I'm inclined to believe the former explanation over the latter.

Real shame though, I'd be happy with anything that fixes up those buildings.

Another example of the red tape and naysayers in this city chasing away progress! Boggles my mind that they would rather dilapidated buildings to exist over a beautiful new development right in the core!

The shadow of the marquee signage was going to directly impose on the cenotaph and he didnt want to budge. Non starter in my opinion to have commercial logo reflect on the cenotaph. Our soldiers sacrificed far too much to have their memorial cheapened like that.

Also the fact that the real reason this isnt going through is because the business plan and economics did not make financial sense. City couldve approved the whole design but the developer isnt going forward because his business plan didnt pan out.

I'm kind of skeptical that the building is worth $4.7 million, especially with the hassles you have deal with Thorne and the city to do anything with it. Especially disappointing considering how moribund the south side of Gore is.

Thorne did this.

weird, I didn't know his job description included sabotaging development in the downtown.

I honestly think that the Gore needs a few more legitimate businesses before a development like this occurs. Speaking to a few individuals in the know, the development was never a sure thing It was an idea that was discussed, but I don't believe that the owner of the property had made up their mind one way or another about building this hotel at any point in time. That's just what I heard. I could be wrong.

no surprise....Hamilton city hall doing what it does best.

To be honest, this wasn't entirely a city hall decision. I think the decision ultimately came down to whether or not the developer wanted to invest tens of millions in this development. As I mentioned, the immediate surrounding areas in Gore Park aren't exactly a tourist destination and I have personal doubts about whether or not a boutique hotel would currently be financially viable in Hamilton. From a developers perspective, I would have reservations about building something like this right now.

However, within 5-10 years, this area will be screaming for a boutique hotel. Once the LRT nears completion in the area, other developments are built, more businesses begin operating, etc, then we'll see a ton of interest in this sort of thing in the Gore.

If the developer holds onto the buildings, they should continue restoration on the buildings and either turn them into apartments, condos or offices. The developer could also continue restoration and eventually build this project once the area screams for it...Just my two sense.

Considering you just converted a hotel to condos you are probably right about the lack of viability. Besides they just built those hotels farther down by george st.

Exactly. The Core and Gore Park need more viable businesses that are destinations. I'm talking about boutique shops, more restaurants, new bars, etc. That stretch of Gore Park only has Red Church cafe and some banks... Yeah, King William is super close, but I think that area would benefit more from a development like this as opposed to the core right now.

The core is up and coming and has been since we redeveloped the Connaught. It still has years of further development and other improvements before it becomes the location for an upscale and boutique style hotel.

To be fair, it had more until they decided to try to demolish that stretch - it had some pretty successful restaurants in there..

I guess the question is do you want it to be a business core, a culture core, or a restaurant core, or a fusion of everything?

Hamilton seems to have this thing where it designates a whole street as one function - the textile st - Hess party st - little Portugal, the business st, etc.

I wasn't here when Chester's was still open, so I really hope the owner finds someone who wants to bring that beers of the world idea back under the same name.

The City of Hamilton's intentions are for the core and for Gore Park to be a fusion of different types of businesses. Gore Park is currently, The Court House, Red Church cafe (step in the right direction), Several Banks.... The other side of King St isn't much better. I like Cheapies, but you got the Pay Day loan stores, convenience stores, Popeyes, a rundown Ginos Pizza.... Gore Park needs more options.

We need places with brand recognition and ideally brands that haven't opened in Hamilton yet. The Court House side of Gore Park also could benefit from a restaurant. It's baffling that a successful restauranteur hasn't taken a chance and opened a restaurant in that area over the last five years. This is the time that businesses should be flocking to Gore Park to open. There's literally so much potential there to make it the centerpiece of our Downtown (which is what the City wants), and it is happening (albeit at a slow pace).

