The Empire Building | ? | 4 fl | Complete
 

Picture of a future CoreUrban renovation project of The Empire Building at 41 & 43 King William St:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDzxpvsCMAACRT1.jpg

Could that be the promised elevator running up the facade of 41 King William?

So, what's the dealio with this reno? Are these the same guys that are doing the Witton Lofts? The name seems familiar.

^Gotcha.

Some really nice momentum happening in the core. Let's keep it up!

Renovations underway for two prominent downtown buildings
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/40...own-buildings/

By Meredith MacLeod

Plans for an extensive renovation of two prominent downtown buildings include a four-storey glass-wrapped elevator facing King William Street.

The project at the northeast corner with Hughson Street will also include a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop patio.

The renovation work is underway and developer Steve Kulakowsky of Core Urban Inc. says the buildings will be gutted to reveal exposed brick and ductwork and provide open work spaces.

"It will be exciting and collaborative and social."

It will also be accessible. The buildings, which have long been tied together, have only a steep interior staircase that Kulakowsky calls the "stairway to heaven" because it's four storeys straight up.

The easiest solution would have been to build an elevator in the centre of the 25,000-square-foot structure. But Kulakowsky says he and partners Dave and Maureen Sauve wanted to make a bold statement.

"Wherever we go, we try to improve things. This is an opportunity to change the street a little."

The rounded three-storey red brick structure at 41 King William was built about 1890 as the home of the Hamilton Times newspaper, which lasted from 1859 to 1920. The four-storey dark brick building next to it came about 20 years later and was called the Empire.

Core Urban will call the new development Empire Times.

Leases with a law firm and mobile web developers BraveNewCode have already been signed. There is about 8,000 square feet of space left to rent.

The proprietors of the new restaurant coming to the ground floor space — home to a number of eateries over the years — aren't ready to go public. But Kulakowsky says they are behind several other very popular food destinations in the city.

Baltimore House and Sagarmatha Curry Palace will stay at 43 King William St. and only façade and lighting improvements will be made to the lower floors of that building. The presence of the eclectic Baltimore House café and music venue was one of the reasons Core Urban was drawn to the building, said Kulakowsky.

"We love King William Street. Great things are happening there already and it's got all the makings of a great street, like the wide sidewalks and the stamped streets and the beautiful architecture."

King William had an extensive reconstruction in 2011 and has had a number of public art installations, including a large mural on the side of the Lister building. The King William Art Walk, from James North to Ferguson Avenue, is a joint project of Arts Hamilton, the Downtown Hamilton BIA, the International Village BIA and the City of Hamilton.

Glen Norton, manager of urban renewal for the city, says King William is an important "cultural artery" in the city that is attracting a growing number of independent bars, restaurants and creative businesses.

"We're starting to see it develop as we'd hoped."

The building that once housed Reardon's Meats is now sold, says Norton, and a few doors west, 31 King William, is now on the market for $500,000.

Core Urban has a solid track record of success in Hamilton. They have sold out the residential portion of the Witton Lofts project and have only just one retail space left. That project on Murray Street converted a former school into condos and added two floors of glass-wrapped units.

"We're really proud of it," Kulakowsky said. "It turned out better than we could have ever thought."

Core Urban also converted the New York-style Herkimer Apartments into lux

These images were uploaded by Cor Urban about half an hour ago on their Twitter account. It seems as if work is already underway.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUEe1a1IgAA1jZh.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUc4kRBCcAAMjM9.jpg

So... How do we squeeze out the bingo hall directly across the street? The downtown needs a hardware store in there perhaps, I dread driving up to Home Depot or all the way to Lowes. Arrudas on Barton is miniature. A good way to encourage improvement.

^Now you're talkin'. Not sure we're quite ready for a hardware store yet but hopefully it's not too far off.

Elevator work underway at Empire Times office space

http://instagram.com/p/fnijYrpwAs/#

I was walking by the other day, and they've almost completed the shaft for the elevator. All of the glass is installed, but the top addition still needs to be finished. Its looking good!

Pic posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BaltimoreMMXI/st...158144/photo/1

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2861/1...f95deb5421.jpg
KWHUGH by oldcoote, on Flickr

my image

That just looks weird.

looks great !!! .... I love the way the new looks against the old ....

I think this looks really great - it's going to be cool when its functional. Nice to see something a little different/modern to complement that block of old brick without losing an entire building to new construction...

They painted "barcode" and are working on the windsor hotel's bricks... excited for King William's changes over the next year or two. Perhaps we'll see infill on the delta bingo lot - and eventual closurenof the bingo itself??? one can dream....

Shot of the building from James Street. Looks good, and works with the streetwall.

https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/89...0/541/hntv.jpg

Looks good but Demolition Park and the hole left by the Balfour building are huge detractors. Come on now, LIUNA.

That was my immediate reaction too.:yuck:

Agreed.

Though they're minor compared to the streetscape across the road.