[ScreamingViking]

And so we wait, yet again


Long-stalled James Baptist project hit by marketplace ‘complications’
Developers seek another extension of heritage permit for future Connolly condos.

Teviah-Moro
The Hamilton Spectator
Monday, May 27, 2024

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-re...79522bd-48e0-5ba2-a386-4d38ba150919.html


A partially demolished downtown Hamilton church and an aspirational 30-storey condo tower a decade in the making remain in flux as weeds grow on its rubble-strewn site.

Developers behind the James Street Baptist property, where the Connolly project has been planned since a previous owner partly razed the 146-year-old church in 2014, say they’re reassessing their plan.

In an email to the city requesting an extended heritage permit, a representative said “several setbacks” have delayed the James Street South project.

“As you know the current marketplace is experiencing complications with elevated interest rates and delays due to supply-chain disruption, labour shortages and cost escalation,” wrote Michael Budovitch, a principal with 98 James South (2022) Inc.

“We have been working with our architect on the building mix to design a mix of products that is appropriate for today’s marketplace, as larger suites have resulted in price points that are not affordable,” he said.

“Several options are available to us, however, will need more time with consultants to finalize the marketing mix. The goal is to achieve the ultimate product mix which will be saleable and create profit at the end.”

The target for a sales launch is this fall or spring next year, noted Budovitch, who didn’t respond to a request for comment.

His correspondence asks the city to extend by one year a heritage permit the developers need to move their project forward.

That extension to March 2025 follows the recent expiry of a previous year-long extension granted in the spring of 2023.

In a report before the heritage committee Friday, staff noted the newly extended permit would hold the developers to property- and building-related tasks laid out in their request letter.

The Connolly project has had more than one false start since a Toronto developer knocked the old church down in 2014.

Louie Santaguida had aspired to incorporate the facade into a future condo building, but amid financial troubles in 2017, those efforts fell apart.

In 2019, Hue Developments bought the property and announced plans to resurrect the project with an infusion of capital.

Then in 2022, Allen Le Nam said his firm, a subsidiary of a larger Vietnam-based corporation, had to pull the plug due to pandemic-related woes.

In August that year, 98 James South (2022) Inc. bought the parcel.

The long-stalled project is troubling, Coun. Cameron Kroetsch said.

“It bothers me. There are many sites downtown like this.”

The development industry faces headwinds, but Hamilton is struggling through a housing crunch, the Ward 2 councillor said.

“So I get it, but we’re in a housing crisis and so when there’s a housing crisis, you have to build housing.”

...