I've never once proclaimed to be an "expert of downtown" :koko:

I also don't "sell condos". I'm not a real estate agent.

I won't proclaim that I'm a "Downtown Expert" now either. I'm just a realist and highly experienced and educated in Construction Management and Real Estate Development/ Business. You're questioning my livelihood?

A Boutique Hotel doesn't work in Gore Park in the present day. That's the facts and that's the reason the developer ultimately scrapped that idea. Don't kid yourself for a second thinking otherwise.

I also see your comment about Jackson Square having "boutiques"? Are you serious or joking? Those aren't boutiques by any stretch of the imagination. If Jackson Square had boutiques it would be a lot busier with a more eclectic group of customers. You're being silly and nonsensical.

From Twitter:

https://i.imgur.com/86TSNN7_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium

https://i.imgur.com/P7H12Uj_d.jpg?ma...idelity=medium

the post said it was to. be contemporary office space. Not a hotel anymore and this is boring compared to what was first presented. They will still probably complain about a rooftop patio.

New eatery and office space part of Gore Park revamp
Coun. Jason Farr ‘couldn’t be more happy’ to see projects moving forward after years of stalled plans

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9...e-park-revamp/

A developer who once hoped to build a boutique hotel at Gore Park is moving ahead with a different plan for the high-profile downtown location.

Patrick Bermingham has submitted to the city a proposal to transform 62 and 64 King St. E. into a new restaurant and office space, with possible penthouse units.

The goal is to start construction on the revamp of the more-than-century-old buildings in late spring 2021, says architect Graham McNally. "They are committed and definitely going ahead," he said Tuesday.

That's welcome news for Coun. Jason Farr, who has long hoped to see vacant buildings in downtown's signature promenade brought back to life.

"Within two years, give or take, the whole south side is coming alive, and I couldn't be more happy," said the downtown councillor.

Just west of Bermingham's property, a development consortium is forging ahead with plans for a mixed-use residential building at 18-22, 24-28 King St. E.

The Hughson Business Space Corporation project has been in the works for several years, but a dispute over an initial plan to raze the 19th-century buildings slowed it. That changed, however, and the facades will be preserved, while the back end will come down.

Farr also pointed to Effort Trust's ongoing office building project at Hughson and King, an extensive renovation of the Embassy nightclub and rebirth of the Royal Connaught as elements of the area's rebirth.

Stalled ambitions and resulting derelict buildings along Gore Park have made for eyesores. Farr acknowledged the idleness has generated "questions" in various quarters.

"Not to brag, it was 10 years ago now that council cut the ribbon on a pedestrianized Gore Park. We've invested millions in the park hoping for auxiliary reinvestments from the private side, and now we see it happening in a very big way."

Also, on the north side of King at Hughson, a developer is building residential towers at the site of the former Kresge's department store.

In early 2018, Bermingham and a partner bought 62 King St. E., the former home of Chester's Beers of the World, and 64 King St. E., then a vacant retail space, and later pitched a plan to turn it into a boutique hotel.

But last May, Bermingham and then-project architect Bill Curran said they'd abandoned the $6-million project after running into resistance at city hall over design features — notably a fourth-floor projecting balcony — and unforeseen costs.

Bermingham, who's also a painter and sculptor, couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

McNally, who was hired in late 2018, noted there was pushback from the community about the initial plan potentially casting shadows on the Gore Park cenotaph, he noted.

Changes to the city's downtown secondary plan now also stipulate buildings can't cast more shadows onto the park.

"The long and short of it, 50 years from now, there should still be sun getting to the Gore, which I think people can agree is a good thing."

McNally, who worked with Bermingham on 103 King St. E., north of the park, said the current plan aims to respect the heritage of the two buildings.

The former Chester's side has been gutted to be refurbished into a new restaurant space. Next door will be offices with exposed brick, he said.

"Young professionals, if they're coming out this way, I think are looking for offices that have character and feel like a trendy, funky place to work."

