Treble Hall
 

Treble Hall, 6-12 John Street North, Hamilton (L) – Councillor B. McHattie

Councillor McHattie advised that CityHousing Hamilton Corporation is interested in purchasing this property. The owner is a Toronto resident and the building is not for sale and the funding has not been determined so the proposal is very preliminary however, CityHousing has prepared conceptual drawings and the owner has been approached. The City is developing the Kit Kat building which is right next to Treble Hall. The price needs to be negotiated. Staff was requested to include the concepts on the next agenda.

David Cuming advised Committee that after checking with staff of City Housing Hamilton, he was informed that the concepts for Treble Hall are very preliminary at this time. Therefore, staff will include copies of the concepts on a future agenda.

Weren't they trying to purchase it before the new bldg on King even began construction? And the guy wouldn't sell then?

Has this bldg been declared as Historical? Or do these conceptual drawings mean that they'll tear down and build new? This Hall is GORGEOUS and should be preserved no matter what!

That came from LACAC so obviously they wouldn't support an idea to demo Treble Hall for any future development.

Problem is the owner is asking for too much, think it was like $750,000.

there's still a 200-300 seat hall on the 3rd floor that would be great for music, theatre, dance etc....
awesome building. the guy from TO is a stiff.
I hope they buy it and redevelop it...that would be HUGE.
I wish I had a camera today..when I got off the bus at King and Hughson I crossed King and looked to the east...a mobile crane was lifting the next floor of the city housing building (kit kat) into place and behind/above it was the Spallacci crane wizzing around. looked very cool.
nice to see work on Victoria Hall too...Gore Park could become a very cool place in the next few years if we can pedestrianize the south side and have these new buildings along with the old ones like Treble Hall restored.

here's a recent photo. it's a real beauty.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_0324.jpg
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_0325.jpg

That's a building that keeps slipping my mind even though I do value it quite a bit. I do hope something is done in the restoration sense. It's still in a good enough condition that restoration/renovation shouldn't be out of the question. Heck, Pizza Pizza and the computer shop are still using it which would make me assume the rest of the building is most likely heated to some degree as well.

ok...good news.
The city has freed up $1million to go towards the purchase and redevelopment of Treble Hall.
Here's where you come in - the city would like to hear from anyone serious about wanting to locate in that building - a shop, business, cafe, apartment/condo dwellers on the upper floors etc....
the more interest they can drum up, the better.
Apparently once they line up some tenants they will proceed with the deal.

If you're interested or know someone who is interested please indicate so on this thread.
If the city wants to get in touch with you I'll send out appropriate contact info at that time.

anyone know the sq footage??

Man, if they turned the upper floors into lofts (maybe 2 or 3 per floor), I would buy one up in a second!!
Has anyone been in PURE Home Couture on Locke? Wow... I would KILL for a loft like that! I bet Treble Hall is even more impressive (though I've never seen what the inside looks like at all).

What kind of business are they looking for, rth? ANYTHING at this point? Or do they have an idea as to what they're looking for?

right now the door is wide open. If they only get offers from cash chequing and dollar stores I'm sure they'll scrap the idea.
If they get interest from legit businesses, they'll move forward.
Basically they want to prove to the rest of city hall that it's worth spending a million bucks on.

Nice. I really hope they don't allow anymore CashStop/SuperChequing stores to open up in the Gore. It's turning into the LoanShark District!
... stupid Cathy Da Twit!!! She loves em!

Lets hope for some restaurant type places! I love going to My Thai & Capri. Two of my favourite restos. Another resto or two would be very welcome along that stretch! Would fit in well with King William, too!

Hello The Dude

I live in Hamilton Ontario. My great grandfather John Henry Larkin built the Treble Hall. He sold it to the Treble family. It used to be called the Larkin Hall. Where many dances were held with orchestra's in his time. Thankyou for having your thread here.


Have a grand day!

Wow. Thanks for posting that :)

Nice to have you here Judith Larkin! Welcome!

Thanks Judith!! It's really nice to put a personal touch/connection to a historical building.

