BRANTFORD | Construction news and development

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Brick on the lower floors at One Wellington is now nearing completion and looking sharp!

One Wellington now complete:

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Update on Grand Bell at 7 Erie

Grand Bell at 7 Erie nearly complete.

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Colborne and Iroquois redevelopment | 9 and 5 floors
Brantford's biggest eyesore is being redeveloped!

Housing planned for Colborne Street greyfield site
Michelle Ruby
Published on: January 15, 2020

A concrete wasteland that has been an eyesore in Ward 5 for more than a decade is headed for a transformation.

City councillors unanimously supported this week applications for official plan and zoning amendments as the first step toward a housing project that will eventually allow about 1,000 people to live on the former Canadian Tire property on Colborne Street East.

Cachet Developments is proposing a diverse mixture of housing for the 11-acre property, including nine- and five-storey apartment buildings facing Colborne, two mixed-use townhouse blocks and a mix of stacked and back-to-back townhouse units, including parking, landscaped areas and a large central amenity area.

I didn't get a picture but construction here is well underway. The stacked towns at the rear of the site have completed wood framing. The foundations for the apartment buildings are also nearing completion.

[Canasian]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Grand Bell at 7 Erie nearly complete.

And it has retail on the first floor. The more people living downtown Brantford can bring the need for more get more retail which can create a critical mass that will bring life to downtown, hopefully in the next few years this will start.

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

City councillors have unanimously supported the creation of the five-storey building, which will include 25 units and main floor commercial space, on municipally owned vacant land at 177 Colborne St. W. This will be affordable housing constructed via modular construction built by Andrew Neill Construction. Sounds like the City is waiting on an RHI funding announcement.

https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ne...ousing-project

Modular development ready by end of year


Michelle Ruby
Publishing date:Jul 13, 2022

A 26-unit modular housing project that will be home to people who have been using the city’s shelter system should be complete by the end of the year.

Article content
The city’s planning and administration committee unanimously approved on Tuesday a zoning bylaw amendment that will allow the construction of the affordable housing project at 177 Colborne St. West. Final approval is required at this month’s council meeting.

The four-storey building will include 26, 300-square-foot studio apartments, four of which will be barrier-free. The ground floor will have commercial space intended to be used as an office for the city’s family and income stability staff. A total of 16 off-street parking spaces will be provided, about half of what is normally required under the city’s zoning bylaw....

https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ne...by-end-of-year

[Pulkvedis Pods]

How feasable would a Brantford - Ancaster - Hamilton LRT line be? With the new construction happening in our area, and an increase in population (as well as car traffic), it would be advisable that someone look into it.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Pulkvedis Pods

How feasable would a Brantford - Ancaster - Hamilton LRT line be? With the new construction happening in our area, and an increase in population (as well as car traffic), it would be advisable that someone look into it.

A commuter rail line, maybe, but an LRT would not work for a regional corridor like that.

I would generally agree that GO train service could be extended to Brantford though, particularly since friggen London has it now.

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I would generally agree that GO train service could be extended to Brantford though, particularly since friggen London has it now.

Yep. "Beyond insane" is probably a stretch, but there's certainly something reasonable about connecting Hamilton and Brantford by rail as part of a broader network like GO.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Yep. "Beyond insane" is probably a stretch, but there's certainly something reasonable about connecting Hamilton and Brantford by rail as part of a broader network like GO.

Beyond insane is accurate.

I don't see why we can't have some kind of rail connector between KWC-Brantford-Hamilton.

[Pulkvedis Pods]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Beyond insane is accurate.

I don't see why we can't have some kind of rail connector between KWC-Brantford-Hamilton.

Well, if you made a line along or in the middle of the obvious main road between the two areas - Brantford-Ancaster - you could foster a street car TOD type development. And who knows, eventually that line could be linked up with an expanded Hamilton LRT which hopefully would run to Dundas too. Just my two toonies worth.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Pulkvedis Pods

Well, if you made a line along or in the middle of the obvious main road between the two areas - Brantford-Ancaster - you could foster a street car TOD type development. And who knows, eventually that line could be linked up with an expanded Hamilton LRT which hopefully would run to Dundas too. Just my two toonies worth.

