[Dundas] 51-55 Cootes/101 King E. | 22m | 6 fl | Proposed

[thistleclub]

[Six storey mixed-use building planned for corner of Cootes Drive and East Street[/URL]
(Dundas Star, Craig Campbell, Feb 7 2018)

The Beer Store is in talks with the owner of 55 Cootes Dr. about its future in Dundas while an application to redevelop three properties at the corner of Cootes and East Street North is reviewed by city planners.

Hamilton Conservation Authority staff have no significant concerns about the plan for a six storey, 22-metre building with 55 residential units and 1,115 square feet of ground-floor commercial space that will cover 51 to 55 Cootes and 101 King St. E., but it will require an HCA permit in addition to site plan approval before moving ahead.

Flood plain regulations require the six-storey structure to be flood proof — with no openings, no electrical or heating equipment — at least two metres above the current ground elevation. The building will be raised on a podium above the ground.

“Based on the information submitted with the site plan application, HCA staff are of the opinion floodproofing is achievable, and we requested some further details in this regard to confirm,” said conservation authority watershed planning manager Mike Stone.

The proposal includes 105 parking spaces divided between a ground-floor garage and one above-ground parking deck. All vehicles will enter and exit the property from King Street East.

If the project moves forward, it will involve demolition of three existing buildings — the plaza including Beer Store and the temporary library branch, Hello Cannabis at 51 Cootes Dr., and a former dentist office at 101 King St. E. The temporary library branch is anticipated to close within a month as the renovated permanent branch prepares to re-open.

The project only requires site plan approval, and because there is no rezoning application, there is no official public meeting.

Planning staff say the property was previously zoned Highway Commercial, but was changed to Mixed Use Medium Density by city council, and that change has been appealed. The proposed density of the building is 206 units per hectare.

A Beer Store spokesperson said there is a current lease in place until 2022 and the company is talking to the developer, but there is nothing definitive to report.

All three properties are owned by Dr. Allen Greenspoon, a Dundas resident who operates a medical practice on Victoria Avenue North in Hamilton.

[Hawrylyshyn]

From mcCallum Sather website:



"5 COOTES DRIVE
Opportunity

With limited land available for development in Dundas, 55 Cootes Drive represented an ideal opportunity to add residential units and greater density within the community where the market demand exceeded supply. The site, a significant intersection and high-profile entry point for the town, also had unique constraints, including poor soil conditions and its development would have to conform to flood plain development policies, making this a unique challenge and opportunity.

Response

The six-storey residential building has 118 condominium units with a mix of 1-to-3-bedroom layouts. The podium level includes the lobby and parking which ramps to below grade. Designed to enhance the local character of the neighbourhood and pedestrian experience, careful attention was paid to the materiality. The building transitions into the surrounding area by setting back the bulk of its height away from the low-rise neighborhood to the west. The first two stories of the development meet the sidewalk to create a strong urban edge."

[ScreamingViking]

Flood risks sink fifth Dundas plaza redevelopment bid
Conservation Authority directors deny application to redevelop the Beer Store plaza on Cootes Drive in Dundas.

Richard Leitner
The Hamilton Spectator
Jan. 31, 2025

https://www.thespec.com/news/flood-r...9908fe06f.html



Flood risks are again sinking another bid to redevelop the Beer Store plaza on Cootes Drive in Dundas.

Citing the potential threat to people’s safety, Hamilton Conservation Authority directors have denied a permit application for a six-storey condominium building on the 0.49-hectare property, located at the northwest corner of Cootes and East Street North.

It’s the fifth development plan for the plaza since 2012, all of which have met with objections that the site is in the Spencer Creek floodplain and surrounding streets could become impassable for vehicles and pedestrians during a massive rainstorm.

The latest proposal calls for a six-storey building with 129 residential units and 81 parking spaces — all but two in a one-floor underground garage — with a lone, rear access from King Street by the property’s northwest corner.

While the proposed building would sit above regulatory flood limits, a Hurricane Hazel-scale storm could turn it into “an island” because modelling shows King Street would be three metres under water, directors were told at a Jan. 9 formal hearing on the application.

The province uses the 1954 hurricane which hit Toronto the hardest, killing 80 people, as a reference to set regulatory standards for developments within a floodplain, deputy chief administrative officer Scott Peck said.

The regulatory requirement for safe access doesn’t apply to commercial buildings because people don’t live there, unlike with the proposed condo development, he said.

“There’s no point on this property that would have safe access for pedestrians, vehicles or emergency vehicles,” Peck said, noting modelling shows flood waters on East Street North, where the plaza’s current access is located, would be four metres deep during a Hazel-scale storm.

“Safe access has nothing really to do with the presence of the building necessarily. It’s the fact that once you get off of that property, assuming it’s floodproofed, you’re going for a swim.”

...

[ohhimark]

Better safe than sorry I guess. Wouldn't the existing housing on the other side of King be flooded in a ridiculously large, stalled out hurricane as well?

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by ohhimark

Wouldn't the existing housing on the other side of King be flooded in a ridiculously large, stalled out hurricane as well?

Probably. But maybe it's been around for a long time? At least pre-dating the flood plain restrictions?

[ohhimark]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Probably. But maybe it's been around for a long time? At least pre-dating the flood plain restrictions?

Some of those houses look pre 1954, but some of those larger apartments look later than that. That's assuming flood plain restrictions started soon after the hurricane, which is probably wrong. Idk, denying needed housing due to possible hurricanes seems very Hamilton lol.

[ScreamingViking]

It's probably more the concern that the creeks may flood during heavy rains, especially if blocked by debris (e.g., the Spencer Creek tributary that goes beneath York Rd. and then under Cootes Drive has flooded in the recent past when trees and branches blocked the culverts)

Now that we tend to get localized storms that produce a lot of water in short spans of time the Conservation Authority is probably averse to the risks. Though that pretty much hamstrings any development in eastern Dundas unless it's on a hill.