McMaster Graduate Student Residence | ? | 31 & 10 fl | Complete

[craftbeerdad]

Originally Posted by matt602

What an absolute shit show. Poor students.

winner

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by craftbeerdad

winner

I love that that actually exists as a gif lol..

[ScreamingViking]

The "gold" angled cladding only covers the entire backside of the building. There are strips where it does not on the western and northern faces. Perhaps that will change, but if it doesn't I'll be a bit disappointed.

[brandensimon560]

February 14

[drpgq]

Construction of new downtown student residence complete, but McMaster is struggling to fill it

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...dd8350aac.html

More than half of a troubled downtown McMaster University residence is set to be vacant in September.

The 10 Bay St. S. residence is currently “on track for 40 per cent” occupancy in September, a number the university anticipates will grow as the semester begins, spokesperson Wade Hemsworth said in an email.

About a dozen floors of the partially built downtown residence, built in partnership with academic developer Knightstone Capital Management Inc., were opened in September of last year. Its approximately 200 tenants were plagued with water quality issues, privacy concerns and other construction-related problems, which at one point forced students to temporarily move out for about a week while the university flushed the building’s plumbing. Tenants were reimbursed a portion of rent as a result.

...

For some, the building’s “price point might be difficult,” Hemsworth said.
Monthly rent for a furnished suite is between $1,416 for a room in a shared two-bedroom and $2,126 for a private one-bedroom, each around 500 square feet. Two-bedroom apartments for families of up to four people are upward of $2,600. The students union previously said these rates are “unaffordable.”


$2200 is a lot for a one bedroom. I wonder how much the water issues have lessened demand.

[BCTed]

High price, water issues, distance from campus, and a freaking wasteland on the streets --- bums, drugs, guns, tents. This city needs a major clean-up to get back on track.

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by BCTed

High price, water issues, distance from campus, and a freaking wasteland on the streets --- bums, drugs, guns, tents. This city needs a major clean-up to get back on track.

yep. That area of downtown is a shitshow. We need police to enforce the law. Whatever happened to that idea?

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

yep. That area of downtown is a shitshow. We need police to enforce the law. Whatever happened to that idea?

I can't pretend to know what the solution is, but I have to imagine that a stronger police presence would be a small step in the right direction.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

yep. That area of downtown is a shitshow. We need police to enforce the law. Whatever happened to that idea?

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

I agree. Can't wait for the Conservatives to get elected federally. They've made it quite clear that the drug/homeless crisis is a top priority for them.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

Since the problem fundamentally stems from the cost of housing being egregiously out of whack with wages in this country, I don't know how any problem could address homelessness long-term without a massive investment in affordable housing (to the extent that it actually has knock-on effects to make market-priced housing cheaper) or, worse, a complete housing crash to knock prices back to mid-2000's levels.

One of the reasons Hamilton became a regional hub for people on the margins was that comparatively cheap housing could be found. This led to a clustering of social and addictions services, and because of the lower-city/upper-city divide they're all clustered in the core instead of spread around the City.

Even with a tough love approach, without affordable places for people making minimum wage to live, very few people will be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps into some semblance of an independent life. I don't see any solutions that wouldn't be massively expensive.

[ScreamingViking]

Apparently the water problem is no longer one.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...bfeed181f.html

A recent water-quality issue at a downtown residence building has been resolved, McMaster University says.

Results from the latest round of testing, which followed findings of total coliform bacteria in two unoccupied apartments, came back clean, university spokesperson Wade Hemsworth said.

Water contamination has been a recurring problem at 10 Bay St. S. since about a dozen floors were opened in the partially built residence last September. Construction is now complete, and the university hopes that more tenants running taps and flushing toilets will better circulate fresh water through the plumbing system.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

Since the problem fundamentally stems from the cost of housing being egregiously out of whack with wages in this country, I don't know how any problem could address homelessness long-term without a massive investment in affordable housing (to the extent that it actually has knock-on effects to make market-priced housing cheaper) or, worse, a complete housing crash to knock prices back to mid-2000's levels.

One of the reasons Hamilton became a regional hub for people on the margins was that comparatively cheap housing could be found. This led to a clustering of social and addictions services, and because of the lower-city/upper-city divide they're all clustered in the core instead of spread around the City.

Even with a tough love approach, without affordable places for people making minimum wage to live, very few people will be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps into some semblance of an independent life. I don't see any solutions that wouldn't be massively expensive.

Wait why would a housing crash be WORSE? Boo-hoo people selling houses get less money..

we NEED a crash.. everywhere.

The question becomes... what's the minimum you can sell a house for and still profit? How much of this is gravy on top of a house's ACTUAL value? Why do things have to cost as much as they do, esp existing houses? It's not like you're factoring in the cost it made to build it like lumber etc. If it was refurbished, then maybe the cots of materials used could play a role.. but enough to make it a million dollars? There is no excuse for that..

[Berklon]

It's probably mainly the price - although the rent does include utilities and internet - so they save some money there. It still should be cheaper.

[TheHonestMaple]

That is a very basic understanding of economics if you think a housing crash is a good thing. Housing will be the last thing on your mind if housing prices crash - because it will literally mean that people aren't able to pay their mortgages so the supply of houses dramatically increases. If people aren't able to pay their mortgage its because they've lost their jobs. If they lost their jobs.... well you get it.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

That is a very basic understanding of economics if you think a housing crash is a good thing. Housing will be the last thing on your mind if housing prices crash - because it will literally mean that people aren't able to pay their mortgages so the supply of houses dramatically increases. If people aren't able to pay their mortgage its because they've lost their jobs. If they lost their jobs.... well you get it.

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

Nobody pegs home prices to a certain level. Sellers sell homes for the prices they can get.

Nobody can consciously lower prices. If demand weakens and/or supply increases, housing prices can go down.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

Lowering or softening is very different from "crash".

The cost to build new houses broadly sets a lower end in the market. If you can build one for say $400k in cost and sell it for $500k (adjust profit as you imagine is reasonable, but there must be profit for the business to continue).

Then, the equivalent "used" house, in good condition, will be worth around the same amount, because people are willing to pay $500k for that equivalent new house and there aren't enough new houses. Maybe it's $450k because it's not NEW new, but it's not $250k. If it's beat up and needs a lot work then that gets reflected, but it's not like used cars where it plummets due to age.

But if the market, as defined as what people are willing/able to pay, is truly $250, and the cost to build is truly $400k.... then no new houses get built.

[drpgq]

More problems plague downtown McMaster residence

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...1d0b96ffa.html

Problems persist at a downtown McMaster University residence where tenants spent about a week without air conditioning in mid-August heat.

Since the 10 Bay St. S. building opened last September, tenants have been plagued with water-quality issues, privacy concerns and other construction-related problems, which at one point forced students to temporarily move out while the university flushed the building’s plumbing.

The latest is a week of hot rooms as the “main chiller,” which is responsible for cooling the building’s suites, underwent repairs, reads an Aug. 13 letter to tenants obtained by The Spectator.

...


The university has struggled to fill the building’s approximately 600 beds.

The Bay Street South residence is expected to be more than 45 per cent occupied in September, up from 40 per cent estimated in July.

“We are encouraged by the interest from prospective tenants,” Donovan said.

Still, amid an ongoing housing crisis, more than half of the building’s suites, priced between $1,416 and $2,126 for a shared or private unit of around 500 square feet, are expected to be unoccupied.

The university has been working to attract tenants through marketing and by opening up eligibility to students at all levels, as well as faculty and staff.

Mac and their partners really overestimated what the market would bear for these units.

[SteelTown]

Tour McMaster’s newest residence

https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articl...est-residence/