‘Unprecedented’ highrise boom in Hamilton: 30-storey towers among many under development

When Joseph Mancinelli gazes at Hamilton's lower city from his home on the Mountain brow, he pictures the skyline of the future.

It's going to change dramatically in the next decade," says Mancinelli, vice-president of Laborers' International Union of North America.

LIUNA, in fact, is already laying the foundations of what can only be described as a trend upward downtown.

On King Street East, the labour union is building two 30-storey condo towers across from Gore Park.

On James Street South, another 30-storey building is planned for a lot that reaches Hughson. The tower will incorporate LIUNA's historic brick headquarters.

The two projects are part of an ongoing highrise boom in around downtown with more skyscrapers on the way.

Planning policies, housing prices, rental demand and the prospect of light-rail transit in Hamilton have contributed to the spike in tall buildings, observers say.

More taxable units in a concentrated area means more assessment revenue for the city, but the heavier density also poses infrastructure demands.

How affordability - amid an increasingly expensive private market - figures in a trend that sees smaller, older buildings give way to glassy condos is also a concern.

But overall, the surge is a good thing, according to Mancinelli, who contextualizes it as a chapter in a years-long downtown revival that promises to situate more residents in the core to support area businesses.

Folks like the fact that there's life in the downtown as opposed to where it was 30 years ago, when there was a lot of derelict buildings."

Between 2016 and the early part of this year, the city handled 16 applications from developers hoping to build at least 20 storeys, according to a list staff provided The Spectator.

By design, most of those have been in the core, or near downtown, where the city's planning policies offer the most generous height permissions.

These are just a few in the growing list:

• At Gore Park, Spallacci Group and Valery Homes plan to add a 36-storey condo tower to the refurbished Royal Connaught at King Street East and Catharine Street South.

• At Bay and King, McMaster University is teaming up with Knightstone Capital on a student residence that features a 30-storey tower.

• Nearby, at Caroline and King, Vrancor Group plans to construct a 30-storey building with 242 rental units and 110 hotel rooms, just north of the developer's existing 32-storey Marquee Residence.

• On James South, across from LIUNA's project, new partners are shepherding a revived plan for a 30-storey condo building behind the historic facade of James Street Baptist after the rest of the church was demolished in 2014.

• Rosehaven Homes plans to build 30 storeys at 71 Rebecca St., the current site of the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre across from a new city park.

• At 41 Wilson St., Emblem Developments aims for three towers of 30 storeys each for a total of 908 units at the current site of a sprawling parking lot between John and Hughson streets. Trinity Lutheran Church is to remain on the southwest corner.

That last project is shaping up to be Hamilton's largest residential build in recent memory, if ever," says Franz Kloibhofer, a planning consultant with A.J. Clarke & Associates.

It's nice to see Hamilton moving away from these massive paved areas - parking lots - and seeing them starting to be developed now," said Kloibhofer, whose firm is also handling the 71 Rebecca project.

Coun. Jason Farr agrees.

In fact, the still cresting wave of development is unprecedented," Farr said. For the downtown, it's incredible and so vital."

Room for more?

It's not just the core. Highrise builders have their stakes on its periphery, too:

• Slate Asset Management, for instance, has approval for a 796-unit residential complex with three buildings of 27, 14 and eight storeys at the parking lot of the low-slung Corktown Plaza.

• Medallion's proposal for a 19-storey tower added to an existing low-rise apartment complex at 195 Wellington St. S. by Corktown Park is the subject of an ongoing provincial land-use tribunal appeal.

• In Strathcona, Belmont Equity has the go-ahead for a 23-storey building on an empty lot at Main Street West and Queen Street South that also preserves a heritage building.

• Just north on Queen at King Street West, Coletara Development's 24-storey project on the site of the former All Saints Anglican Church is well underway.

• Across King, Vrancor Group hopes the 12-storey hotel it's building will be joined by a proposed 25-storey residential building on the same property where an old orphanage once stood.

But Hamilton is still lagging behind" other cities in the region when it comes to highrises, says Mario Frankovich, vice-president of investment and strategic planning for Vrancor, the firm led by Darko Vranich.

Kitchener-Waterloo, for instance, has twice as many" cranes in the sky, Frankovich points out.

Supporters of Hamilton's long-debated LRT project reference the tech-hub city as an example of how a light-rail line, which it has, can spur economic growth through development.

Frankovich says provincial efforts to control urban sprawl and protect green space, starting with the 2006 growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, has been the big driver" for tall buildings.

At the same time, another key factor is affordability, with prices for single and semi-detached homes going through the roof," he said.

Darko's well in excess of a billion dollars in construction cost with his projects, so when you are that committed to a community, you ask first before anything else, If I'm doing this, will people be able to afford it?'"

Meanwhile, the additional per-square-foot tax dollars that taller construction generates is a windfall for the city, Farr says.

