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  #1  
Old Posted May 12, 2019, 12:32 AM
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lachlanholmes lachlanholmes is offline
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166-190 Main St West | 86.25 m | 3 x 27 fl | Proposed

We don't have a thread for this project yet since we don't know much about it other than density is coming.

However, during my walk today, I noticed they've already brought in (what looks like, to me) soil testing equipment to the site. Time for a thread!









Feels good to have some more competent developers and investors in the city. Getting right down to business!
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  #2  
Old Posted May 12, 2019, 12:47 AM
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Some details from a recent news article...

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Originally Posted by SteelTown View Post
Paul Wilson: New life at last for $20-million lost land in downtown Hamilton
Nearly two acres, bounded by Main, Hess, Caroline and George, was nothing but a parking lot for decades. It’s been sold for just over $20 million.

https://www.thespec.com/opinion-stor...town-hamilton/

In the late '80s, before condos came to town, a developer decided he'd be the first. He demolished some walk-up apartments, erected a pink, purple and green sales pavilion and started selling The Riviera — "Hamilton's Premiere Address."

The plan went bust. And ever since, that key piece of real estate — nearly two acres, bounded by Main, Hess, Caroline and George — has been nothing but parked cars.

Well, the tide has turned for condos and much else in downtown Hamilton. That long-lost piece of land has now sold for just over $20 million. In 1995, it was worth $450,000.

The purchaser is Bentall Kennedy, a $50-billion-or-so real estate investment company owned by Sun Life Financial. They're not ready to say much yet, but a query did bring an emailed statement from Brad Caco, BK's senior vice-president of development:

"There is an excitement in the downtown Hamilton core that gives us a great deal of optimism," he says.

Factors in the purchase decision include "the emergence of the local technology and life sciences industries and the development of the LRT infrastructure."

The development, he says, "will be considerate of the present and future needs of the community."

No specifics provided beyond that, but several sources say the goal is two or three residential towers on the site, a project that could be more than $300 million.

Toronto's Otis Group has owned that property for decades. Brian Otis says they've tried to make things happen on the site, including the McMaster downtown health centre that ended up a block east on Main.

Otis is a commercial developer, with projects across the province. So when it looked as though residential was the way things were heading for that downtown land, Otis says, it was time to take the offer. "But I have to tell you, I'm a little disappointed I wasn't the guy at the finish line."

Downtown Hamilton has changed, he says. "It's really coming along now … But it's still a pretty closed market, not the easiest for outsiders."

One exception, he says, is developer Darko Vranich, who has erected several towers right next door in recent years. Vranich had wanted to buy the Otis land in the past, but the timing wasn't right.

"Darko has a lot of energy," Otis says. "I should ask him for a blood transfusion."

Half-a-dozen blocks due east on Main, there's a new development where the property didn't sit empty for a minute.

It's another Vranich project — a 25-storey residential tower at Main and Walnut. He bought the property in the fall of 2017. The lawyers there moved out about six months later, demolition was underway by July, and foundation work began in a flash.

Soon a tower crane will arrive on site from a yard in Binbrook. Turns out Vranich recently bought two of these cranes, $750,000 US each, in New York state.

The other crane, now stretched out on Vranich land at King and Queen, will rise soon for a 30-storey student residence and a 10- to 12-storey Hampton Inn at that corner.

Over at Main and Walnut, new development is welcome. That piece of street needs it.

But please, a quick salute to the building at that corner which fell so fast. Its moment of glory came early in 1964, when mayor Vic Copps officially opened the national headquarters of the Society of Industrial and Cost Accountants of Canada.

The building had been the district offices of Imperial Oil — along with a service station — and later became the Parker's dry cleaning plant.

But the accountants spent substantial money to change all that. As Spec writer Milford L. Smith reported 55 years ago:

"The asphalt pavement, oil-stained by tens of thousands of automobiles in the gas station days, has been torn up. In its place is a raised area in which grass and trees and flowers will be planted, restoring in part the Main Street East scene when palatial residences were set back from the roadway."

Old mansions on that stretch of Main? Hard to imagine. Everything changes, but it's good to know what came before.
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  #3  
Old Posted May 13, 2019, 3:31 PM
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This can't come soon enough! This sea of parking is slowly all being filled in
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  #4  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 2:40 PM
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166-190 Main St West | 86.25 m | 3 x 27 fl | Proposed

The proposals keep rolling in downtown..

A new site plan application for the parking lot bounded by Main, Hess, George, and Caroline.

