Downtown Update

[matt602]

According to google maps this is the C.A.M.U.L. building at Hughson and King William. Weirdly enough Google refers to EVERYTHING on Hughson between King William and Wilson on the West side as 69 Hughson Street North.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

The addresses of those phantom buildings have vaporized into the ether of time.

[SteelTown]

It's this building....

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=69+Hughson+...C-apqeyDf53fRUuWw&cbp=12,339.68,,0,-2.13

[LikeHamilton]

Until recently, this building was owned by John Mokrycke.

[palace1]

Babylon Monetary Services (otherwise known as payday loans) has closed and Victoria Hall National Historic Site at 68 King St E. now houses a tattoo parlour.

I think Hamilton can now lay claim to the first tattoo parlour in a National Historic Site!

Image Body Enhancements
http://hamilton.kijiji.ca/c-services-other-image-body-enhancements-W0QQAdIdZ487897499

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by palace1

Babylon Monetary Services (otherwise known as payday loans) has closed and Victoria Hall National Historic Site at 68 King St E. now houses a tattoo parlour.

I think Hamilton can now lay claim to the first tattoo parlour in a National Historic Site!

This will be an excellent addition to Doors Open Hamilton. We can all be proud.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by palace1

I think Hamilton can now lay claim to the first tattoo parlour in a National Historic Site!

I find that doubtful. Ottawa has like 20 tattoo parlours downtown, I wouldn't be surprised if at least 1 is in a National Historic Site.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I know it's defeatist to say so, but this is the world we've created, so it's only fitting we should have to live in it.

While tattooing is a fairly recent phenomenon (unless you're associated with organised crime, prostitution, sailing the high seas or head-hunting), I've seen old photos of North American and UK cities that include pay-day loan shops. This is nothing new, unpleasant though it may be. Hell, I'm pretty sure this concept goes back to ancient Rome, if not earlier.

If you're a parent or a teacher or even a cop, you learn to pick your fights. This is one we can't win. Full stop.

[SteelTown]

Some interesting results from the Spec polling...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jevB8myM2FMOSigBZRyTYj4Ok5q2sOfo2yLL-GMF4AY/viewanalytics?pli=1

Spilt between it's excellent or poor for Jackson Square rooftop.
Gore park is excellent
Hamilton Place is spilt between poor, fair and excellent
City Centre is poor by a wide margin
Witton Lofts is excellent by a wide margin
Port Authority building is excellent
James St plaza is poor
Staybridge is fair
Piggot is excellent
Stelco tower is fair
Hunter GO is excellent
City Hall is spilt by all three, poor, fair and excellent

The new Starbucks and Shoppers on Main next to Mac got mostly positive feedback.

[thistleclub]

Credit where due: the Locke South Starbucks was mainly an internal reno -- the building was the legacy of South Side offshoot Robert David Menswear.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce

While tattooing is a fairly recent phenomenon (unless you're associated with organised crime, prostitution, sailing the high seas or head-hunting)

Or Royalty. King Edward VII had a tattoo and made it all the rage amongst Victorian nobility. King George V had one too. Other European royalty as well.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Ha! That doesn't surprise me at all. The Queen probably has a 'Mum' tattoo on her left buttock.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Some interesting results from the Spec polling...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1jevB8myM2FMOSigBZRyTYj4Ok5q2sOfo2yLL-GMF4AY/viewanalytics?pli=1

Spilt between it's excellent or poor for Jackson Square rooftop.
Gore park is excellent
Hamilton Place is spilt between poor, fair and excellent
City Centre is poor by a wide margin
Witton Lofts is excellent by a wide margin
Port Authority building is excellent
James St plaza is poor
Staybridge is fair
Piggot is excellent
Stelco tower is fair
Hunter GO is excellent
City Hall is spilt by all three, poor, fair and excellent

The new Starbucks and Shoppers on Main next to Mac got mostly positive feedback.

Readers favour the Pigott building

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/3834792-readers-favour-the-pigott-building/

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by palace1

Picture of a future CoreUrban renovation project of The Empire Building at 41 & 43 King William St:

'Popular' Hamilton-owned restaurant to move to King William


http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/06/11/hamilton-king-william-development.html

A “popular” restaurant with “independent Hamilton owners” is expected to open on the ground floor of a newly developed building on King William Street come the end of summer.

Steve Kulakowsky of Core Urban Inc, a local development company, did not want to reveal the restaurant's name, but said it will be “a good attraction for the street.”

The 25,000 sq. ft. property is on the corner of King William and Hughson streets. The restaurant is taking the space of a former Chinese restaurant. The Baltimore House cafe and bar is a current tenant in another part of the building.

Kulakowsky said he approached and then worked with this restaurant for about four months before he could secure a lease.

“We were approached by three or four restaurants and turned them down,” he said. “We wanted it to be sustainable.”

A law firm and local media marketing company Double Barrel Studios have leased the second and third floors of the building.

The new tenants, especially the new restaurant, will give the street a renewed “drive,” Kulakoswky said.

He'll also be giving the Sagarmatha Curry Palace, an Indian restaurant on the building's lowest level, a needed face-lift and will install a modern, glass elevator in the centre of the heritage building.

“It has terrible accessibility,” he said. “We call [the existing staircase] the 'staircase to heaven.' It's four storeys straight up.”

The majority of the units are rented, Kulakowsky said, but about 8,000 sq. ft. is still up for grabs.

Construction on the property to install the glass elevator will begin in the next few weeks, Kulakoswky said, and is expected to finish by the end of the summer.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Any guesses? I've got my fingers crossed that when he says popular he isn't referring to Tim Horton's or Swiss Chalet. A steak house perhaps? The Keg or Milestones? Maybe that's asking too much.

[durandy]

I'm amazed that space is 25,000 sq ft. It looks tiny.

[Greekanese]

I love all the development that's happening in Hamilton!

[HillStreetBlues]

That's really funny that you should say that. When I read the word "popular," I immediately thought that it must mean "franchise."

I don't want to guess lest I be disappointed (again).

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by pEte fiSt iN Ur fAce

Any guesses? I've got my fingers crossed that when he says popular he isn't referring to Tim Horton's or Swiss Chalet. A steak house perhaps? The Keg or Milestones? Maybe that's asking too much.

Chuck's Burger Bar is rumoured to be opening a King William location, no?

[Jon Dalton]

I don't know if 'Independent Hamilton owners' mean the owners of the currently established restaurant or chain (it didn't specify) live in Hamilton or if the new location is being opened by new Hamilton based franchisees.

I know there used to be a place called the Rude Native on King William, which then opened another location in Burlington and subsequently closed the Hamilton one. It's feasible that the owners are still Hamilton based and plan a return to downtown - like the owner of La Costa who left downtown years ago and is opening the steakhouse in the Lister Block.

Or maybe it's the Keg. Apparently the Pepper Jack (now Absinthe) at the same corner used to be a Keg.

I hate corporate restaurants but none the less welcome them in the core. Anything that brings a different clientele, especially one with money, can only help those like myself who bust their a** down here for a living.