98 James St S | 112.5 m | 34 fl | Planning - Page 11

LikeHamilton · #**201** Posted **Apr 22, 2016, 10:59 PM**

The building department can take forever to issue a permit after a general approval of a project. I remember talking to someone at MIP when they built the MARC building. The building department took so long to issue a permit that the $4 mil check for the permit became stale and they had to issue a new one. They will hold it up until it is perfect. One hold up at MIP was the door knobs where mistakenly shown to low. They would not issue starting permit until they saw a drawing that was corrected even though they where close to a year before they would be installed.

As to the changing sold numbers, some people may have backed out or did not get financing for their unit. It happens.

CaptainKirk · #**202** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 5:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by king10

its already got city approval... it has had it for a while. the ball is all in the developers court.

the city approved the project in January 2015....

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/n...arking-for-only-half-the-units-1.2899172

No, the article says a zoning change was approved, not the project.

The article also says that site plan approval was still pending.

Anyway, I don't see anything weird here. Until they say this is not happening for whatever reason, then yeah, sure.

As far as percentage sold, there are at least 2 different standards. Some use number of units sold, and some refer to square footage sold.

Also, as far as number of units, some units are usually withheld to be sold at a later date, so 80% could easily refer to units that were available as opposed to total number of units. The whole 80% vs 70% doesn't mean a whole lot.

King&James · #**203** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 12:29 PM**

Not sure how many units we are talking about to get to 100%, but would think that there would be a significant narrowing of the gap when (if) the developer actually breaks ground , and even further as it comes closer to completion , some 2 years later ....

Really no real excuse not to have shovel in ground already (cant believe the City would present that much of a headache and slow process down)

king10 · #**204** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 1:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

No, the article says a zoning change was approved, not the project.

The article also says that site plan approval was still pending.

Anyway, I don't see anything weird here. Until they say this is not happening for whatever reason, then yeah, sure.

As far as percentage sold, there are at least 2 different standards. Some use number of units sold, and some refer to square footage sold.

Also, as far as number of units, some units are usually withheld to be sold at a later date, so 80% could easily refer to units that were available as opposed to total number of units. The whole 80% vs 70% doesn't mean a whole lot.

The article says a zoning change was approved AND the project.

I will try to look up and see the status of the building permit which is different from zoning change and project approval.

Saying 80% of units "available" were sold seems sneaky to me. So if they were only selling half the units they could say 80% were sold. Then a year later release the other half and only 40% of units are sold because the other half are now available. Doesn't seem too trustworthy.

CaptainKirk · #**205** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 2:20 PM**

^^^ You're right, the article does say the "project" was approved, but it also says:

Quote:

Pending the city's approval of the site plan, the company hopes to have shovels in the ground in the fall

king10 · #**206** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 2:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

^^^ You're right, the article does say the "project" was approved, but it also says:

Good catch. The article is confusing. I'll try to dig up some more info.

Beedok · #**207** Posted **Apr 23, 2016, 3:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by king10

Good catch. The article is confusing. I'll try to dig up some more info.

That's legalese for you.

As for slow approval, it's not a Hamilton only problem, the Burlington section has plenty of proposals that have spent years in negotiations and backroom shuffling before shovels hit the ground, as have a variety of Ottawa projects. I'm sure Toronto has a lot too, but there's so many active everything seems fast.

ScreamingViking · #**208** Posted **May 21, 2016, 5:50 AM**

Not that it's specifically relevant to this project, but in the last few weeks Stanton Renaissance has finally seemed to begin serious work on their Mimico project. A crane is now in place in the pit that sat empty for a long time.

