Foster Building | ? | 6 fl | Construction
 

Core historic landmark on its way back
Foster Building was on the brink of demolition but a courageous developer saw potential

A national heritage landmark, vacant for nearly 30 years, is halfway through its rebirth in the heart of Hamilton.

For more than a year, Toronto engineer Tran Dieu has been busy trucking 129 dumpsters of debris and pigeon poo out of the Foster Building on King Street East. Its inside walls are now lined with fresh drywall as the project moves into its final stages.

“This is going to be an amazing space,” said Gord Moodie, the city’s co-ordinator of downtown incentive programs, on a tour of the renovation.

The building, made up of Victoria Hall and the MacKay building, sits directly across from Gore Park. It’s been empty longer than any heritage building downtown since its retail tenants moved in 1979.

Over the decades, there have been lots of big plans, but none that panned out until Tran Dieu arrived. He’s investing $1.8 million to restore the property with commercial and residential units.

Williams Coffee Pub has already inquired about renting the entire main floor, said Moodie. A study is under way to decide if the upper floors would better suit offices, rental units or condos.

Standing in the middle of one of the 2,000-square-foot units, Moodie points to the newly exposed brick walls and original wood beams as selling points.

“This would be an amazing loft,” he said, turning toward the bank of massive windows that will be restored in the coming months.

If finished as custom condos, the units would be among the largest ever sold in Hamilton with a price tag close to half a million, said Moodie.

Victoria Hall, directly beside the courthouse, was built in 1887 and is designated as a national historic site, on par with Whitehern and Dundurn Castle. It boasts the last metal facade in Canada.

“It’s very rare,” said Sharon Vattay, a cultural and heritage planner with the
city.

The MacKay building next door was built a few decades later and eventually connected to Victoria Hall by its high-fashion tenant Foster’s.

The city once considered investing public dollars to save the buildings from demolition, but backed away because of the costs. Most considered it not worth saving.

One more winter and Moodie predicts the building’s crumbling walls would have failed. Most developers, he noted, would have taken one look at the cracks and run away.

“He’s a pioneer in Hamilton,” Moodie said of Tran Dieu.

The city is trying to make projects like the Foster building more attractive with grant and loan programs. Council approved a $307,000 downtown residential loan for the project, which also qualifies for limited tax breaks because of its location.

The city just approved another grant program to help cover 25 per cent of the cost of restoring heritage designated features up to $150,000.

As other heritage projects like the Lister Block and Royal Connaught continue to struggle, it’s heartening to see a significant project move toward completion, said Anne Charlton, chair of the city’s heritage committee.

“It’s very courageous of (Tran Dieu),” she said. “It’s not an easy project at all.” The committee has been closely following the building’s renovations, which require heritage permits for work on key designated pieces like windows and the facade.

When completed, Vattay expects the project will garner attention far beyond the city’s boundaries.

“I think it will do well for the city.”

yahoo! great news.

one point of interest in this article - it's been empty longer than any heritage building downtown - since 1979. Yet, it's being restored, not demolished.
Again, thank you to a TO invester...we need more of them here with vision beyond cheap, modern crap construction.

I'm excited to see Williams Coffee Pub coming to Gore Park! It's definitely one of my favourite coffee joint, it's popular at McMaster. A bit pricey for the foods though, a tiny little salad might cost like $4.50 something.

It'll be awesome once the South side of Gore Park is pedestrianized with plenty of patio space.

yes, I'm happy about that too, if they locate there. They do breakfast and stay open late night for coffee drinkers...places like second cup and starbucks only offer muffins and things like that - and make terrible coffee!
Williams is being very strategic in Hamilton - McMaster, Waterfront and now Gore Park. awesome locations, AND there is room here for a nice patio. Very good news indeed.

Awesome. The more patio space the better.
And I love how it's WILLIAMS that's courting the owners to locate, not the other way around. What a great change.

I also shook my fist to learn it's been empty 10-years longer than Lister yet did not require demolition... Hmmm... hehe

Can't wait for this project to finish. Hopefully it turns into an awesome success so that the developers decide to do more projects in the core (Trebble Hall)!

I also like how the article ends, by stating that this will garner attention from far beyond the city's boundaries.
that's what happens when you lovingly restore history.
Nobody will oohh and aahh over a cartoony, fake, cheap Lister replica. They will, however, over the real thing.
Disneyworld's 'Venice canal' is a friggin joke. The real thing is amazing.

by the way, today is the big day - no more Spec delivery! lol.

Yes it's amazing to think that this place has been empty for so many more years than Lister and was arguably in worse condition yet was restored for only $1.8 Mil. What are we looking at for Lister now, $30 Mil? Of course Lister is a 6 storey building but that still doesn't add up. The Foster building all combined isn't too small either (and probably required some more careful attention to detail to restore given it's age).

Anyway cheers to Tran for stepping up to the plate. I think that once this is complete it's going to spur a restoration of the entire South side of Gore. The Williams will do well, probably getting a ton of customers from the courthouse.

Great news...been hearing rumblings of the restoration of this property for years--glad to see it finally happen. Somewhere in my parents' vault there is a picture of my brother and I with Santa in Gore Park and I recall the Foster's signage still being visible in the background.

Williams would be a great addition to the Gore. I can remember when Grandma Lee's was located over on the south side back in the 80s.

yea, I didn't pick up on that sentence in the article, but it is good to hear of a business ASKING to locate there instead of us having to beg. haha.

so, here's my question - does Williams carry any weight in 'corporate N.America'?? some of you guys are up on this stuff more than I.
What I mean is this - will their locating at Gore Park sound out any signals to other retailers/eateries to come here as well or do they not carry the same repuation or influence as a Second Cup or Starbucks?

I think they are still a relatively small chain (less than 40 franchises).

From their website (www.williamscoffeepub.com) Williams Coffee Pub has a strong presence in Ontario universities and suburban neighbourhoods

I would assume that any positive repercussions of this would be due to the restoration of the building itself, not the main floor tenant. They definitely don't carry as much influence as Second Cup or Starbucks.

That said, they make an awesome iced cappuccino (and I bet their hot chocolate is nothing to shake a stick at).

Williams would be a nice addition to downtown and they could have a nice patio there too.

btw, there is another metal facade building in Guelph:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...elph/00012.jpg
(it needs a little work too)

wow...awesome building in guelph. the restaurant looks sweet too.
Yes, the restoration is definitely going to be the main event.

Williams is definitely in a growth cycle currently--and trying to solidify it's presence in Ontario. I would assume that like any competitor they would definitely influence the decisions of other players in the coffee-house business. They are a unique player of course having differentiated themselves sufficiently from Tim Hortons on one-side as well as Starbucks and Second Cup on the other. They seem to make the effort to be a bit more of destination-player with a slightly larger store format and greater product selection. In addition to the locations previously mentioned, I believe they also operate on Redeemer University's campus in Ancaster.

According to their website, you're correct.

I think there is one actually on the Mac campus too, not just the big one on Main St.
Campus locations are a no-brainer for any company like this....the city locations are what intrigue me - waterfront, Main West, Gore Park. Very smart.

Williams does have a smaller location in the Student Centre at Mac.

Taken Wednesday

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3292/img4206ub0.jpg

Lots of work happening in both buildings now.