Downtown Update

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

229 James North

Is that the sh*tty old billiards place beside the variety store? Great transformation.

Yeah. It still shows on Google street view. I don't even remember it.

In fact, using Google street view really gives an indication of how much that stretch of James N has transformed. Its surprising.

[oldcoote]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

LAVO went up for sale on MLS less than a month after it opened. 1.3 million for the building plus 500 grand for the "newly established business"

$1.3 mill?

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by oldcoote

$1.3 mill?

And what's the deal wit this?

I think the block building with the yellow staircase backs onto the LAVO building

http://univs.ca/property/29-severn-s...on-on-l8r-2l2/

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

LAVO went up for sale on MLS less than a month after it opened. 1.3 million for the building plus 500 grand for the "newly established business"

Apparently a Pastacino spin-off, it was formerly known as Lo Spazio.

[Pearlstreet]

Victoria Park Public Art Competition

Please submit comments by January 31, 2014


The City of Hamilton is currently undertaking a Public Art process to select a permanent Public Art work(s) to be installed in Victoria Park. Initiated by Councillor McHattie, the project proposes to ask artists to address the musical legacy of singer Frankie Venom, one of Hamilton’s most famous musicians and a former Strathcona resident.



Details at http://www.hamilton.ca/CultureandRec...kPublicArt.htm

[thistleclub]

Payday crackdown puts Cash Store debt in distress
(Bloomberg, Cecile Gutscher, Dec 27 2013)

Cash Store Financial Services' bonds are trading at distressed levels after a crackdown on payday lenders by Ontario regulators threatens its ability to do business in Canada's most populous province.

The Edmonton-based company won't be able to offer its main type of loan in Ontario, where it operates a third of all of its stores, without an operating licence by Feb. 15 after an amendment to the Payday Loans Act this month. Moody's Investors Service downgraded Cash Store's debt to Caa2, eight steps below investment grade, and said Dec. 23 it may cut the rating further. The yield on the company'sC$133 million of 11.5 per cent bonds soared to 29 per cent.

"The regulator can put the company out of business overnight," Jie Liu, head of credit at Sentry Select Capital Corp., said on Dec. 24. Liu said he avoids payday lenders in general. "The business model of those companies really worries me. It's way too vulnerable in the way your business model completely hinges on your ability to get government support."

Payday lenders, which charge higher interest for cash sums over shorter periods than a bank loan, have come under criticism by the Archbishop of Canterbury as well as consumer groups and regulators for charging high interest rates to low-income people least able to shoulder the burden.

In February, Prince Edward Island joined seven other Canadian provinces in announcing new regulations on the practice. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, said in September it would review the maximum borrowing fee and the use of mobile applications to sell loans, and explore new ways to monitor the market.

"The regulatory environment for this company has intensified, and that's why we downgraded," Moody's analyst Olga Khodosh said from New York Dec. 24.

The downgrade by Moody's and the spike in yields will be resolved when Ontario grants the lender a new licence, Craig Warnock, the company's chief financial officer, said from Edmonton Dec. 24. Ontario's new regulatory regime doesn't threaten the company's ability to make bond payments, he said.

"We fully intend to comply with these regulations," Warnock said. Moody's "wants to wait and see if we get a licence. They're just being cautious."

Cash Store charges annual interest of 59.9 per cent to new borrowers. The rate ratchets down to 39.9 per cent for more established customers, Warnock said....

DFC Global Corp., which runs Money Mart payday lenders, withdrew a $650 million sale of high-yield bonds partly denominated in Canadian dollars last month amid a squeeze on revenue by rising regulation. DFC's revenue came under pressure last quarter as U.K. authorities moved to tighten rules on unsecured consumer lenders, causing Standard & Poor's to downgrade the company's credit rating.

This month's amendment by Ontario is the second time this year Cash Store faces regulatory scrutiny from the province, according to Moody's. In February, the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services was preparing to revoke the company's payday licence when it substituted a new one-year line of credit product to continue lending, Khodosh said.

