Maple Leafs and Raptors and simply can’t handle everything. A second top-notch facility in this region could be booked 150 nights a year, he says.

“There is absolutely room in the marketplace,” he says. “There’s plenty of music to go around here. And there’s plenty of sports to go around.”

He would intend to bid aggressively for any big events that came available.

Kujavsky says that could include things like the Memorial Cup, World Juniors, women’s world championships or any other large competitions.

Leiweke says he has no doubt this can become something great.

“I think we’ve hit this at the perfect time,” he says. “We have great partners, we have a good vision and I love the marketplace.”

Interesting to hear that OVG and Spectra are merging. Spectra also manages Budweiser Gardens here in London, which will be 20 years old next year.

Wow, this is literally wow news :thrasher:

For people who aren't familiar with Leiweke and his work (both from Raptors days, re: Masai and Leafs) and now OVG, this is a massive win for Hamilton. The renovated Seattle Center aka Climate Pledge Arena now (home of the Kraken) and the gorgeous new Islanders arena (UBS Arena) are quite impressive.

This just upped this renovations impact x10.

Also this is quite good news for the project that the renovation design in Hamilton will be led by Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects. BBBA managed the renovation of Madison Square Garden. The project will include upgrades in food and beverage, premium and club spaces, employ the latest technology, and make sustainability a priority as it is at Climate Pledge and UBS arenas.

The hope is there. Gotta be better than what we have had, functional as it's been the past 35 years.

This might not get people as excited relative to a legit developer building a high rise in downtown, but this is a big time project with OVG onboard & the first legit Tier 1 operational undertaking that will happen in downtown. Hopefully this spurs the inexperienced builder owner of City Centre to flip it to a qualified developer to build a complimentary new CC to go with this development next door. This will get the attention we're looking for when it comes to commercial real estate, residential builders looking for proximity to the arena.

The amount of concerts and events (NHL-I can dream, World Juniors, Memorial Cup, etc.) that can now be drawn to this arena will be a lot better than anything we've seen in years in totality. All though I was really looking forward to RATM and RTJ prior to COVID.

The owner of City Centre is relatively experienced, not really any less than most other builders operating in Hamilton right now.

Agreed. As I said on another thread, rumour is that tenants have to exit the building by spring of 2022, so it looks like they're moving ahead on this one.

Looking at their other builds though, I don't expect it to look good, or be done with any sort of grace whatsoever. I don't hate spandrel on every building (though it's not optimal) but on IN8 buildings they look especially bad because it easily could be a solid material instead which would look significantly better.

Yup. I expect it to be pretty ugly, though the grade related experience looks surprisingly high quality. We’ll have to see.

New print on the windows facing Bay St N

https://i.imgur.com/RGrbZiih.jpeg

Major redevelopment is in the works for downtown Hamilton. Do shelters fit in?
A private consortium has plans for a ‘live, work, play’ precinct in the core that includes modernized arts and entertainment venues, mixed-use residential, and new eateries and shops. Those plans do not include The Salvation Army — stoking debate over whether shelters can coexist with a revived downtown.

By Teviah Moro
Spectator Reporter
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-precinct.html

Phil Reape’s frostbitten fingertips are a nasty reminder of the time he didn’t have a warm bed at the Salvation Army in downtown Hamilton.

Reape says he missed curfew one night at the packed York Boulevard shelter and couldn’t get back in during a coronavirus outbreak.

Facing bitter cold, he tried to stay warm by burning hand sanitizer in a tent and huddling in parking garages.

“You get up in the morning and you can’t even move. It was so cold.”

His fingers are blackened and scabbed, but Reape survived the ordeal and is back at Hamilton’s largest men’s shelter this frigid February evening, hoping to find a place to live like dozens of others inside.

The Salvation Army has been on the downtown site for more than a 100 years and its brick building has welcomed homeless men to its Hamilton Booth Centre since the 1950s.

