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  #21  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2021, 5:50 PM
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Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto View Post
I'm not a scientist or rocket engineer either but it's common sense that developers don't think in terms of what's more expensive or cheaper to build ...it's about potential profit or return on investment....a taller building will be waaay more expensive yes...but will make waaay more profit for them ... In turn making it a better investment....then they will be able to provide better quality materials because there is more profit margin ... It's kind of like gambling... You need to spend big to win big (typically)
Exactly. I don't understand why this is such a controversial idea on this forum lol. It's called economies of scale, and it's just the way it is. Larger developments have larger profit margins, it's literally what you learn in econ 101 at university.
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  #22  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2021, 8:15 PM
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It's not controversial. The reality is that ROI isn't at a level in Hamilton yet to justify the cost of much larger and higher quality condo buildings.

Once the price level is there, we'll see deeper-pocketed developers pushing to enter the market. There will still be middling/mediocre construction, but the city's condo market will have enough diversity of demand to warrant the better stuff as well.

There are *two* sides to the economics of it. Econ 101 and 102 need to be taken together.
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  #23  
Old Posted Mar 5, 2021, 8:17 PM
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Originally Posted by ScreamingViking View Post
It's not controversial. The reality is that ROI isn't at a level in Hamilton yet to justify the cost of much larger and higher quality condo buildings.

Once the price level is there, we'll see deeper-pocketed developers pushing to enter the market. There will still be middling/mediocre construction, but the city's condo market will have enough diversity of demand to warrant the better stuff as well.

There are *two* sides to the economics of it. Econ 101 and 102 need to be taken together.
No I agree with you completely on that point.

It's just that it is a known fact that the more units in a development (height) the cheaper the development becomes on a per unit basis - and this more profitable. This is due to sharing common mechanical, structural equipment, etc.

Last edited by TheHonestMaple; Mar 5, 2021 at 9:10 PM.
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  #24  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 12:52 AM
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Originally Posted by ScreamingViking View Post
It's not controversial. The reality is that ROI isn't at a level in Hamilton yet to justify the cost of much larger and higher quality condo buildings.

Once the price level is there, we'll see deeper-pocketed developers pushing to enter the market. There will still be middling/mediocre construction, but the city's condo market will have enough diversity of demand to warrant the better stuff as well.

There are *two* sides to the economics of it. Econ 101 and 102 need to be taken together.
Nah, keep dreaming theyd come, look at brad lambs proposal, reduce the height or its a no they say...
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  #25  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 1:28 AM
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Hamilton has enough parking lots and strip plazas to build 100,000 thirty storey buildings. If they're any taller, Hamilton will take 1,000 years to fill out into the city it once was. I think Hamilton should have a height limit of 8 storeys. Realistically 400 thirty storey buildings will be built in our lifetimes ... why not spread the density out further with a severe height restriction? If demand justifies it, these 8 storey buildings could be redeveloped into taller buildings c.2200. (I was reading an article on brick precast panels: guaranteed lifespan is only 50 years!; window wall and the cheap precast Hamilton developers love - half that time frame.)

Lamb's proposal is based on a formula he uses: take a nice historic block, burn or bulldoze it down and push density limits to the extreme in the name of (decent) aesthetics to extract max $. He's no visionary city builder. Repeating the same mistakes Hamilton has been making since the 1950s.

Last edited by urbandreamer; Mar 6, 2021 at 1:39 AM.
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  #26  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 11:35 AM
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Is it just me or has every single proposal had a 30 storey building in it ? I recall saying something about the looming tabletop skyline years ago ... Seems like that is becoming a reality... And to make it worse not a single building (except the one at James and Jackson) is tiered or coned or spiked at the top ....just bland, boring, flat, tabletop rooftops... Exciting times for Hamilton! Finally some growth and development and city council is f..king it up ROYALLY!!
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  #27  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 7:03 PM
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I agree with you. The idea that 1 60 Story Tower whatever secure the views from the Mountaintop is just silly. Two 30 story Towers will block more than one 60 Story Tower. Hamilton will be hitting close to 1 million in 20 years and the downtown will be filled with short stubby 30 story Towers and no room for new construction downtown. Hamilton needs to start thinking to the Future like every other City.
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  #28  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 7:34 PM
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It seems ironic that a city with 3 buildings over 30 stories (particularly since one of them was just built) to have a 30 story height limit so why does it exist?
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  #29  
Old Posted Mar 6, 2021, 7:55 PM
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It was a beautiful proposal of forty stories by the old bus station downtown and they cut it down to 30 stories. This is the kind of small town thinking that is hurting Hamilton's growth. Why they would want to descale a beautiful project like that is typical and stupid of Hamilton planners and counsellors. We have one 40 story building, the landmark and it has to be the ugliest building I've seen in Ontario. Come on Hamilton!!
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  #30  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2021, 5:56 AM
Calvinsofie1 Calvinsofie1 is offline
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Landmark Place upgrade.

