1021 West 5th | 31 m | 9 fl | Under Construction

[Dr Awesomesauce]

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[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by realcity

this has nothing to do with the design. It looks better than most of Mohawk. Stonechurch needs to get more density.



it doesn't look that bad to me.

From an aesthetic standpoint, it's very, very poor.

I understand the comments are about other issues, but like I said, if the developers (who clearly didn't use an architect) had given more consideration to the design, residents might be more amenable to it. Just a thought - maybe it doesn't matter. Clearly it matters to me...

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

I have a sense that if this building weren't so painfully bland, people might be more enthusiastic about it. It looks like a hospital (with balconies). I wouldn't want this in my neighbourhood either.

I really doubt Em Del Sardo and the other resident complainers cares about the design. He said his reasons, and design certainly wasn't one of them. Councillor Danko didn't mention design.

It is a building at Stonechurch and West 5th. Design seems fine to me for the location. In a time of ridiculous rents in Hamilton, any new supply is welcome.

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

This could definitely use some design changes and step backs to be less blocky but the opposition here is very unlikely due to design ....this is a typical case of not in my back yard syndrome.... If the village people who oppose this only knew that these types of low rise buildings actually improve the neighborhood and increase their property values while at the same time decrease their property taxes they might start singing a different tune

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto

This could definitely use some design changes and step backs to be less blocky but the opposition here is very unlikely due to design ....this is a typical case of not in my back yard syndrome.... If the village people who oppose this only knew that these types of low rise buildings actually improve the neighborhood and increase their property values while at the same time decrease their property taxes they might start singing a different tune

OK, I'll bite. I don't have a horse in this race but allow me to play Devil's Advocate (and to mix a few metaphors). Convince me, resident of this quasi-rural area, that this massive, uninspired block of concrete will...
*'improve' my neighbourhood (to the degree that it is one)
*increase the value of my property and
*lower my taxes.

BTW, do property taxes ever go down (outside of failed regions the likes of which you might find in Michigan and Upper State NY)? And if the value of my home does go up, won't my taxes also go up? If I'm a senior on a fixed income, I might not be very happy about that.

And I understand full well that the vast majority of people don't have an aesthetic bone in their body. Sometimes it feels like we've been served so much beige and grey over the decades that we've forgotten other colours even exist! And for lack of beauty and taste (and very low expectations), we turn to DENSITY - if only there were more people in this block, surely it would be better! This is more about statistics and vague macroeconomic factors than what's actually best for the residents of a given area. We're not in a SIM game here, remember.

I have no idea what the answer is but as a resident I'd be asking the City why I should want this development and to back it up with some sort of evidence. I guess that will come with the final report.

[BaconPoutine]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

BTW, do property taxes ever go down (outside of failed regions the likes of which you might find in Michigan and Upper State NY)? And if the value of my home does go up, won't my taxes also go up? If I'm a senior on a fixed income, I might not be very happy about that.

Overall taxes should never be expected to go down because of general inflation and because of the particular infrastructure deficit that the city currently finds itself in.

For 2019 the City's budget grew by 3.4% so that's what the average increase in property taxes was.

Property taxes for any particular property only increase by more than the aforementioned 3.4% if the assessed value of the particular property increased by more than the average increase in assessed values across Hamilton as a whole.

Living in an area that is seeing growth and increasing values means that you can expect that your property taxes will increase faster than average. But that increase in taxes is directly tied to an increase in property values. For urban Hamilton the property tax rate is 1.38%. So for every $1,000 relative increase in the value of your property you taxes will increase by $13.80.

The average homeowner paid 3.4% more in taxes in 2019 compared to 2018, that works out to $120 for the average homeowner. As per MPAC assessments the average homeowner is experiencing property value growth of 6.75%/year, assessments will be updated in 2020. The only homeowners that saw a larger increase in taxes are those homeowners that experienced above average gains in property values. Even with the tax increase property owners became overall wealthier.

In my personal opinion that's a very small tax relative to the increase in wealth. The following simplifies the math and overstates the taxes, but in general you can become $100,000 richer through the increase in your property value and you only have to pay $1,380/year for that extra wealth. I think that's a great deal, and I don't have a huge amount of sympathy for people that complain about it. Especially when you can can pay the tax out of the wealth increase by refinancing a property at 4% (or less), which would bring your tax cost to $1,435/year without having to pay a dime out of pocket - a bargain for being $100,000 richer!


I can cite sources for the above if need be.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

OK, I'll bite. I don't have a horse in this race but allow me to play Devil's Advocate (and to mix a few metaphors). Convince me, resident of this quasi-rural area, that this massive, uninspired block of concrete will...
*'improve' my neighbourhood (to the degree that it is one)
*increase the value of my property and
*lower my taxes.

BTW, do property taxes ever go down (outside of failed regions the likes of which you might find in Michigan and Upper State NY)? And if the value of my home does go up, won't my taxes also go up? If I'm a senior on a fixed income, I might not be very happy about that.

And I understand full well that the vast majority of people don't have an aesthetic bone in their body. Sometimes it feels like we've been served so much beige and grey over the decades that we've forgotten other colours even exist! And for lack of beauty and taste (and very low expectations), we turn to DENSITY - if only there were more people in this block, surely it would be better! This is more about statistics and vague macroeconomic factors than what's actually best for the residents of a given area. We're not in a SIM game here, remember.

I have no idea what the answer is but as a resident I'd be asking the City why I should want this development and to back it up with some sort of evidence. I guess that will come with the final report.

While one project wouldn't have that much affect on taxes, projects like this are way better for the tax rate than the single family housing that whiners like Em Del Sardo live in. The mill rate is higher for a rental apartment such as this (which it shouldn't be, but that's what you get from historic tyranny of the single family home owner) and the services (roads, sewers) demanded for an apartment is way cheaper than single family housing.

Assuming $2500 in annual property tax per apartment, that's $742,500 total per year.

[Innsertnamehere]

https://twitter.com/UrbnSoHamilton/s...101515270?s=20

Approved at the OLT. This will be some good intensification for the A-line, with 216 units.

Also now 9 storeys and 31m in height.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Colour me surprised, I wasn't aware that had even started construction.

August 2023 (i.e. last month) streetview shows the site cleared, but no real construction:



latest rendering:



no permits yet - just demolition:

[SteelTown]

And the crane is up.

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

And the crane is up.

It's been up for over a week now! There's quite a few cranes up on the upper city now - ita exciting to finally see this in these areas

[SteelTown]

Yea the Heritage Green area alone has two or three cranes up at the moment.

[mikevbar1]

The nice things about projects like these is that they are substantially dense when they don't have to be subject to the same angular plane limitations of SOME municipalities... they contribute pretty greatly to densifying communities,and are a great fit for the mountain where the street network is well-suited to dispersed density.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by mikevbar1

The nice things about projects like these is that they are substantially dense when they don't have to be subject to the same angular plane limitations of SOME municipalities... they contribute pretty greatly to densifying communities,and are a great fit for the mountain where the street network is well-suited to dispersed density.

Agreed.

There are places they are not appropriate, but Hamilton has so many sites where they are!

Some people will still complain about height, but at that location it's not a valid counter-argument.

[LikeHamilton]

There are now 2 cranes up at this location.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Agreed.

There are places they are not appropriate, but Hamilton has so many sites where they are!

Some people will still complain about height, but at that location it's not a valid counter-argument.

I complain more about the "blah"citecture.

[brandensimon560]

[woreg75]

The area feels a little different with this thing taking up the neighbourhood.