But a private consortium says the shelter doesn’t fit with its vision for an arts and entertainment precinct in the area.

Shelters are “extremely important,” says Jasper Kujavsky, a partner in the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG).

“But are they best located in an urban core right next to an arena and restaurants and patios? Not necessarily.”

Last year, HUPEG struck a long-term leasing arrangement with the city to refurbish and operate FirstOntario Centre, FirstOntario Concert Hall and the Hamilton Convention Centre.

City officials hailed the deal — the details of which remain confidential — as a way to save taxpayers $155 million in operating and capital costs over 30 years.

In exchange for pouring tens of millions into revamping the city-owned venues, the consortium also picks up three municipal properties.

They include the York Boulevard parkade, a parking lot behind it on Vine Street and another parcel at York and Caroline Street North.

HUPEG — which includes the Carmen’s Group, labour union LIUNA, Meridian Credit Union and Paletta Group — aims to build mixed-use residential highrises in the area.

The idea is that the added density will generate new eateries and shops to serve future residents who will live near a modernized FirstOntario Centre, the former Copps Coliseum at the corner Bay Street North.

“At the heart of this, we’re talking about the creation of a precinct — an arts and entertainment district — where it’s live, work and play,” PJ Mercanti, CEO of Carmen’s, told The Spectator.

But “everything has to be in its best place,” said Kujavsky, addressing the question of the 82-bed men’s shelter.

“Cities have to have social services, and cities have to have arts and entertainment. You want them to be in the most optimized locations.”

Some at city hall make the same case.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the Booth Centre is “out of sync” with redevelopment plans for the area. He hopes the Salvation Army can find another location.

“Look, we need shelters. We need shelter space, now more than ever. The question becomes where and how.”

The Salvation Army has “done incredible work for generations,” said Coun. Jason Farr, who represents downtown.

It’s up to the Christian-based charity to decide whether to move, but the area has been “designated, for a lack of a better word, for an entertainment district,” Farr said.

Others have a different take.

“I think it’s disgusting ... that folks that are very keen on delivering an entertainment district and an exciting, energetic vibrant downtown core aren’t able to see that there can be a coexistence of realities,” Coun. Nrinder Nann said.

HUPEG’s position on the shelter is the “epitome of privilege,” said Don Seymour, executive director of Wesley Urban Ministries.

“That’s just NIMBY with a lot of money,” he contended, using the acronym for “not in my backyard.”

The consortium, meanwhile, insists it’s not pressuring the Salvation Army to leave.

HUPEG “will work in a sensitive way and collaboratively with them to look at options in the core” to relocate its services, Kujavsky said.

“This cannot happen unless the Salvation Army is happy and in agreement with whatever plan is presented to them, but we are certainly going to be proactively, as an organization, trying to fashion a plan for them that does all of that.”

The Salvation Army, however, says it remains “committed to the current location,” which also includes its community and family services building, “for the foreseeable future.”

The organization has “met with developers on a couple of occasions, and at their request” to hear their plans, the Ontario Division wrote in an emailed statement.

The Salvation Army declined The Spectator’s recent interview requests, but in an earlier conversation, spokesperson Glenn van Gulik noted the Booth Centre is centrally located for those it serves.

Being close to other social services downtown is also important, van Gulik added.

“It is about recognizing that we’re part of a system, that we don’t stand alone, that we work with others, and in that light we need to be considerate of and be engaged in connecting with all of those agency partners.”

Major developments planned

The bulldozers and cranes haven’t yet converged on York Boulevard.

But with major developments planned — in addition to HUPEG’s — the blueprints for change are being drafted.

• IN8 aims to demolish the long-ailing Hamilton City Centre — the former Eaton Centre connected to Jackson Square — to build four residential towers, with street-facing commercial space.

With a site plan submitted, owner Darryl Firsten said he hopes to soon have city approval and expects a “long demolition” to start at the end of this year or beginning of 2023.