Does anyone know if the Landmark Place is getting any changes to the outside of the building? it's by far the ugliest building in Downtown Hamilton. I think in the future we'll see a developer put money into it and possibly
reclad the outside with glass. Has anyone heard anything?
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  #31  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 6:49 AM
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For the simple fact that Hamilton needs, and more importantly deserves a quality piece of architecture. Landmark place is distinct, but in an old, drab kind of way - I think the Hamilton of today represents much more than that. It deserves more than that.

I think if the city wants to impose such a blanket rule like this, they should allow and open up the floor to a winning developer with a solid vision, one that will be not just smart for the the city, the area and its residents but for the sake of a statement. Something to show the region we are new, modern, changing - something to reflect who we have become, not the city of yesterday. I know the powers that be at city hall do not share this same mindset, but for the rest of us forward-thinkers. For our future residents, businesses.

We have a beautiful skyline, but it doesn't have a star. Ever city has a star. It's time Hamilton get's star.

...I'm Dustin and I approve this message. - kidding.

Take a look at a shot of the city I took this weekend. End the flatness, build something we can be proud of!

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  #32  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 12:28 PM
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Apparently that is already the case. The city will consider a taller building if it is of landmark quality and design. Jason Thorne used Empire State building and CN Tower as examples. We are clearly not getting those proposals but if anywhere is that piece of real estate i would think it.s City Centre. Right in the core and a huge property with ambitious plans. They should be encouraged to come up with exceptional designed proposals. The failure of the downtown secondary plan seems to be the fact that it encourages mediocrity. Sadface.
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  #33  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 5:34 PM
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Nice photo.

Olympia is going to look A LOT better once the re-clad (or refresh?) is done. We were up at Sam Lawrence on the weekend and the parts that have been completed look great (and really show how dingy the original facing had become)

Last edited by ScreamingViking; Mar 10, 2021 at 6:48 PM.
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  #34  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 6:35 PM
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Originally Posted by ScreamingViking View Post
Nice photo.

Olympia is going to look A LOT better once the re-clad is done. We were up at Sam Lawrence on the weekend and the parts that have been completed look great (and really show how dingy the original facing had become)
Didn't know it was going to be re-cladded. Photos?
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  #35  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 6:48 PM
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Didn't know it was going to be re-cladded. Photos?
I don't have any, but you can see the southwest side has been done in that skyline photo. It may just be a paint job though, not a re-clad.

Streetview shows the work at a partly done stage too.
https://goo.gl/maps/GL7s9yn2xvesEVEh7
https://goo.gl/maps/nHdxs7iVynnxyFAH8
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  #36  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2021, 11:29 PM
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Originally Posted by ScreamingViking View Post
I don't have any, but you can see the southwest side has been done in that skyline photo. It may just be a paint job though, not a re-clad.

Streetview shows the work at a partly done stage too.
https://goo.gl/maps/GL7s9yn2xvesEVEh7
https://goo.gl/maps/nHdxs7iVynnxyFAH8
I live in the building, it's just a paintjob, new outside exhaust vents for every unit and all new black caulking around every window and seam to help weather proof the building.

They left the old windows which seemed like a huge missed opportunity because they are long past their lifespan and rattle with the slightest wind and are so drafty. They also should of replaced the balcony railings to modernize the building but just slapped thick coats of paint on them.

And they really should be investing some money in the common element hallways as many floors look REALLY bad!
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  #37  
Old Posted Mar 11, 2021, 12:58 AM
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I live in the building, it's just a paintjob, new outside exhaust vents for every unit and all new black caulking around every window and seam to help weather proof the building.

They left the old windows which seemed like a huge missed opportunity because they are long past their lifespan and rattle with the slightest wind and are so drafty. They also should of replaced the balcony railings to modernize the building but just slapped thick coats of paint on them.

And they really should be investing some money in the common element hallways as many floors look REALLY bad!
Thanks! That's too bad they're doing a half-assed renewal, but it does look a thousand times better with the new paint. Good from far, far from good I guess.