Some more info on John Henry Larkin: http://home.att.net/~grassie/tree/ps02/ps02_238.html

it's our pleasure, judith.

can't wait to see it redeveloped. it's one of the finest buildings we've got left downtown. if it doesn't happen soon...well, we all know what it's fate will be.

I think the owner is willing to let the City purchase the building, think the group is City Housing something - they built that new building Gore Building (they got $1 million to lock a deal).

Hopefully they can redevelop the building into residential units with the first floor as a Hamilton Museum with perhaps a cafe.

Designed by architect James Balfour

Well, at least something of his lives on.

Who wants the beast of John North?

Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
Dec 1, 2008
http://www.thespec.com/Entertainment/article/474889

It used to be the beauty of John Street North. Now it's the beast.

Treble Hall was born beautiful, 130 years ago. Bold Renaissance Revival features, it commanded the stretch of John between King and King William.

It still looms large. But now it's dark, empty, forbidding.

It needn't have been this way. A Toronto man named Abe Wertman has owned Treble Hall some 50 years. He's put little into it. Wishes he'd never bought it.

Every now and then, he puts it up for sale. No offer is ever good enough.

And now another For Sale sign has been tacked to Treble Hall.

So we're checking things out. Will the building finally find an owner who loves it?

Not likely.

Treble Hall, plus the building at King and John that's now attached to it, is for sale this time at one million dollars. For you, $995,000.

"It's an aggressive price," admits realtor Augie Ammendolia. "But I think the owner would entertain serious offers."

We wonder if that's really the case. A call is placed to Abe Wertman, but we don't hear back.

He told us some years ago that he planned no improvements. "I just collect the rents. That's it."

That would be from Pizza Pizza, the Pagoda Downtown Restaurant and the Wintas Digital computer shop.

That amounts to about $75,000 a year after expenses, Ammendolia explains. So without even looking at development possibilities in the largely empty Treble Hall, he says, that's about a 7 1/2 per cent return on a million-dollar investment.

"Well, that's providing you don't have anything go wrong with the building," says developer Harry Stinson. And he thinks many things could.

That said, he likes Treble Hall. In fact, he's the only one who has taken a tour of the place with the realtor. He has even been up on the third and fourth floors, unused for generations. In the 1800s, there were concerts, public meetings, theatre up there.

Stinson sees lots of fire code issues to overcome if this space were to be converted to offices or living quarters.

Besides, right now his attention is focused on the piece of John just south of King.

His development plans were foiled this summer at the Royal Connaught Hotel, where plywood has just been nailed up over the windows, making that stretch of the core look doubly desperate.

But Stinson is beavering away right around the corner, where a yellow-brick veneer hides a handsome 1800s building. He and partners are completing plans for an 80-suite boutique hotel. He expects to go public with full details of the $16-million project in the new year.

Meanwhile, in the shadow of Treble Hall, life does carry on in that indomitable Hamilton fashion.

A few doors from the Hall, Peter Papadimitriou opened the Grumpy Greek last month, where gyros are the thing.

Next to him, Lulu's Shawarma opened last year. Tammy Archer and husband Rizgar serve huge and succulent creations, and business is great. "I love it here," Tammy says. "I love all my customers and I think we have the best location in the city."

Vanh Bouly Kalong likes it here too, and she knows her stuff. With the economy sliding, people do eat out less frequently. But guess which of Vanh's My Thai outlets is holding up best right now -- Ancaster, Burlington or downtown Hamilton?

Yes, the restaurant on this challenged piece of John North is the most consistent performer. Younger clientele, more urban, less mortgaged. "And the Vanier Cup weekend was phenomenal," she says.

Still, she looks across the street with great frustration. "I feel like going over there and shaking people up." The Golden Fortune restaurant has been empty since she bought her property and opened My Thai eight years ago.

Next to it, patients line up at the methadone clinic. "I know those people are trying," Vanh says, but it does hurt the street's image.

By contrast, she points to her next-door neighbour, the venerable Capri Restaurant. It has put on a new stone front with classy black awning and signage. "I love it," Vanh says. "I'm going to do the same thing in the spring."

And then there's Treble Hall. Vanh cannot understand why anyone would just sit on such a property. And what about that million-dollar price tag? "I think half that would be just about right."