The project — which he initially pegged at $700 million in 2020, but is now likely a “bigger number” due to inflation — promises to breathe more life into downtown, Firsten said.

“In total, we would add the better part of 3,000 people downtown and hopefully we’re the tip of the iceberg.”

• Real Properties, which owns Jackson Square next door, has no plans to move into residential development but encourages more of it.

“It would definitely be beneficial for our owner-operator stores, for sure,” leasing manager Jocelyne Mainville said.

• Developer Aaron Collina has purchased the 1.75-acre Philpott Memorial Church property on York Boulevard next to the Salvation Army with plans for a high-density, mixed-use project.

The congregation plans to move into the former Lincoln Alexander Centre on King Street East near Gore Park in 2024.

Overall, the deal involved seven properties, six parties, three brokerages and 2.76 acres with the price per acre at “well over $11 million,” noted John MacNamara of Blair Blanchard Stapleton Limited.

• A block east at MacNab Street North, new owners aim to restore the historic Coppley building, a former textile factory that dates to 1856.

The Hamilton Community Foundation plans to transform the 70,000-square-foot building into its headquarters and establish a community hub in partnership with Toronto developer TAS.

“Part of our explicit agenda is we’d like to protect space for community use, affordable community use,” said Terry Cooke, foundation CEO.

Filling in “missing teeth” — like parking lots or underutilized sites — in and around York to add density through development will create more vibrancy, he said.

“So I’m bullish on the future of this area, but it’s not because of mega projects,” such as a revamped FirstOntario Centre, “as it is a bunch of smaller infill contributions.”

• Kitty-corner from the arena, the shuttered Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary building sits on an eight-acre property that stretches from Bay to Hess.

The province has rejected its funding requests, but the school board still hopes to build an elementary school there. Just a few years ago, HUPEG members eyed the vast property as the potential site of a convention centre. York Boulevard — originally Merrick Street — has seen its fair share of massive developments.

The former Copps Coliseum and Jackson Square are the jigsaw pieces of a years-long urban renewal project that saw blocks of Victorian-era buildings razed in the late-1960s.

The Hamilton Farmers’ Market and Central Library, which help form the York streetscape, also ended up part of the sprawling puzzle. The Hamilton City Centre, formerly Eaton Centre, opened in 1990.

Kevin Whyte, operations manager at G.S. Dunn, has watched the area change during his 35 years with the dry mustard miller just a few steps north of York on Park Street.

From his perspective, the cresting wave of investment bodes well for the area.

“I really do think it’s going to be great for the city — quite frankly, I think perhaps long overdue.”

G.S. Dunn, whose industrial roots go back more than a century and has been on Park since the late-1950s, plans to stick around for it, Whyte says.

“We have $30-million-plus worth of equipment — and specialized equipment, I should add — tied up in our facility to produce the product that we produce.”

The business processes mustard seeds into flour and ships the product to more than 70 countries.

G.S. Dunn has been a good neighbour by trying to keep truck traffic to a minimum and using technology to lower the din of machinery, Whyte says.
“I don’t see any problem going forward.”

Cooke views the Salvation Army in a similar light.

“Far be it for me to tell them what to do, but I don’t see it as incompatible with the changing neighbourhood, and frankly, part of the urban mixture,” he said.

“It’s a whole range of people, opportunities, challenges that have to coexist.”

Shelters on prime real estate

The Salvation Army isn’t the only shelter drawing attention.
A few blocks north, Mission Services knows it sits on coveted ground at the corner of James and Barton.

“People are always approaching us because obviously that’s a piece of prime real estate in the core,” associate executive director Wendy Kennelly said.

Would-be buyers offer to find the agency another site, but the location must be right: correct zoning, close to the core, along a major transit route, Kennelly said.

The men’s shelter has its detractors, but on balance, Mission Services has “coexisted very, very, well” with its neighbours since its arrival in 1956.

