The developer for this project is applying for some minor variances:

1) To permit a setback of 2.9m for Floor 5 from the King Street West facade
2) To permit a 2.5 setback from Floor 5 from the Hypotenuse of the Daylight Triangle.
3) To permit a setback of 0.0m for floors 6-13 from the hypotenuse of the Daylight Triangle.
4) To permit a setback of 2.5m for floors 6-13 from King Street West facade.
5) A rear yard setback of 8.2m is provided from the building to the rear lot line and the portion of the building containing indoor amenity space whereas 11.2m is required.
6) To permit a minimum parking stall size of 2.5m by 5.0m for any above ground or underground parking structure when parking is provided by means of a parking stacker system, whereas a minimum stall size of 2.6m by 5.5m is required.

The application was approved.

They are approved to apply for the variances.

A small distinction. (In the end, the variances will be approved)

The Planning Act prohibits applying for variances within two years of a Council zoning approval, unless the Council grants permission to apply.

With Chief Planner Robichaud stating his supports allowing the application to proceed, I expect staff comments will be favourable.

The existing building is on fire.

https://twitter.com/Box43Pio/status/...4CKpcWg5A&s=19

Interesting how this keeps happening at buildings in Hamilton that addicts are camping out in....

This will require a complete redesign. Building's destroyed. https://twitter.com/ACollinsPhoto/st...dMQk9oboZy33Xg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...xXwAEPkD4.jpeg

They were already going to demolish the building. So this doesn't really matter. What is unfortunate is that they were planning on using some historical items inside the building (tiles and things) for the new project. Hopefully that isn't too damaged.

Historical buildings are notoriously expensive to integrate into new buildings. I'm curious if this fire and resulting redesign now makes the site less costly to develop...

The developer already determined a while ago that it would be too expensive to redevelop the existing heritage building. It was simply in too poor a state to save. They decided on full demolition of the existing structure with approval from the city. The new design will pay tribute to the old building, but it will be a completely new structure.

If anything this fire may speed up the construction timeline?

The aftermath.

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

these '"suspicious" fires in future development sites happen far too often. This sort of thing happens a lot in Ontario..
Not a loss for this building as it was ugly af... but I've seen several beautiful heritage buildings and churches on sites of future developments that have met a very similar fate unfortunately.

Unfortunately it's caused by drug addicts squating inside, using cooking equipment or drug paraphernalia. I wish these developers would do more to protect their vacant sites, and the city would do more to crack down on the ridiculous behaviour the junkies bring to our downtown.

It’s often due to squatters. Some developers do better jobs of keeping them out than others, but I’ve spoken to some developers in Toronto who have a hell of a time keeping them out of their buildings. Fencing, boarding up entrances, etc don’t help often.

In this case particularly the building was due to be demolished anyway so I doubt this was intentional.

crazy, I was literally just standing in front of that building waiting for the bus on thursday.. tbh I always kinda hated the state that building was in, esp after that storm that ripped off the paneling and made it look junky - at least before it still felt functional.. so I am happy it's being demolished and rebuilt. I mean it's brick and stone, it's not that hard to redesign a building the exact same way, so no need - in fact for many of these buildings they should demolish the entire brick area and rebrick it with new clean brick so that it lasts longer.

It's too early to lay blame on specific people. But no surprise it's a "suspicious" fire:

Massive blaze at century-old Hamilton Store Fixtures deemed suspicious: police
The iconic brown metal clad building is now a mere pit of rubble after a massive blaze early Saturday morning flattened its foundation.
https://www.thespec.com/news/crime/2...ious-fire.html
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%...ious-fire.html

If people are determined enough they will get in, whether they're seeking shelter or to vandalize and cause destruction. Even round-the-clock security won't stop them -- I don't know what solutions would work.

Thankfully nobody was hurt (that we know of). Had this happened during a busy time of day with more activity on the streets and surrounding businesses that could have been very different, even with roads blocked off.

Cameras and sensors seems pretty easy to monitor and action if there's trespassers, no?

Not much of an incentive when the building is due to be demolished anyways, I don't think

42-year-old woman charged with arson after massive weekend fire in downtown
Accused reportedly jumped out of building as it was on fire but was found at Jackson Square: police

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...lhLgII-vRVUSqA

Hamilton police have charged a 42-year-old woman with arson and committing a break and enter after a massive fire in the city's core that destroyed a historic building.

No one was injured in the blaze, which the fire department said was first reported at 6 a.m. Saturday, but it gutted 206 King Street W., a century-old building that was the former site of the Hamilton Store Fixtures and a radio station.

Const. Indy Bharaj told CBC Hamilton when police arrived witnesses said they saw someone jump out of the building as it was on fire.

"With a description and direction of travel for the person provided by witnesses, police were able to locate the female on the rooftop of Jackson Square," he said.

She was arrested that day and through further investigation, was charged, he said. She has since been released, Bharaj added, and will be in court at a later date.

Surprise, surprise!

Obviously mental health issues when one can logically think breaking and entering and starting a fire is a good thing or doesn't consider the impacts on others. The fact she jumped out the window while the building was on fire is nuts too. Not sure how someone like this gets let out on bail, sure nothing could go wrong in the meantime.

This country is not nearly hard enough on drug addiction and mental illness. These people need to be taken off the streets and forced into treatment. I walk past people downtown regularly smoking crack and other drugs, in plain site. It's a shame. The area around the Y is a disaster on a good day.

We can't force people in a free society to do anything but clearly mental health needs more investment. Sadly in this country while our healthcare might look envious to other countries, we have a massive underfunding in mental health (this is a massive category- ptsd, depression, etc.), drug addiction, Alzheimer's, and dementia amongst other growing areas. Wish I could be optimistic but since health care was downloaded onto the provinces and has a higher inflation rate naturally than CPI, it's always underinvested.