[Stoney Creek] 860 Queenston Road | ?m | 14 fl | Under Construction

[thomax]

source

Hamilton Community News: Queenston Road high rise building plans announced for western edge of Stoney Creek

By Mike Pearson | February 17, 2016

A 19-storey high rise apartment building has been proposed for the western edge of Stoney Creek.

The 223-unit plan for 860 Queenston Road would dramatically improve the choice of rental properties in the area, while making use of an “underutilized, surplus” land parcel, according to project applicant Conrad Zurini.

“We’re trying to build a rental stock that will ease the rental continuum,” said Zurini, addressing Hamilton’s recent low vacancy rate.

The proposed site is landlocked between Stoney Creek Optimist Park to the east and Battlefield Plaza to the west. The proposed development would include 279 parking spaces, which includes underground parking.

Zurini said the building footprint will occupy less than half of the roughly 1.2-hectare site, with the remaining greenspace to be retained.

A development notice has been mailed to landowners within 120 metres of the proposed building site.

Zurini, a broker of record for Re/Max Escarpment Realty, said the proposed development would capitalize on future Go Transit expansion. The province is extending GO rail service on the Lakeshore West line from the West Harbour Go Station to a new station at Centennial Parkway, with construction to begin next year.

Zurini noted the site is also strategically located near several shopping centres, including Eastgate Square. The development would also offer prime views of the Niagara Escarpment.

“It’s an underutilized, remnant, surplus piece of land that no one has had the benefit of,” Zurini said.

A public meeting will be held at Hamilton City Hall to review required zoning amendments for the property, which is currently designated as open space. The meeting date is to be announced.

Zurini said he hopes to appear before Hamilton’s planning committee within the next four to six weeks.

Zurini plans to begin construction by this fall or early next spring, if the required zoning amendments are approved. He is encouraged by the fast-tracked process that saw the former James Street Baptist Church in downtown Hamilton approved for a future condominium development in just 122 days.

A Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation report in December found Hamilton’s vacancy rate actually increased to 3.4 per cent last October from 2.2 per cent one year earlier.

But the rental market in the Hamilton census metropolitan area – which includes Burlington and Grimsby – is expected to fall below the October 2015 rate over the next two years.

Google Street View | 860 Queenston Road, Stoney Creek, Hamilton

[thomax]

Hamilton Community News: Stoney Creek high rise building could be a tough sell at council, says councillor Doug Conley

By Mike Pearson | February 24, 2016

Doug Conley is keeping an open mind on a proposed 19-storey apartment building in western Stoney Creek.

But the Ward 9 councillor expects a few raised eyebrows when the proposal is presented to the city’s planning committee.

“Nineteen floors bothers me a little bit,” said Conley. “I don’t think there’s anything in Stoney Creek that’s 19 floors.”

Noting the plan is still in its preliminary stages, Conley plans to meet with planning staff and project applicant Conrad Zurini to discuss the project further.

“This is the first stage of four, five or six months before anything gets approved,” said Conley.

Anita Fabac, city manager of development planning, heritage and design, said the applicant has applied for an official plan amendment to redesignate lands in the Stoney Creek secondary plan from general open space to high density residential. An amendment to the Stoney Creek zoning bylaw is also required to rezone the lands from an open space zone to a multiple residential zone.

The application was received in December and the file is still being circulated. A public meeting date has not been determined.
Earlier this month, Zurini told the Stoney Creek News the 223-unit apartment plan for 860 Queenston Rd. would dramatically improve the choice of rental properties in the area, while making use of an underutilized, surplus land parcel.

The proposed site is landlocked between Stoney Creek Optimist Park to the east and Battlefield Square Plaza to the west. The proposed development would include 279 parking spaces, which includes underground parking.

Zurini said the building footprint will occupy less than half of the roughly 1.2-hectare site, with the remaining greenspace to be retained.

Zurini hopes to begin construction by this fall or early next spring, if the required zoning amendments are approved.

[ScreamingViking]

But the Ward 9 councillor expects a few raised eyebrows when the proposal is presented to the city’s planning committee.

“Nineteen floors bothers me a little bit,” said Conley. “I don’t think there’s anything in Stoney Creek that’s 19 floors.”

Sigh. So what, Dougie?

