New Hotel Planned For Meadowlands

[raisethehammer]

hilarious eh?? I'd be utterly embarassed to live in a place like that.
so funny....

[LikeHamilton]

Please do not take this the wrong way. I am not bashing you. Everyone has and needs to voice their opinion. But I think you would be an exception. Landmart is most likely the best of the builders in Ancaster and around here. I have seen their work and it is very good.

I have always lived in old homes and I have worked on about a dozen renos with and for family and friends. My home was built in 1912 and has been completely renovated by me. I added 2 additions and I went to the trouble of having all the windows match and look the period of construction. I used reclaimed bricks exactly the same as on my house (they actually came from the HCI High School demo). The additions look like they belong.

They are building what the vast majority wants to buy in new home. The fact is they can sell them faster than they can get land for them. There newest phase, phase 10 had 12 of is 100 lots sold before they advertised to the public. They start at $500,000 and can go up to over $1 mil.

This style is just a phase like all styles. I a few years they will build something different.

50 years from now some will want to tear down one of the stucco buildings and there will be an outcry saying that in is a “fine example of neo-stucco-izum construction prevalent in the early turn of the century and should be left as a heritage site and preserved”

You will never convince everyone to like the same styles of construction and I would never like that to happen. A lot of people move to these areas because they are unhappy where the are living or they want something that is not available anywhere else.

What we need to do is to convince the people who are leaning toward the life style of living in a denser older urban area to take the plunge. Just think of it. If you just convince 5% of the people living in or thinking of moving to Hamilton to move to the core, you would add 25,000 more people to the downtown. That would be huge. We have to spend time convincing the people that can be converted and not waste energy and effort on people who will never change.

I believe what Harry is doing is the right thing. My wife and I have thought about moving to a condo (I am tired of fixing old things and know they did not make everything better in the old days). But we are not happy with what is there right now. The closest are the new condos in Dundas but they want too much money for what you get. The tower that Harry is building may be the one. But I just might wait and see what other projects this brings with it.

Just my 2¢ worth.

[DC83]

^^ no doubt re: housings "fads". For some reason, people are willing to pay top$ for McMansions. Although their not MY style and will most likely be torn down before any of the lower-city's older homes will, they are indeed a fad.

Watch within the next few years (sooner than later), the new "fad" will be green homes. Something along the lines of this:


http://www.larealestateblog.net/los_...fab_homes.html

I can bet in the near-future when fossil fuels are a thing of the past, these new 'green' homes will replace the majority of the over-sized, energy sucking McMansions (which is a good thing).

[fastcarsfreedom]

I hear no outcry about this thread being off-topic. I guess it's safe to post.

Quote
hilarious eh?? I'd be utterly embarassed to live in a place like that

No different than someone saying this about your place in the city. I can understand your frustration at the attitude of some people who live outside of the core--I really can--but you're engaging in the very practice they do.

Of course LikeHamilton is correct--the current 'trend' in home design is exactly that--a trend--I spoke a couple of weeks ago about Burlington--how the city grew northward from the lakeshore and how you can study the variation in style and design over the decades. Does no one remember the 1970s "Tudor" craze?

I actually appreciate architecture (though I am not a 'student' of it)--and I have decried the lack of detail and thought that goes into some buildings these days (commercial in particular). Do I wish we gave birth to the next Mies van der Rohe--of course! Nonetheless I suspect anything today would simply be branded "a cheap copycat fake"--again, I think it's fine to throw out ideas like "well thought" and "well built"--this hotel could be both of those things and you still ridicule it for being "fake"--so again, I ask, how SHOULD this development look to avoid incurring your rath?

[DC83]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

so again, I ask, how SHOULD this development look to avoid incurring your rath?

http://www.afinetour.com/eeengine/te..._express_1.jpg

I think something like this would be suitable for the meadowlands. I just wish they would build it in one of the parking lots to one of the plazas.

[fastcarsfreedom]

DC83--land values depending, if that area continues to be as successful as it has been, you may some development pressure on some of the parking lands on the retail quadrant.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by fastcarsfreedom

DC83--land values depending, if that area continues to be as successful as it has been, you may some development pressure on some of the parking lands on the retail quadrant.

Oh, I totally agree. I imagine the Meadowlands becoming a sort of "up town" for Ancaster. I just pray that they get rid of the Big Box mentally first and start building up a streetwall instead of sticking everything 3kms back from the road!

We all know Big Box is a fad as well, and we're coming into these village-esq shopping destinations. In the near future, people will appreciate walking & taking public transit to this centre... even suburbanites (they'll have no choice if there's no fuel to power their EnviroKillers). So when that day comes, The Meadowlands will see a transformation even the biggest 'burb-haters can agree on.

Sadly, I don't see as bright of a future for the area I grew up in, Upper Stoney Creek (Heritage Green, Eflrida, & 'Summit Park'). They ruined a great hood when they began the big box craze a couple years ago (the new Hwy didn't help either).

[raisethehammer]

good idea DC...that sort of development could certainly take place in Meadowlands. maybe someday.

[fastcarsfreedom]

I'm surprised at the appetite for these "village-style" retail developments--I would assume they would be damned for their "faux-ness". I actually think the ones I've visited (I'm thinking of one in Kanata, ON called 'Centrum') are pretty ridiculous--they sit in the middle of parking lots too--and make no sense in this climate.

