Rumour Mill

[SteelTown]

So in this thread we can discuss any development related rumours.

[Canadian Mind]

woulda been more fitting were it called the steel mill IMO

[SteelTown]

Well there are rumours Dofasco will build a new steel mill to keep up with demands once the new Toyota plant opens up in Woodstock.

[matt602]

I'd be very surprised if they did that. They've still got a ton of abandoned properties sitting in various places, as does Stelco (that they could sell to Dofasco).

[SteelTown]

I nearly forgot! George Smitherman was in town and McMaster hammered away with Smitherman to help fund the downtown medical centre. Sounds positive.

[the dude]

i noticed a lot of excavation happening at one of darko's properties at queen, napier and market. not sure what that means but it's goin' down.

[SteelTown]

Snap a picture of it. Darko purchased that property not too long ago. The plan for that property is a hig rise condo.

[raisethehammer]

also, i see work happening at York and Queen in the warehouse that someone bought for 1.3 million or whatever it was.
Sadly, it seems to me that they are reconstructing the building....new block walls etc....i hope it's not some trucking firm or something.

[raisethehammer]

i noticed the Bad Dog Cafe building sold...anyone know anything??
Is the Hammer about to lose it's coolest cafe?

[the dude]

here are a few photos of darko's properties at queen, etc.



here's that garage closer to york. hard to tell what's happening exactly.


this is a property on the south-west corner of main and queen. presumably it will not remain a gas station. any rumours around? could be a valuable piece of land.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by the dude

here are a few photos of darko's properties at queen, etc.

Goody! Seems like Darko is blowing away money now. yay! Could make a seperate thread though I don't know the address. RTH do you know the address of this Queen St property? Be something like Queen St | ? | ? | U/C

[raisethehammer]

yea, the garage closer to York is strange...they've fenced off the property, but seem to be rebuilding walls with big block walls.
I had been told that an Asian Market was coming... but not for sure.

[raisethehammer]

according to city hall, nothing has been approved for construction here yet.
when Darko bought the property from Pallaetta International one of the requirements of the sale was that he had to remove the floor from the old Greening Donald factory and get the property into 'buildable' condition.
He is doing this now, and most folks are aware of his plans to build residential and/or hotel on this site.
I would expect a request for permit once the land is all cleared.

[raisethehammer]

I went out to my folks the other day and noticed a sign on the east side of Upper Wellington south of the Linc. It was dark, but I think it was a picture of a 6 or 7 storey apartment building.
I would assume it was a seniors building since that's usually the only type of medium or high density housing ever allowed to be constructed on the south mountain.
anyone live out there, or know anything about it?

[DC83]

Hmm, we drove by that lot just a cpl days ago and I didn't notice any signs!?

But I'm going to say it's 100% a retirement home. This area seems to be the "retirement district" if this city ever had one!! hahaha

[raisethehammer]

plus, Mountain residents go nuts if anyone ever proposes a residential building higher than 2 floors, except seniors buildings.

[DC83]

^^ hahaha That's pretty funny, eh. Why is that? I understand the whole Scenic Drive reason (altho the NIMBYS' reasons are not the same as mine).
But it seems all the new mid-rise/density bldgs on the mountain are all only for retirement.
ie: Mohawk/Upp Ottawa, Stone Church/Upp Sherman.
It's funny, b/c once they build those mega retirement homes, Shoppers Drug Mart is always the 1st business to open up shop! hahaha Can we say Monopoly??

[raisethehammer]

The Mountain could hold thousands more residents if the city would allow more developments like the one at Upper Sherman and Stonechurch, for example.
Buildings like that would be wonderful for apartments or condos.
If you study the history of the Mountain , NIMBY'S rule that part of Hamilton.
That's why we lost the Summers Theatre, lost out when the city proposed a restaurant at the brow overlooking the city, lost on a pedestrian bridge linking both sides of Sam Lawrence Park etc..... all due to NIMBYism and even weaker politicians with no vision.
If Hamilton Mountain residents lived in Montreal there'd be no botanical gardens on Mt Royal; no jazz in the cemetary; no restaurants in the observatory overlooking downtown.....we could do so much with our beautiful escarpment views, yet nobody has managed to crack the Great Wall of NIMBY up there.

[DC83]

Agreed, they rule the Mountain!! Esp the central mountain.

A small-scale (2-3 storey) bldg along the brow to house a resto overlooking the city (such as the Mount Royal Chalet) would be a good thing. But anything taller wouldn't do much. Look at the stupid Madison. It's a big block at the top of a perfect location for a restaurant/attraction.

If they had built a nice 3-storey resto overlooking the city with a Incline Rail going up to it, I wouldn't complain. I would actually jump for joy!!
But instead they allow a developer to build a 10-storey boxed monster killing the Natural Beauty of the Niagara Escarpment!

[matt602]

I noticed a week ago at Jackson that they are working on a huge part of the mall near the Farmers Market Food court and across from the library entrance. It's a HUGE area they're working on, about as big as the Honest Lawyer space. Any idea what's going in there, if anything? They've taken it right down to the pillars and knocked out all the walls for the stores that were in there before. There used to be a framing store and a rug shop I believe, and then some other stuff in the hallway across from Carribean Pot/Western Image. Basically all a bunch of crappy store that were doing badly anyway.