It will be a tower on a commercial strip, <150 metres southwest of a 14-storey building and just a few hundred metres south of several apartment buildings that are ~16 storeys tall, and it's also half-a-click east of Eastgate.

It's about new development and intensification along a major artery, not 19 floors being "a little bit" bothersome.

[ScreamingViking]

Not sure how many of you will remember, but the commercial building on the right side of the picture above used to be the Corkscrew restaurant back in the early 1980s.

[CaptainKirk]

Come on Conley, what is with this governance by timidity.

Act like a leader.

There are other highrises across the street and a block or 2 over.

No wonder our council has its rep.

[king10]

Ya really, 19 stories in this area isn't a big deal. Across the street there's a dozen 15 story apartments.

[fuller]

From the Hamilton Community News piece above:

The proposed site is landlocked between Stoney Creek Optimist Park to the east and Battlefield Plaza to the west. The proposed development would include 279 parking spaces, which includes underground parking.

So this street-facing lot, located on Highway 8, is somehow landlocked?

How is the property landlocked, because they haven't installed the driveway yet?

Ref:

In real estate, "landlocked" refers to a property that has no direct access to a public street, so the only way on or off the property is to cross land owned by someone else. Usually, a landlocked property gains street access through a legal permission called an easement.

[thomax]

Hamilton Community News: Proposed Stoney Creek highrise billed as solution to rental housing shortage



By Mike Pearson | January 6, 2017

A new highrise development planned for the Queenston Road and Centennial Parkway area could be a model for fixing Hamilton’s rental housing crisis, according to developer Conrad Zurini.

Despite a slight increase in Hamilton’s overall apartment vacancy rate last year, Zurini said virtually no new apartments have been built outside of the downtown core since the 1970s.

With more than 5,000 people still waiting for affordable housing in Hamilton, Zurini believes the 219 market-rate apartment units he’s proposing for 860 Queenston Road will help free up rental space in the nearby Riverdale neighbourhood.

“We have to build more units and add to the continuum,” Zurini said during a Jan. 5 project open house at the Nash Jackson House in Battlefield Park.

Zurini, a former member of Hamilton’s Affordable Housing Flagship and a real estate broker, is seeking an official plan amendment to change roughly half of the one-hectare site from general open space to high-density residential. The proposed 19-storey apartment building would be one of Stoney Creek’s tallest structures. A zoning bylaw amendment is also required to change setback and landscaping requirements. The development will be accessible from the existing entrance to the Battlefield Square Plaza.

Residents of Blanmora Drive, south of the proposed development, expressed concerns over traffic, noise and property values at the Jan. 5 open house.

Paul Glenney, who has lived on the residential cul-de-sac for 38 years, said the proposal isn’t a good fit for the neighbourhood.

“It’s going to depreciate property values. It’s going to increase the noise factor. With the capacity for 230 cars it’s going to increase the traffic in the plaza,” he said.

While acknowledging the 19-storey building would be “precedent-setting” for Stoney Creek, Ward 9 Councillor Doug Conley said the proposed building is better suited to a large piece of open space land, rather than being placed in the middle of an existing subdivision. He was also pleased to see the development will have no balconies facing Blanmora.

“I think there’s more positives than negatives,” said Conley. “But I can understand 100 per cent why (Blamora Drive residents) are against it.”

Conley, a member of the city’s planning committee, will have an opportunity to vote on the project when it’s formally presented to councillors.

City planner Cam Thomas said lands to the east of the site, which include Battlefield Creek, have been identified as a corridor for wildlife and plants. The proposed development area is 0.38 hectares, with 0.59 slated to remain protected. The closest neighbouring home would be more than 35 metres away.

A sun shadow study was conducted which shows most of the shadows will fall north of the site.

“There was very little impact to the land to the south,” said Thomas.
Thomas said city staff hasn’t taken an official position on the development, but will do so prior to the next planning committee meeting on Jan. 31.

Zurini hasn’t determined what the units will rent for, but he’s examining the possibility of including some affordable housing units. The development plan includes 119 one-bedroom-plus-den units, along with 103 two-bedroom-plus-dens.

Tenant parking will increase from 223 spaces in a previous plan to 245 spaces. A total of 55 visitor parking spaces are planned.