Does that bode well for The Connolly? Hopefully yes.

drpgq · #**209** Posted **May 23, 2016, 1:25 PM**

Hmmm the first post in this thread is from January 2014. That's not as bad as say Acclamation but if you put a deposit down early I think you will be waiting a long time for your unit.

ihateittoo · #**210** Posted **May 23, 2016, 6:58 PM**

well its not like no progress has been made. They did tear down half of the church....

king10 · #**211** Posted **May 24, 2016, 5:02 PM**

full page spread in the spec today claiming over 75% sold and construction to start in fall 2016.

hope its true

timach · #**212** Posted **May 24, 2016, 11:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by king10

full page spread in the spec today claiming over 75% sold and construction to start in fall 2016.

hope its true

Fall 2016, Jesus thing is taking forever. I swear an article in the spec a few months ago said it was starting this spring

CaptainKirk · #**213** Posted **May 26, 2016, 11:32 PM**

markbarbera · #**214** Posted **May 27, 2016, 4:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by timach

Fall 2016, Jesus thing is taking forever. I swear an article in the spec a few months ago said it was starting this spring

Construction and sales levels are a moving target on this project. A brief synpopsis:

Feb 22, 2014: Stanton announces the project. In a CBC article, the developer estimates that construction will start that fall.

Unfortunately, the only event on site that occurred in the fall of 2014 was on November 24, when a "preserved" stained glass window (circa 1882) was destroyed when it toppled over during a significant wind storm. The window had been "secured" by being left leaning against the remaining facade of the James Street Baptist Church, which had 70% of its structure demolished earlier that year.

December 20, 2014: The last day of fall 2014

January 14, 2015: Based on staff recommendations, the city's planning committee approves the project. In an interview with the Spec, the developer claims that, if they get to 70% sold, construction will start that fall.

August 30, 2015: Developer runs ad stating project is 60% sold. No construction announcement in ad.

September 26, 2015: Developer runs ad stating project is 80% sold. No construction announcement in ad.

November 6, 2015: Developer runs ad stating project is over 75% sold. No construction announcement in ad.

December 20, 2015: Last day of fall 2015

April 22, 2016: Developer runs ad stating project is 80% sold. No construction announcement in ad.

May 24, 2016: Developer runs ad stating the project is over 75% sold, and new release of suites have been made available. Ad announces anticipated construction start has now been moved to fall 2016.

In 2016, the last day of fall will be Tuesday, December 20

king10 · #**215** Posted **May 27, 2016, 5:25 PM**

^^^ what a mess

#**216** Posted **May 28, 2016, 4:10 AM**

Content removed

SteelTown · #**217** Posted **May 30, 2016, 10:17 PM**

Downtown Hamilton condo developers making slow, steady progress

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/669803...-developers-making-slow-steady-progress/

The developer of a downtown condo tower fashioned with the remains of a historic church on James Street South hopes to reach a key milestone this week.

Louie Santaguida expects the province to sign off on the Connolly's record of site condition by Friday.

"That's a big check mark for us," Santaguida, owner of Toronto-based Stanton Renaissance, said Monday.

The record of site condition, a summary of the environmental state of a property, allows the project to work on meeting city requirements, he said.

But Santaguida argues the document, which the city demanded, wasn't necessary for the former James Street Baptist Church property.

"We've been stymied for almost a year now with bureaucratic and administrative things in order to complete an application, which is totally out our hands or any developer."

That pushes construction to fall, which means occupancy of the 30-storey tower won't happen until 2019, instead of late 2018 as planned, Santaguida said.

The $80-million tower is one of a few high-profile condo projects anticipated in the downtown area.

masterwhite · #**218** Posted **Jun 2, 2016, 7:15 PM**

Really looking forward to this

LikeHamilton · #**219** Posted **Jun 3, 2016, 2:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thomax

The Connolly's 30th Floor View by stjeanrealty, on Instagram

If you look closely, looking down James Street North, you can easily imagine the new William Thomas Residence, student housing building next to the Lister Block, the Tivoli condos next to the CBC building and the Residences at Acclamation across from the Armories.

ScreamingViking · #**220** Posted **Jun 4, 2016, 7:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

If you look closely, looking down James Street North, you can easily imagine the new William Thomas Residence, student housing building next to the Lister Block, the Tivoli condos next to the CBC building and the Residences at Acclamation across from the Armories.

And the future developments at Pier 8, right between the towers by the harbour.