Starting in the mid-2000s, James North saw an influx of artists and galleries drawn to cheap rents relative to Toronto, generating a creative renaissance.

But amid an ensuing flurry of investment — as new eateries, bars and condos joined the streetscape — rents became too high for some to stick around.

Across Hamilton, which hit a record $2-billion building-permit year in 2021, the inner-city gentrification is coupled with a perfect storm of hardship: Renovictions, unaffordable housing, stagnant social-assistance rates, homeless encampments, packed shelters, opioid overdoses, the pandemic.

Hamilton’s database of people who access services like shelters and drop-in centres reached 1,375 at the end of last September, according to the latest figure the city has provided.

That was higher than at any other time in 2021 or 2020, but data collection has also improved, which could have led to the identification of more people.

Of those, about 47 per cent are considered chronically homeless, or for at least six months in the past year or at least 18 months over the past three.

“This is an issue that’s steeped in a lack of housing and a lack of health-care supports for people that are very ill,” says Don Seymour of Wesley Urban Ministries.

At its drop-in centre on Catharine Street North, Wesley offers an array of essential services, including meals, harm-reduction supplies and help finding housing.

But if James and York are in flux, so is the turf around Wesley.

In the next block, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre’s longtime home on Rebecca Street has been demolished to make way for a 30-storey residential tower.

Urban Core, which operates Hamilton’s only supervised consumption site, has found temporary digs for its services elsewhere in the core. It plans to build a new centre on Cannon Street near Wentworth.

Seymour says Wesley’s landlord is committed to the agency, but there is pushback from certain quarters.

“A lot of our neighbours have made it clear they don’t like us here. They blame us for the people that are here.”

Wesley reached out to apartment dwellers to work out the issues, including complaints about people in John Rebecca Park.

But Seymour said the response was abrupt.

“They just said, ‘We want you gone.’ That was it.”

‘Downtown is for everybody’

As life grows more unaffordable, low-income residents are displaced from downtown.

But it’s “unlikely” all will be forced to live elsewhere, says a University of Waterloo professor who is studying gentrification in Hamilton.

“So having service organizations that assist those communities, where they are located is absolutely essential,” said Brian Doucet, who is Canada Research Chair in urban change and social inclusion.

“Especially if a city is saying our city, our downtown is for everybody. Well, that means everybody.”

To strike the right balance, municipalities need to be more deliberate in ensuring development addresses social needs like affordability, Doucet suggests.

“I think the conversation needs to shift from we basically welcome any kind of development to critically looking at how a large redevelopment project is going to enhance the lives and opportunities for everyone in the city.”

That includes LRT, which delivered condos in Kitchener-Waterloo, but failed on affordable, family housing, says Doucet, calling the experience a “lesson” for Hamilton.

Mayor Fred Eisenbeger says the city will include provisions for affordability, through such tools as inclusionary zoning, along the future Main-King-Queenston LRT corridor.

But an affordability requirement wasn’t part of the negotiations that led to the HUPEG deal, he said.

“I think we’d like to encourage that, but we can’t always set standards to make it mandatory because they certainly may diminish the investments that they’re prepared to make.”

Outside the Salvation Army, Phil Reape has more immediate concerns, like finding a place to live.

“It was nuts,” he recalls of his ordeal in the bone-chilling cold, rubbing his frostbitten fingers with his thumb.

Not too long ago, he couldn’t have imagined this, Reape says.

Before his life fell apart during a divorce, he worked in IT, had a house. He has kids.

“I ran out of money and I was on the street.”

Reape considers the idea of an entertainment district sweeping up the core, including where the shelter sits.

“We’re not a suit-and-tie town,” Reape offers. “We’re never going to be like that, so I don’t know what they’re expecting.”

But if the Salvation Army ever pulls up its York Boulevard stakes, something will have to replace it.

“Like you could add two more and ... they’re still going to have a homeless problem.”