The one-year loan has drawn attention because "it's a high-cost product for the consumers," she said. "They have to pay a significant percentage of principal on a regular basis.

[movingtohamilton]

Interesting article, but I'm confident the payday loan association's resident lobbyist in Hamilton will keep things humming along here. Nothing says Hamilton like Money Mart, Cash Source, Cash Depot, Cash Money, Cash Max...ad infinitum.

[thistleclub]

83 King East is on the market, asking $569,900.

The neighbourhood demographics in the listing seem a bit skewed, however, and (judging from the Bing map) may be calibrated to the vicinity of King and Jones, Stoney Creek.

[urban_planner]

its been a white since I notices this and I have seen anything come up, I figured I would post this. There has been some digging around the site to the west of the BMO on Main Street recently as well as construction fencing is up and there is a trailer on the property. Figured it could be important

[Beedok]

Someone is secretly planning to build the tallest building on Earth.

[SteelTown]

A 73 unit, seven storey apartment building

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=204654

[Beedok]

Ah, right, that lot.

Hope it looks better than the renders.

[matt602]

Ah yes, that one... really hope they revised that design.

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

83 King East is on the market, asking $569,900.

The neighbourhood demographics in the listing seem a bit skewed, however, and (judging from the Bing map) may be calibrated to the vicinity of King and Jones, Stoney Creek.

That listing was thrown up as a red herring in order to force the hand of the tenants into finalizing an off market deal. It sold to the wig store owners for 550. So get ready for another few decades of nothingness on that corner.

[LikeHamilton]

Hamilton’s building boom continues in 2013

By Lisa Marr thespec.com

Hamilton had another $1-billion year.

The city issued its building permit reports for December 2013 and its year-end results which showed it had a total of $1.03 billion in construction value.

Construction activity was nearly divided in half between residential and non-residential. The residential sector represented 51.2 per cent of the annual total with more than $524 million. Industrial, commercial and institutional sectors were worth $496 million in construction value.

"Last year (2012) we hit the $850 million, but we first broke $1 billion in 2010. It's really remarkable," said Neil Everson, the city's director of economic development. "We're actually averaging $1 billion in construction a year since 2009."

The city recorded a record $1.5 billion in construction in 2012.

Some key projects leading the 2013 construction values including downtown's Homewood Suites and Bella Towers complex, the McMaster health campus downtown, the new Tim Hortons Field stadium and large industrial projects such as the new Maple Leaf meat processing plant in the Red Hill business park.

Finishing the year 2013 with a slight majority of construction in the residential sector is good and bad, said Everson.

Bad, because the city needs more industrial and commercial development to generate economic growth.

But good, because Hamilton's population is aging, making new homes a possible indication of a demographic shift to younger families. Everson said it's important to also look at where the growth is happening, which includes the older parts of the city with several renovation projects.

"We have 15 planned residential projects for the downtown, that's really good news," he said.

Construction in Hamilton has surged compared with surrounding regions, particularly the Niagara Peninsula, said Everson. But in Burlington, construction values have stayed strong, but heavily weighted in residential.


[email protected]

905-526-3992 | @lisamatthespec

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/43...inues-in-2013/

[ScreamingViking]

"We have 15 planned residential projects for the downtown, that's really good news," he said.

I wonder if he's talking about permits that have already been issued, or a new bunch coming up soon ("planned")

[matt602]

You can definitely stretch the definition of "planned" pretty good. Even Blanchard's "development" could fall under that. Or whatever.

[davidcappi]

Hamilton to host the 2015 JUNO awards.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/43...opps-coliseum/

GOOD news for the city. 2015 is gonna be a big year for hamilton

[ScreamingViking]

That is terrific. I'd say it's about time but they're doing a better job rotating the event around the country now.

Hopefully many pubs and bars have a chance to host some bands and performers too, along with whatever is part of the official Juno schedule.

[ihateittoo]

I hope they get Mike Bullard back to host it.