I lived in a midrise in Burlington for a long time. Over the years different owners did some redecorating of the halls and common areas, new laundry machines, replaced the metal balcony railings with glass, patched up the balcony concrete, and also did the windows and pipes. The latter two were MESSY jobs. However the installers did really shitty work with the window replacement -- I came home one day and my entire unit was covered in dust (they failed to cover my furniture, despite the building manager saying that would be done) and they had also left the space wide open after removing the originals, no plastic or tarp or anything tacked up; I'm lucky it was a nice week, but people on other levels fed birds so who knows what visitors I was getting lol. Next day it was done, and a day of cleaning took care of the dust. However, they also didn't seal the frames properly, and the sliders were not the greatest either. So our old drafty 1960s era windows became new drafty 2000s era windows, and they started keeping the temperature to the bare minimum in winter as well, justified by the new windows (the building had a central boiler with radiators tenants could not control). So much for "savings" through efficiency!
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  #38  
Old Posted May 11, 2021, 2:53 AM
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Tallest condo tower in Waterloo Region will be ‘centre ice’ in downtown Kitchener

LIZ MONTEIRO | MAY 05, 2021 | THERECORD.COM

KITCHENER — A proposed condo development at the corner of Charles and Francis streets in Kitchener’s core will be the tallest building erected in Waterloo Region.

The 44-storey tower will feature 532 units, nearly three-quarters of them one-bedroom units and the remaining slated for two-bedrooms. Six floors will be in the base of the building and the remaining floors will be in the highrise tower.

“The building will play an important role in the development of Kitchener’s growing skyline,” said city senior planner Dayna Edwards who is overseeing the project.

“It will be seen from quite a distance,” she said.

Landowner and developer Darryl Firsten, president of Waterloo-based IN8 Developments said the location, which is currently an empty parking lot, is a logical place for a highrise development.

“We are not trying to build a highrise out in the suburbs. It is centre ice, dead centre downtown in a city that is booming,” Firsten said in an interview.

Although it’s the region’s tallest tower proposed yet, Firsten said he isn’t concerned with the height casting shadows because there are no residential homes near the site.

“Whether a building is 32 stories, or 44 or 76 makes no difference to anybody on the ground,” he said.

“It’s literally just a number,” Firsten said.

IN8 Developments is also the developer behind the DTK Condos project at Duke and Frederick streets which will stand at 39 stories with about 500 units. Other projects include condo buildings in the university district in Waterloo.

Firsten said the Francis Street South site, located in the city’s Innovation District, is close to King Street businesses, transit and “there’s a lot of jobs around there.”

“People can walk to work and that’s what we want to see,” he said. “This is a walkable site, a very transit-orientated site.”

Firsten purchased the land — about a half acre in size — last August from Manulife Financial for $10.25 million.

The site was used as parking for workers in nearby tech companies but has been sitting empty during the pandemic as people work from home.

Parking for residents will be above ground in a podium behind the residential units. There is a total of 242 spaces with access off Charles Street and Halls Lane.

“The water table is too high so you can’t go deep enough with parking,” Firsten said.

The project will also offer 141 bicycle spaces, with most of them indoor.

Coun. Debbie Chapman, whose ward includes the proposed development, said she supports increased density in the core.

But is 44 stories too high, wonders Chapman.

The project is at its preliminary stages and she plans to inquire into a shadow and wind study and the floor space ratio which compares the building mass to the actual size of the site. In this case, the size is small for the mass building projected.

A neighbourhood public meeting is set for June 2. If approved by council later this year, construction could begin in March, 2022, Firsten said.

Intensified housing is a priority for planners and Kitchener’s overall strategic plan.

“By focusing growth and density in the downtown or urban growth centre, we can relieve some of the development pressures on nearby low-rise neighbourhoods,” said planner Dayna Edwards.

https://outline.com/xVJbWJ
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  #39  
Old Posted May 11, 2021, 4:09 AM
TheRitsman TheRitsman is offline
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Originally Posted by LikeHamilton View Post
[B][COLOR="Red"]T

“Whether a building is 32 stories, or 44 or 76 makes no difference to anybody on the ground,” he said.

“It’s literally just a number,” Firsten said.

[
That's obviously not true.

You're telling me nobody on the ground notices the difference between this



And this

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  #40  
Old Posted May 11, 2021, 10:17 AM
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Your first one is like 6-10 storeys.. not 32. There is obviously a visible difference there. The difference between 30 and 44 storeys is much harder to determine at grade.
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