It's not yet certain whether the fifth floor will have two penthouse residential suites or offices, he noted.


http://media.zuza.com/4/6/46c3b434-d...c7/map_(1).jpg
Map shows key locations that are part of new development near Gore Park. | The Hamilton Spectator

this development is gonna need some intense facade cleaning - and it will be nice to see all those shuttered windows finally open :)

I always did like the chesters ground floor facade though - It will be saddening to see that go.

HQ renderings...

https://i.imgur.com/gBAJlJ4.jpg
source

https://i.imgur.com/rZ4cpZ9.jpg
source

So much about this proposal confuses me..

"McNally, who worked with Bermingham on 103 King St. E., north of the park, said the current plan aims to respect the heritage of the two buildings."

this is still pretty generic looking - I really liked the ground floor look of the originals. Also apologies for my previous info - I was one block over haha and thus thought they were obliterating the buildings to build something new lol..

I wonder if they will sodablast the stone or re-build it with new stone. If they will take it off block by block like they did with the william thomas building..

That'll do just fine. I did love the original proposal, however...

Okay it's been about 4 years since the last movement on Blanchards 18-28 King Street East project... How can waiting for these building to collapse/deemed unsalvagable be legal!? Tax the f*** out of him and his company.

I met Blanchard when I was painting his personal office at the corner of Main and James, and he, in my opinion was a complete douche, most likely still is, all about profits for him as I also personally know very close higher ups in the company and well yeah, that's my two cents, but you didn't hear it from me.

I went by these buildings yesterday and oh my god have they ever deteriorated since - half the finishes have all flaked off -I honestly believe it's their goal to just let them collapse so they can justify building something new.

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...ester-beer.jpg

Also for the current building in this thread I also went up to it and wow, it's in really bad shape - there is so much RUST all over the thing. The stone actually has rust stains all over it - and little bits of rust metal from all the signs that used to be on it. The lamps are all rusted as are the sign supports for chesters - it's just.. in really bad shape. Then again we have seen the wonders they did with the william thomas building, and this one is nowhere near in bad a shape as that one was.. also peered inside, there are doing wood framing inside for the walls so stuff is going on inside.

On the plus side all the shutters are off the windows except one - it's kinda sad they couldn't keep them and just have them open - they are clearly original to the building.

The lower floored building to the left of it isn't bad though - the brick is actually in really good shape.

It's funny, without the renders above you have no idea just how DEEP these buildings go inside. It really is sad though that almost the entire south side of king st in gore park is unusable.

I wonder if this will ever happen. We need more activity like this in the Gore Park area. Fingers crossed.

It's already in the process of happening from what I saw yesterday.

They were doing work on this today. I asked if I could come in and take a quick picture, and they said no, so I just took one from outside. This the the red brick building to the left of Chester's.

https://i.imgur.com/OjsSWuYh.jpg

This is great news @theritsman. I've noticed a lot of pre-work going on around here, but this looks like we're seeing some actual progress now. I love this side of Gore (unlike Money Mart hell across the road).

Money Mart hell would be nice, if it weren't for Money Mart and the like :haha:

Yesterday I saw a listing advertising the commercial space for rent so I thought this might be interesting to some. Not a bad rendering, and if the building fills out as intended it would be a great addition to the gore park area.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/62-6...n-ON/20346712/

^ Based on the brochure they are calling this the King John Buildings.

1) Can we please keep the address in the title, remembering the name of each and every building name is incredibly difficult, and Urban Toronto for example maintains both the name, and address of the development. Finding this back was hard, and I end up googling the address to find it.

2) They're still working away at this, with many workers on site. Looks like a big job to redo the entire interior:

https://i.imgur.com/aPX1EB2h.jpg

Agreed. I often get the developments confused based on name only. Hell, sometimes I get confused even with the address.

With that said, this is a pretty good problem to have - that there are so many developments that it's hard to keep them all straight.