A Boutique hotel wouldn't thrive in present-day Gore Park. The renderings looked beautiful and it would be a very welcome addition to Gore Park, but it wouldn't do well financially. People who stay at boutique hotels want stuff to do at their doorstep. Unless someone checking into that hotel loves spending their day at Scotia Bank, there's literally not a ton for them to do in that immediate area.

Presently, King William St (right on restaurant row), Dundas or Ancaster, are the smartest places to build and operate a boutique hotel. In 5-10 years from now, I think Gore Park would be ideal. However, a business isn't going to build a boutique hotel there now and wait to see big returns several years from now. It's just not smart business.

there are plenty of boutiques in Jackson. I see no reason why a boutique hotel wouldn't make it in the Gore.

you talk like you're the expert of downtown bc you have an office selling condos.

He has some good points - and I DO speak as someone who is an expert of downtown because I have lived in hamilton all my life and done my research on its history. Yes jackson has those things but the core is severely lacking in anything that it had in its heyday. And those stores will never return due to a lack of demand and because those amenitie sare offered now in malls and not in buildings that once operated as businesses. The biggest deterrent is:

a) parking in front of businesses - before they widened king st in the gore park area cars used to park diagonally all down that stretch in front of businesses.

b) The gore actually had REAL businesses - it had robinsons, it had the right house, it had kresgys, it had woolworths - it had big businesses to draw people to the core - it has none of that stuff anymore -the only draw to downtown is jackson - and half of jackson since the eatons center still sits pretty much vacant and would have probably been demolished by now if the city of hamilton hadn't set up shop upstairs.

It is starting to get james st and king william as restaurants bloom all down those streets, as well as some beer places - but any of the other businesses slowly get pushed out - art studios are flash in the pan - we still have a severe lack of actual BUSINESSES moving into that area aside from some architectural firms and some coffee stores. And granted there are the banks.

hamiltons biggest detriment in the core is, aside from festivals there is no central entertainment complex to motivate people to go downtown. Sure there is a bowling alley but there are bowling alleys other places - same with the theatre - it has nothing unique to the core itself.

Anything past the banks and you get into a concrete jungle that is both bewildering and disorienting. The top of jackson, for all its potential is utterly deserted at almost all times, and mcmasters presence I might add was originally from toronto - they moved to this city back in the day, so we can't really even lay claim to that.

I don't know about you, but there is only so much eating I can do in the downtown core. If I am going to stay in a boutique hotel downtown, I want things to do in the gore that are local, exactly like hamilton23 said. I want entertainment, like the playhouse theatre, or maybe even an opera theatre (and yes I know, theatre aquarius, but I still want a legit one) - almost everything to do is outside of the core area - like a giant sprawl with a void in the center.

Everything in this city is scattered all over the place - we need to centralize and provide everything in a close easy to access area. So we're building a new park on king william - whoop de do. People generally still don't have much to do along this stretch at night. Sure there is absynthe and the restaurants - but what else?

I know back in the day the downtown used to have a lot of parades, maybe we need to bring parades back to the gore. Or non-big box shopping, although I am pretty sure those days are numbered.

So other than businesses, banks, hotels and restaurants, what else can we fill the gore with?

I really don’t think a boutique hotel would thrive in Gore Park. As much as we enjoy Hamilton’s upswing, we still have few destinations downtown that are worthwhile/unique to visit.

The last thing I’d want to do is leave my hotel and see drunken bums in the park and around Jackson Square.

To be fair - the amt of those has declined sharply in the past 15 years. Hell even just in the past FEW years.

I agree that there is much room for improvement but there are things to do ....the art gallery ....the library and farmers market .... It would be nice to have a museum and maybe some sort of playdium place ....and maybe even some big box stores but their urban sized siblings ....a better shoppers drug Mart.... A homesense / marshal's.... Maybe even a (dare I say it) Walmart or urban home Outfitters ....with all the condos and new residents downtown these stores would thrive and they are known to be destination shopping ....so people do travel from other places to get to these stores