An LRT from Downtown Brantford to McMaster University along Highway 2 would be 32km long, and would likely take well over an hour to make such a trip, most of which through rural areas with 0 ridership and none with significant density. LRT simply isn't the right technology for that type of trip, faster commuter rail with larger stop spacing would be far more useful. VIA goes from Brantford to Aldershot in as little as 28 minutes right now. A GO service extending to Brantford would be able to post similar travel times, and you could probably add a stop in Dundas as well.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by JHikka

I don't see why we can't have some kind of rail connector between KWC-Brantford-Hamilton.

Even just a regular express bus service between the three would be big.

Rail options would be limited. There used to be a track connecting Paris and Cambridge along the Grand River (presumably it ran to Brantford as well) but it was ripped out years ago and is now a trail. Same for the CP line between Brantford and Hamilton. The CN corridor is all that remains from Brantford to Aldershot, and there's nothing directly connecting Hamilton and Kitchener.

Not to say that new rail could not be laid down, but the cost would be large and setting a route likely complicated.

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Rail options would be limited. There used to be a track connecting Paris and Cambridge along the Grand River (presumably it ran to Brantford as well) but it was ripped out years ago and is now a trail. Same for the CP line between Brantford and Hamilton. The CN corridor is all that remains from Brantford to Aldershot, and there's nothing directly connecting Hamilton and Kitchener.

It's true, we have experienced remarkable regression in rail connectedness. Brantford now has excellent cycling trails to Paris/ Cambridge, Hamilton and Simcoe/ Port Dover - all of which used to be commuter rail lines...

[Innsertnamehere]

a Hamilton- Kitchener line could run up the CP corridor through Waterdown to Guelph then over to Kitchener.

The only pair in that triangle that doesn’t have a practical connection is Brantford-Kitchener.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

a Hamilton- Kitchener line could run up the CP corridor through Waterdown to Guelph then over to Kitchener.

The only pair in that triangle that doesn’t have a practical connection is Brantford-Kitchener.

Technically the CP Goderich Subd. and CP Hamilton Subd. aren't connected, so trains would need to reverse on the Galt Subd. to go from one to the other. I suppose a remedy wouldn't be that difficult though.

[johnnyhamont]

Interesting 4-storey modular construction project in Brantford that quickly took shape in the last couple weeks on Colborne just across the Grand from downtown.

In the ANC factory from June

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...14228405701572








https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=...88651213281804

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Seven-storey condo building gets councillors' support
https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ne...illors-support



A seven-storey apartment building with 84 units targeted at seniors has received initial approval from the city... Plans call for a mix of one- and two-bedroom units ranging in size from about 650 square feet to 990 square feet. There also will be 135 spaces provided in surface parking.
An official plan amendment and a zoning bylaw amendment for the development was supported Tuesday night in a 7-2 vote by council’s community development committee.

Got a crappy photo from the highway earlier this week, but thought I'd share to demonstrate the stage of progress this one is at.



Edit: clearer photo from a few weeks earlier, Sept 2022
source

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

401 Shellard Lane
1 and 2 BR units est completion 2023
http://theambrosecondos.com/

Construction has started here and it is above-grade. Photo from about a month ago.


source

[johnnyhamont]

Originally Posted by johnnyhamont

Grand Bell at 7 Erie nearly complete.

Grand Bell as of September 2022, nearly complete on the exterior:




source

[Davis137]

I must say, the overall appearance and fabric of Brantford has certainly changed a LOT since I last lived there close to 20 years ago now. I still come there several times per year, as I still have lots of family live there, and in Hamilton and Dundas. Every time I come down there, I notice there are so many locations where buildings don't exist at all (Fairview Public School and the original Canadian tire plaza for example), and areas where everything is brand new and alien to me (East of the Gretzky Parkway and Garden Ave). I can say that it's nice to see developers from the GTA and elsewhere coming and building new homes and condos and apartments. I would imagine the city has surpassed the 100K population threshold a long time ago.