The 19-storey structure includes 15 residential floors and four above-ground amenity levels. Three additional storeys will accommodate underground parking.

Zurini said that in order to make the project viable, given the constraints of the surrounding wildlife corridor, the project must go forward at 19 storeys.

According to a report released last November by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the average rental apartment vacancy rate in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area increased for the second consecutive year last year, from 3.4 to 3.8 per cent. The report states the influx of Syrian refugees did not completely offset the impacts of weak employment growth among young adults.

[davidcappi]

[thomax]

I'm not a fan... That's a messy design, especially the 4-floor concrete bunker parking podium

[Rg2016]

Kind of looks like the new tower in Mississauga, but this one is short and wider.

[Beedok]

I mean, it's not amazing, but 19 floors outside the core is good news, and more density to one of the city's densest areas will only increase the demand for LRT to be extended out there.

[king10]

doesn't look like planning committee is going to approve this project

[NortheastWind]

Correct. Stoney Creek Clr Doug Conley introduced a motion to deny the Queenston development, saying 19 floors is too hi. It meets provincial regulations but not Hamilton's. Hamilton's regs are for 12 floors for this size of property. The Planning Committee approved the motion, turning down the proposal.

[Rg2016]

Bs... this is the reason why some call it LRT to nowhere, rejecting great projects

[SteelTown]

It still has to go to council for approval or deny. Either way the developer has a good case if the proposal meets provincial standards and could fight it to OMB. The best case scenario is if the City negotiates with the developer to reduce the height or else the developer could win everything at OMB.

[Beedok]

Hoping something significant goes up.

[thomax]

Stoney Creek highrise plan slated for 10-day OMB hearing in March

by Mike Pearson | August 10, 2017

The fate of a contentious 19-storey Stoney Creek highrise apartment building will be determined following an Ontario Municipal Board appeal next March.

OMB vice-chair Jyoti Zuidema has reserved 10 hearing days for the weeks of March 12 and March 19, 2018.

About 10 area residents opposed to the proposed highrise at 860 Queenston Rd. attended an Aug. 9 pre-hearing session, held at Dundas Town Hall. Five residents registered as hearing participants, making them eligible to present oral testimony during next year’s hearings.

In February, Hamilton councillors voted to deny an official plan and zoning bylaw amendments for the highrise building, even though city staff previously supported the proposal.

The development plan would cover 0.38 hectares of the total 1.2-hectare property, currently occupied by an office building that includes Re/Max Escarpment Reality. An official plan amendment is required to change the site designation from general open space to high-density residential.

The development would see the maximum building density for the area increase from 200 to 489 units per hectare.

Patricia Foran, representing Queenston Road Holdings Inc., said her client intends to bring three expert witnesses to testify at next year’s appeal hearings. Queenston Road Holdings will ask the board to overturn Hamilton council's denial of the project.

The developer's witnesses will offer expertise in the fields of planning, urban design, plus traffic and transportation, said Foran.

Patrick MacDonald was retained by the City of Hamilton to defend council’s denial of the project.

“This was a refusal by council in a situation that staff had supported,” MacDonald noted. “We are having to canvass outside experts. We retained a land-use planner and we are trying to confirm additional experts. I expect there to be one additional expert at most.”

Rosemary Bruzzese, one of five residents who registered as appeal participants, said traffic is already horrendous in the area. Making a left turn onto Queenston from Irene Avenue, a side street west of Centennial Parkway, is next to impossible, she said.

Bruzzese, who has lived on nearby Blanmora Drive since 1978, said municipal staff at the time assured her the open space behind her quiet cul-de-sac would never be developed.

“It was supposed to be green space,” Bruzzese said following the pre-hearing.

In 2015, Conrad Zurini of New Horizon Development Group submitted plans for the 19-storey building. After some minor modifications, the plan featured 219 units with underground parking.

[thomax]

thepublicrecord.ca - OMB Sets Dates for Hearing on 19-Storey Proposal at 860 Queenston

[LRTfan]

I've said this before: I'm VERY nervous about the OMB having reduced powers and cities having more.
Hamilton needs the OMB so builders can build housing that we need. Council is led around the nose by small groups of NIMBYs who only want sprawling suburbs to be built here.