1570 Main Street West | ? | 12 fl | Proposed

[thmx]

source

A design concept for a 14 floor, 168 unit residential building on the site of an existing church. The church would occupy space on the double height ground floor along with 2 commercial units facing Main Street and residential units with private gardens along the two side streets. A large rooftop garden at the 8th floor accommodates urban farming as a natural amenity and food source for residents.

Google Maps | 1570 Main Street West, Hamilton

[catcher_of_cats]

I love the idea of a redevelopment here but I can't think of anything nice to say about the massing, aesthetics, etc. This is Hamilton, so people will complain about its height and not its disgusting street presence.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by catcher_of_cats

I love the idea of a redevelopment here but I can't think of anything nice to say about the massing, aesthetics, etc. This is Hamilton, so people will complain about its height and not its disgusting street presence.

Nonsense - some of us will ALSO complain about its disgusting street presence.

While the bubbles windows is sorta interesting yeah this is meh to me. And it's always disheartening to see something like a church knocks down for a lego block building design.

[ScreamingViking]

I don't mind the scale, though I bet the taller section is cut down to appease those against such height here.

Definitely needs to be more street-friendly and less alien.

[hamilton23]

Originally Posted by thomax

source





Google Maps | 1570 Main Street West, Hamilton

Any idea who the developer is?

[thmx]

Originally Posted by hamilton23

Any idea who the developer is?

Scholar Properties

[hamilton23]

Originally Posted by thomax

Scholar Properties

Thank you! I like this area... I will wait to see future rendering before making an opinion on the design.

[Crapht]

Crew on site today taking core samples.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Brandon Simon at UT

"Going to Design Review Panel on December 12, 2024
- The new developer is Kindred Works and new architect is KPMB
- Reducing from 14 to 12-Storeys
- Units increased from 168 to 176




"

[SteelTown]

1570 Main Street West | ? | 14 fl | Proposed -> 1570 Main Street West | ? | 12 fl | Proposed

[Chronamut]

Why is it that every single redesign is exactly built to look like these? Like they ALL end up looking the same, modular, rectangular, bland - is the city against angles and curves? It's odd..

[catcher_of_cats]

Those shade trees planted on the roof in like 1 ft of soil at best are really dishonest for renders. There will never be trees there.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Why is it that every single redesign is exactly built to look like these? Like they ALL end up looking the same, modular, rectangular, bland - is the city against angles and curves? It's odd..

Is it the city, or the architectural style of this era? Style and it's probably cheaper for the developers.

I do hope the greenery happens, but I too share the doubts of catcher_of_cats.

Main West is going to be a very different street. Which is a good thing.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Main West is going to be a very different street. Which is a good thing.

This. It's going to be vastly improved with all of this increased density.

[catcher_of_cats]

A Main Street West flanked by 8+ storey buildings from Osler all the way past downtown is something that might actually happen in our lifetime. They don't all have to be beauties, just not soul-sucking monstrosities that permanently damage the cityscape.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

This. It's going to be vastly improved with all of this increased density.

Density does not necessarily = improvement - look at all the apartments east of east gate - just made it slummier.

You have to actually have a good environment first.

And it seems every design that was once innovative keeps getting rejected by the city UNTIL it looks like one of these bland designs, then it gets approved - look at the build across from the alien park downtown - it went through 3 designs and each time it was less impressive until by the time it was modular and bland it was approved. I hate the "style" of this era if this is what it is - stacking rectangles upon each other is not a style - it is literally the bare minimum in design you can do. You can't even call yourself an architect or a designer at that point.

And randomly staggering windows just looks awful. At least these ones line up at certain intervals. I just.. I am so sick of a lack of ACTUAL design. Thank god for core urban.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Designs may not be great, but there will be an improvement in the feel of the street - more people to go to and support businesses, new street level retail. Those factors alone mean these developments will make the area better as the bland churches, strip malls, and abandoned lots they're proposed for contribute nothing positive

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

Designs may not be great, but there will be an improvement in the feel of the street - more people to go to and support businesses, new street level retail. Those factors alone mean these developments will make the area better as the bland churches, strip malls, and abandoned lots they're proposed for contribute nothing positive

LOL new street level retail? Have you LOOKED around? Half the street level "retail" still remains empty - there's no businesses to GO in these places.. and if the place is slummy noone's gonna wanna be on the first floor..

gonna take more than just knocking down churches and building ikea buildings to turn things around.. I'm sick of the "well the architectures not great but at least it'll improve things" argument. I hear it so many times.. are our standards that low that we'll simply accept added density in our city even if it means a sea of mediocrity? As we bulldoze everything noteworthy - this happened in cities in the 80s, it shouldn't be happening now.

