Hammer Reno's

[SteelTown]

King William will probably improve the most from having the Lister Block redeveloped, especially with new art theme being added on the sidewalks. More office workers mean they'll probably be a new cafe and restaurant for the area.

James St from King to York/Wilson needs a lot of work. Especially from King to King William, that building is still stuck in the 19th century! with electrical work and stuff.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

King William will probably improve the most from having the Lister Block redeveloped, especially with new art theme being added on the sidewalks. More office workers mean they'll probably be a new cafe and restaurant for the area.

James St from King to York/Wilson needs a lot of work. Especially from King to King William, that building is still stuck in the 19th century! with electrical work and stuff.

Ya, James (in that stretch) needs a LOT of work!!!
My favourite bldg (besides Lister) along there is The Federal Building. The owner slapped some ugly stucco along the storefronts and allowed dollar/junk stores to open up. It used to house a Ballet company, but I don't know anymore? That building would make AMAZING lofts!!

re: Zellers, all I could find was this from thespec.com
"1988: Zellers closed and was subsequently demolished at the southeast corner of James and King William."
http://thespec.com/specialsections/s...owntown/267282

[raisethehammer]

the ballet company is still in the old Fed building...on the 5th floor with beauty views of downtown.
I love James St...so full of history.

[SteelTown]

I have an old picture of Zellers at home, all decorated for Christmas too. I'll post it here when I go home.

[the dude]

if you wanna know about that lot on the corner of james and k-w talk to mr. sylvestri. he's been sitting on it for 20 years.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by the dude

if you wanna know about that lot on the corner of james and k-w talk to mr. sylvestri. he's been sitting on it for 20 years.

did he tear it down, too??
Does anyone know WHY it was torn down? It's not like they made a nice pkng lot even. Was it deemd "unsafe" or "irrepairable" too??

[SteelTown]

I think it was taken down because at the time Jackson Square was bustling and the city decided it's best to add a new parking lot, so they decided to demo the empty Zellers department store.

[raisethehammer]

man, does that suck!
Paul Wilson had a good piece in todays paper about the great old buildings along the north side of King.
I'll find it and add it in. My suggestion to the building owners would be to put apartments or condos in the upper floors now. Imagine living in the Right House?? how sweet.

[matt602]

Kinda sad even seeing the "STORE CLOSING SALE" sign in that picture.

[DC83]

Awesome, Steeltown!!!
Thanks so much for posting those.

What a fantastic bldg that Zellers store was. And look, they utilized their corner location. Imagine.

Does anyone know WHY it was torn down?

[the dude]

either these guys ran outta money or they think this looks good:

very cheap and cheesy.

[the dude]

further up the street, this cafe is nearing completion:

[raisethehammer]

geez...some people have no taste. at least the guy near 316 seems to be doing a good job.

[DC83]

We're Transforming the Neighbourhood
Luxury Suites Available soon

Can anyone guess where there's a banner posting this message?
Yep, you got it; Main & Sherman! haha

So remember that building that was gutted by that fire 3-4 years ago on the N/W corner of Main & Sherman? Apparently the people that bought the smaller building beside it are starting to reno this once crack-den of a bldg into Luxury Suites. There's little information besides that there is a "waiting list available".

I'm pretty happy to hear, although I'm sure the rent will be too high for the neighbourhood.

Someone recently bought up another older building at King/Sherman, stuccoed the hell out of it, and turned it into over-priced condos: http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.as...ertyID=6081488

So what do u guys think? Are developpers actually transforming this neighbourhood? Is it even possible?

[raisethehammer]

of course it's possible.
I have friends who live in that area and have already noticed the change.
Along Main, many of the once-dumpy apartment buildings have been gutted and remade into nice rental units. Logan's Court at King and Sherman was one of the first to do this and now 6-10 other building/complexes have followed suit.
The units on Sherman start at $99,000 - a bargain for a nice, new condo. Any vibrant city I've ever been to has a huge range of living quarters as well as a large rental component ranging from tiny bachelors to nice units such as the ones taking shape in the Main/King/Sherman/Gage area.
The existing residential neighbourhoods through here are nice and stable...now we just need the city to give a rat's backside about the main streets - use them as exactly that - main streets for this wonderful neighbourhood, not as highway shortcuts for Crick residents.

[DC83]

^^ Good call! I love Logan's Court. They did a good job w/ that bldg.
Also, someone bought up those other buildings at Main near Barnesdale (where the 7-11 is) and the ones across from Gage Park.
They did a simple paint job & added nice awnings which made a huge difference in appearance. As for the tenants... still shady! I have a friend that lives on Barnesdale (she moved from upper Stoney Creek to there, what a change!) and the neighbourhood is still FULL of sketchy ppl.
But it's clear some people are trying to make a difference!

[BrianE]

Sweet! I live around that area and I've been waiting since early 2006 for someone to do something with that building. The two apartment buildings next to it (St. Clair Suites) seem to be successful rentals with nice units.

I love all the 3-4 storey brick walkups in this part of town, it's very charming and original.

It should be mentioned however that there has been some neighborhood oposition to past proposals to renovate this building because of lack of parking spaces. There isn't much room left in the area for the mandatory 1 car per unit parking.

[matt602]

I certainly wouldn't have guessed "Luxury Suites". They've been "working" on it for the past 2 years now, and the changes they've made look incredibly tacky and out of place. A lot of it has already been stucco'd near the top, and I'd expect even more to come. The units themselves still seem completely gutted, some of them haven't even had their fire damage repaired yet.

I remember exploring the place about 6 months after the fire, I can't believe they're re-using the building. The top 2 floors were completely gutted by the fire, the roof had collapsed along every apartment on the top floor. The lower units were suffering incredible mold levels. I didn't see anything for this place other than a wrecking ball.

I guess we'll see...

[DC83]

^^ If you look at the bldg on google maps, you can actually see IN the units b/c there is no roof! hahaha

Ya, I was expecting the wrecking ball too. And probably another Petro Can Stn like down the street... thank god THAT didn't happen.

But I guess aslong as there's someone dedicated to something, they'll follow through. Like this bldg and the other one at Barton/Ferguson. It's amazing these bldgs CAN be saved and WILL be saved, yet bldgs like HMP & Lister are "beyond repair".

[the dude]

phase 1 of the hamilton artists inc. renovation is complete. they've moved into the area at the right of this photo. don't know their timeline for the rest.