"To construct a mixed-use development consisting of two 28 storey towers and one 27 storey tower above two base buildings. A total of 826 dwelling units, 749 sq.m. of commercial space and 531 parking spaces"
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  #5  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 2:45 PM
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And... got an email response for the architectural plans quite quickly.

93m tall, Kirkor Architects, Bentall Green Oak as the developer. A big Toronto institutional investor. I'm guessing this will be a giant rental block.

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  #6  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 5:11 PM
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Love the density , design could be a bit more exciting. Will be great to see that lot fill in , i hope the George Street treatment will be inviting (not much retail space planned , but would be nice to extend the Hess Village vibe eastward.
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  #7  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 5:21 PM
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Nice! Maybe they will demolish the horrible looking motel across the street from it at some point and build something nice there too

Also I wouldn't put much stock in the proposed rendering - as we know the designs tend to change multiple times throughout production.
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  #8  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 6:58 PM
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These guys are moving quick, I think the developers bought the land a year or two ago. This will be a huge improvement if this happens since the current lot is an eyesore.
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  #9  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2020, 8:15 PM
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ericmacm it'll be fun to see a screenshot on the future skyline model zoomed into Caroline between Main and Hunter once this proposal is included!
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  #10  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 12:42 AM
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Wow, another big one for Hamilton, they just keep coming, and it's good to see. Hamilton will be seeing some serious growth over this decade if proposals like these keep popping up every couple of months. BentallGreenOak is a big player in rentals so it'll probably be all rental. I'm excited to plop this one into the model too, it's going to be a beefy one, but I suspect it won't have much impact height-wise considering its neighbours. I'll keep that angle in mind @johnnyhamont, should have something up within the next couple of days.
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Last edited by ericmacm; Jul 31, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
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  #11  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 1:43 AM
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beauties! loving this for Hamilton!
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  #12  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 1:50 AM
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This is a huge block that will change the look and feel of Main Street.
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  #13  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 3:53 AM
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Three towers all the same height...yawn ... Very un-inspired... We are creating an awful table top skyline and it will be horrendous... At least stagger the heights a bit
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  #14  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 4:22 AM
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Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto View Post
Three towers all the same height...yawn ... Very un-inspired... We are creating an awful table top skyline and it will be horrendous... At least stagger the heights a bit
Awful at a distance or up close. I and many others don't care what the city looks like from Burlington, we care about what it looks like walking the street.

Honestly I'm not in love with the street scape of main street side. It ignores that main street will likely not forever be a horrific highway cur through the downtown.
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  #15  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 11:52 AM
HamiltonBoyInToronto HamiltonBoyInToronto is offline
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Awful at a distance or up close. I and many others don't care what the city looks like from Burlington, we care about what it looks like walking the street.

Honestly I'm not in love with the street scape of main street side. It ignores that main street will likely not forever be a horrific highway cur through the downtown.

We should care about what the city looks like from all angles (including Burlington) but my concern is what the city looks like from our escarpment and from within the city itself ... Main Street (HWY 8) is a pathetic excuse of a street ... The amount of drag racing that happens is insane ... I live off of main by Gage park and I can hear the racers all the time
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  #16  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2020, 3:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto View Post
Three towers all the same height...yawn ... Very un-inspired... We are creating an awful table top skyline and it will be horrendous... At least stagger the heights a bit
We can thank the City's ridiculous escarpment height limit for the table top effect, not much else you can do with an arbitrary height limit and still relatively low rent values to make the pro-forma work on a project of this scale.
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  #17  
Old Posted Aug 2, 2020, 4:44 PM
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It's not very exciting but whatever. This area is going to be packed if all these units and surrounding residential gets filled. I'm down as long as people don't believe they have to drive everywhere they go. More and more reason to build LRT. 749 m2 is about 1/10th of the footprint of this block. I'm assuming the couple of buildings at Hess and George are on their last legs. That's the area that will get this small bit of commercial. Main street will continue to be a disaster for pedestrians.
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  #18  
Old Posted Aug 2, 2020, 5:07 PM
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@Innsertnamehere do you know if there are there any supporting documents for this development currently available? I'd like to add it into the model but I need a site plan.
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  #19  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2020, 1:44 PM
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edit: wrong thread
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  #20  
Old Posted Nov 2, 2020, 2:15 PM
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W O O H O O !

I’ve been dying for something to take up that awful lot for an AGE! Sure the preliminary rendering is unimaginative, but WOW am I excited for this project.
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