That being said--increasing land values may mean some infill of the parking areas in the Meadowlands area...the opportunity is certainly there. In the U.S. there have been several recent examples of traditional malls selling off some of their outlot area and building above-grade parking structures.

[raisethehammer]

fastcars...I didn't say a word about people who choose to live in these Landmart things.
I was commenting on the cheap PVC pillars. Let's hope they don't build them on the western side of homes where the prevailing winds blow hard in the winter. They might snap like toothpicks.
If people actually are laying down half a mil - 1 mil for these places I assume it's due to whatever is inside...those pillars are classic.

[fastcarsfreedom]

I used to sell any number of such items back when I was in school and working at Home Depot. As for builder installed units they run the gammut from aluminum, to aluminum/steel core to the afore-mentioned PVC versions. The PVC versions won't do any snapping in the wind--and if they did it would be a non-event as they aren't load bearing (of course)...most of those canopy-style entrances are cantilevered anyway. My own suburban abode, which is of an older vintage than those pictured also has a "pillar" of sorts--but I should add that it's brick (clay) and load bearing--hopefully you'll forgive the presence of the coachlight I installed.

I had a look at the Landmart site--actually, that wouldnt be a half-bad looking house if it wasn't for that two-level portico--it's an ugly unnecessary adornment--no matter what the pillars are made of.

[raisethehammer]

haha...no probs.
sounds like a great place. what year was your home built?

[fastcarsfreedom]

Interestingly, the same year as me--'75

[raisethehammer]

nice....a solid place I assume?
my father in law just moved to Hamilton and refused to see anything built later than 1979.

[fastcarsfreedom]

Yes, it's solid. Brick to roof, which I wanted. It has a block basement, unlike newer homes which are almost always poured. I have done quite a bit of work myself--with a house of this vintage you don't necessarily get the big/open spaces you get with modern construction--where trusswork eliminates most load bearing interior walls--but I'm content--the street is quiet, sidewalks on one side. I'm a suburban guy of course--but I do have an aversion to big "scorched earth" tracts--I actually strongly favor the slightly more mature suburban areas which are scaled (don't hit me) with less density--that is, there are slightly fewer slightly smaller houses on slightly larger lots--that's my preference--not surprisingly I place a high value on privacy. I also like the presence of trees--I'm sure this area was completely treeless when it was built--but the 30 or so years have taken care of that. So while I may defend places like The Meadowlands on occasion--I actually prefer this version of suburbia moreso. Locally to you I always thought Aldershot--particularly between Plains and North Shore was ideal--big trees, big, sprawled out 1950s ranches on big lots.

[raisethehammer]

sounds great.
Yea, I've got an insane block basement. when I had a high efficiency furncace installed it took them 3/4 of a day just to punch a hole through the block for the exhaust duct.
I've got a friend by Bayfront Park with a crazy block basement...double block and stone. The inspector said it would be safest place to be in Hamilton if a big earthquake ever hits. haha.
they sure don't build em like that anymore.

[Hammer Town]

So how about the planned hotel....

[SteelTown]

Hotel plan stalled for two years

By Mike Pearson, News Staff
News
Mar 25, 2010
http://www.ancasternews.com/news/article/205964

More than two years after the developers won city approval, construction of a six-storey hotel and conference centre in the Ancaster Meadowlands has not commenced.

David Adames, executive director of Tourism Hamilton, said the developers, John Bukovac and Denis Vranich, have remained silent on their plans to develop the property located within a gully area on Old Golf Links Road, south of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway.

“The developers have gone completely quiet on that,” said Adames.

Bukovac could not be reached for comment this week.

Adames said hotel developers have been among the hardest hit during the economic downturn. He expects demand for hotel space will increase in the Ancaster area with the proposed expansion of the Airport Employment Growth District and the Ancaster Business Park which is nearing full capacity. The Red Hill Business Park, formerly known as the North Glanbrook Industrial Park, is also expected to grow, Adames noted, when Canada Bread opens its new facility in 2011.

“We’re very confident the demand will grow,” said Adames.

Hamilton’s Premier- Ranked Tourist Destinations Framework, released in 2005, states the city needs “a more complete and recognizable accommodation menu…to attract tourism.”

“There is clearly a paucity of high-end hotels and few recognizable name-brand hotels that make people feel instantly comfortable in choosing their accommodations,” the report states. “Downtown Hamilton was the focus of much of this feedback, but it applies to the entire city.”

The proposed Holiday Inn development won the support of the now-defunct Ancaster planning subcommittee in 2007. While committee members repeatedly stressed concerns over building height, the applicant’s planning consultant noted the proposed six-storey hotel will be built in the gully area, leaving only three storeys visible from Golf Links Road.

The complex was planned to include a banquet and conference facility and a three-storey, 60,000-square-foot office building with underground parking.

Project designers also gathered input from the community and proposed a retro look, with coach lighting and brick walls. The project was initially slated to begin by August 2008.

[LikeHamilton]

This property is now for sale.

[King&James]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

This property is now for sale.

as i drove onto the onramp to the Link from Golflinks I could see the back of the sign and anticipated a marketing sign announcing something exciting, only to have hopes dashed when i saw the front of the installation with the CBRE for sale sign. They had cleaned up the site recently and put in a drainage channel. Think it would make a great site for hotel, especially with a number of ULCC lines starting up in YHM.