It's probably a fair bet that the Salvation Army's building/land will rise in value to a point they will WANT to move, presuming they can find a space in the central lower city that allows them to take the difference and invest it in their services.

HUPEG shouldn't have said anything. Now they look like the bad guys. Everyone knows they'll move of their own volition, similar to the Philpott church. If they said nothing, they could have looked like goo guys. Hell, donate a bit to the salvation army and get on everyone's good side. Eventually the pressure to move will be too high. Both from a land value perspective, and because mixed use developments will have commercial tenants and residents that complain until they move the shelter. Let them exist until they want to move.

They can still do something like that.

#1 rule in a PR gaffe is to own up to your mistake. #2 is say what will be done to fix the issue. So basically, IMO, help them or another cause related to providing homes for the homeless now, and if/when Sally Ann decides to make a big move, assist them in an honest and open way.

Is there anywhere obvious it can go? Maybe making access to the shelter off of Vine would remove the main issue of shelter inhabitants congregating on York.

Does anyone know how many shelter beds Hamilton has per capita compared to other nearby municipalities like KW, Brantford, Burlington etc?

Hamilton numbers are known, but doubt surrounding areas have any meaningful beds to offer from a shelter perspective.

One thing to consider is during the pandemic the population in this group has increased because of other areas shutting down services that were offered (usually at a bare minimum), people losing housing due to job loss, etc., and that's attracted individuals looking for help and knowing Hamilton has the infrastructure to help, they come here. Even if those services have been minimized relative to pre-COVID, it's still more than other areas (only Toronto supports to the same degree).

Personally I think the province should be funding these services to a higher degree in Hamilton because homeless individuals are "directed here" basically by snooty municipalities, cities and towns in South Western Ontario who don't want such a blight on their accord. In no way am I insulting or marginalizing this situation. The reality is Hamilton/Toronto do the heavy lifting to help and it's still not enough. Housing helps, support systems help, and the infrastructure to help people move forward in society when they've for whatever reason (own volition, system, etc) have fallen into this way of unfortunate life and that's not a cost that's decreasing.

Social assistance never should have been left to the municipalities to figure out. But it's interesting that no government since that downloading has taken them back -- there have been provincial handouts to assist cities hit harder with those costs, but that's only been a band-aid solution.

No ‘deep, dark secret’ in downtown Hamilton venues deal: Mayor Fred Eisenberger
(Hamilton Spectator, Teviah Moro, Mar 26 2022)

A private consortium the city has tapped to refurbish and operate Hamilton’s downtown entertainment venues will not pay property taxes.

That tax status is a term of the confidential master agreement the city struck with the group last year.

The exemption is allowed under provincial legislation, but the deal’s decades-long confidentiality provision invites suspicion, Coun. Brad Clark says.

“We’re wide open to accusations from the public that these are sweetheart deals and all of the other allegations.”

Last July, council approved a lease agreement — for a guaranteed 30 years and as long as 49 — with the Hamilton Urban Precinct Entertainment Group (HUPEG) to renovate and operate the arena, convention centre and concert hall.

City officials celebrated the deal as a way to save taxpayers $155 million in operating and capital costs over 30 years.

In exchange for investing tens of millions into revamping the city-owned venues, the consortium also picks up three municipal properties.

They include the York Boulevard parkade, a parking lot behind it on Vine Street and another parcel at York and Caroline Street North. A long-term, incremental tax break is also tied to the development of those parcels.

HUPEG — which includes the Carmen’s Group, labour union LIUNA, Meridian Credit Union and Paletta Group — aims to build mixed-use residential highrises and spur the creation of shops and eateries in a rejuvenated corridor.

On Wednesday, city staff told councillors the deal’s master agreement would remain confidential for the life of the lease.

“So theoretically, this could be an existing relationship forever and the public never gets to see what the agreement is,” Clark said.

Read it in full here.

The lack of transparency is unfortunate, but getting the city out is for the best.