Not that I am saying maintain every church, that's unrealistic, but at least replace it with something that looks MEANINGFUL. This is literally box massing with windows punched in.. architecturally, we deserve better.

Only design element it's got going for it is that brick ribbing on the right side on the first floor.. and I know.. my grumbling probably gets tiring to listen to, but it's just the way I feel. I give things credit when they are due it, but it's very rare. Hamilton is like that black sheep child that occasionally makes you proud but for the most part is a disappointment.

Hell look at what they built across from the scottish rite building - and they demolished a nuns convent/orphanage for that.

[ScreamingViking]

I think this part of the thread is confusing a market for shops and services with a market for "heritage" buildings.

To say that there are no businesses to go in these buildings or on the street once they're constructed and home to hundreds more people goes against decades of evidence in economic geography. If the existing ones are not in great shape now, new business owners will clean them up and use them if they feel they can make money once open.

If Main West simply ends up being vertical "sprawl" where cars by far remain the dominant mode and access to commercial streets is poor (like the apartment buildings east of Centennial), then fewer businesses will have a market to serve as residents end up driving elsewhere instead. Make it more pedestrian-friendly, and use the LRT or whatever transit improvements are made to full effect, and the retail landscape will change too.

This is the balance the city must get right, to support its intensification aspirations and avoid spreading itself outward to a great degree.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

I think this part of the thread is confusing a market for shops and services with a market for "heritage" buildings.

To say that there are no businesses to go in these buildings or on the street once they're constructed and home to hundreds more people goes against decades of evidence in economic geography. If the existing ones are not in great shape now, new business owners will clean them up and use them if they feel they can make money once open.

If Main West simply ends up being vertical "sprawl" where cars by far remain the dominant mode and access to commercial streets is poor (like the apartment buildings east of Centennial), then fewer businesses will have a market to serve as residents end up driving elsewhere instead. Make it more pedestrian-friendly, and use the LRT or whatever transit improvements are made to full effect, and the retail landscape will change too.

This is the balance the city must get right, to support its intensification aspirations and avoid spreading itself outward to a great degree.

And yet how many of vranich's first floors remain unoccupied? How much of the core's main floors remain unoccupied? Places that currently ARE pedestrian friendly but are still vacant or boarded up. There are areas of our city that are chock full of people and yet there are no businesses to be found, only boarded up places - and yes the lrt plans did not help this along king, but it was happening long before this. Look how many places have come and gone at the building at the corner of main and james? Several renovations later and still nothing - on a bus route, with lots of people nearby.. coffee shops? Yes. Big box stores? Maybe. Chain restaurants? sure. Ma and pa shops? They die pretty quickly.

once you pass the cathedral of christ the king yes things get "richer" because of the university, granted, but this isn't just about heritage buildings, but a lack of a feeling of safety downtown, where even existing businesses are packing up shop and leaving. Let's face it, it's an uphill climb to turn scummy places around and retain people in these areas. Now this might not apply to THIS area, but to say that businesses not filling up places wher scummier places were evicted goes against decades of economic geography is just.. sadly untrue for hamilton. There are places in hamilton that NOBODY wants to be in. Look at the place across from capri on john, the golden fortune restaurant - and the building beside it that almost collapsed - the golden fortune restaurant has been closed and shuttered for how long? Hell it's even missing half its letters. Some areas regardless of their intensification have just been left to ROT. Some.. to the point of collapse.

This has more to do with how rich the areas are and what kind of places we have let them rot into - the core has rotted into scooterville and cheap loan places and homelessness - so people are less likely to invest there - yes there are businesses that might want to invest - but there are only CERTAIN places in hamilton they will invest in. I just.. don't agree that every single building built is going to instantaneously going to have a commercial tenant on the first floor - some stay vacant for DECADES.

Lots of empty field like areas in this region.. and this beauty just down the street from the proposed location:



Sorry, don't mind me, I think I'm just discouraged and bitter at all the events that have happened in this city recently..