The downtown councillor draws upon figures in a recent LRT-related city staff report to illustrate this:

• Vrancor's 32-storey Marquee Residence, the building at George and Caroline streets, adds $629,300 to the municipal coffers.

• Coletara's 24 storeys under construction at King and Queen, meanwhile, represent $608,300 in assessment growth.

Just two buildings," Farr said. Imagine, that's $1.2 million annually forever more that we weren't getting before those buildings were built."

But LRT in Hamilton isn't a done deal - despite a years-long preamble with no shortage of debate and drama leading to the provincial and federal governments' $3.4-billion capital funding offer in May.

In a split vote last month, council directed staff to hash out a draft operating and maintenance agreement in principle with provincial transportation agency Metrolinx this summer. That will spark another council vote.

Even with the pure speculation of a 14-kilometre line, it has been almost impossible" to find significant parcels of land along in the proposed corridor, Mancinelli of LIUNA says.

So much is already snatched up, and stay tuned if LRT goes ahead, he says. That will leverage billions of dollars worth of construction along the route."

Hamilton the 15-minute city'?

Yes, there are tall buildings, but don't forget Hamilton's mid-rise renaissance, says the city's planning director.

Every week, we seem to have someone looking to do a mid-rise or tall building with the city," Steve Robichaud said.

• Take, for instance, a 15-storey condo and 14-storey counterpart by different developers underway on adjacent lots between Ferguson Avenue South and Jarvis Street by King William.

• On James at Cannon, a six-storey building is in the works, while a little west, at Caroline and King, a 13-storey condo is planned for where the former Hamilton Store Fixtures stands.

• At the corner of Barton Street East and Wellington Street North, a seven-storey building with 79 units is proposed for a current weedy parking lot.

The added density will help the city intensify Hamilton's existing urban footprint with an expected influx of 230,000 people by 2051.

Whether the urban boundary must spill into outlying rural land, however, is a bone of contention.

City staff say the projected growth, based on Ontario's market-based approach to land needs, will require an expansion of 1,340 hectares - a stance anti-sprawl campaigners oppose.

Amid that debate, city staff are analyzing what Hamilton's urban infrastructure needs will be in the decades to come with the growing development load.

We want to make sure that we don't have that situation where we can't capture the benefits of that growth or we have to say you can't develop because the sewers aren't there," Robichaud said.

Transit to encourage people to get out of their cars and prevent bottlenecks is also an important part of that puzzle, he said.

Efficient ways to move around and density are key to Hamilton becoming a 15-minute city," where amenities and services are within walking and cycling distance, says local architect David Premi.

To achieve that, it makes sense to focus the highest buildings in the core to feed eateries, shops as well as venues for entertainment and the arts, he says.

It's an exceptional neighbourhood because it is the core. It's the economic heart of the city, and I think that the core should have a unique character in a city."

But Premi also encourages greater density by way of mid-rise housing throughout Hamilton, a distribution pattern that would feed higher-order transit like LRT.

Paris, France, for instance, has more residents per square kilometre than Toronto, but with fewer skyscrapers, he points out.

So you've then got a situation where people have the amenity that they need close at hand. It isn't a car-dependent city."

Neighbourhood resistance

The Strathcona Shadow Dwellers don't want a 25-storey highrise.

But that doesn't mean that neighbourhood group is in favour of pushing Hamilton's urban boundary past its limits.

That notion of sprawl or a tower is a false dichotomy," member Wayne MacPhail said.

MacPhail and others in the neighbourhood bordering downtown have organized to push back against Vrancor's highrise plans for the block at King and Queen.

The same density of a tower can be dispersed over a larger area and achieve the same goals of intensification, he says.

But what the Shadow Dwellers expect will be an ugly, tall tower" is out of step with the character of the area.

It doesn't appeal to the street. It doesn't appeal to the community. It's going to be detrimental to the community in terms of traffic," MacPhail said.

This past spring, Coun. Maureen Wilson echoed the group's concerns, characterizing the developer's designs, including a 12-storey hotel eventually approved for the same site as disposable."

And disposable places are places that could be anywhere and thus nowhere," said Wilson, noting she hadn't voted against another planning proposal during the council term.

The Ward 1 councillor also expressed dismay over Vrancor's shifting plans: the hotel was initially approved at 10 storeys, and the would-be tower has permission for six storeys.

In this case, clearly, the goalposts have been moved."

Vrancor hasn't yet presented the 25-storey proposal to elected officials.

In the meantime, vice-president Mario Frankovich told The Spectator he disputes that the developer's plans changed and says some residents support the projects.

I think we want to leave it just there, that there are two competing views," he said. We're in the middle of a process right now."

The Shadow Dwellers aren't the only neighbourhood group to look down on skyscrapers in their midst.

Television City

Residents in Durand, for instance, joined the city in formally appealing developer Brad Lamb's plans for two 32-storey condo towers at the site of CHCH TV's former offices on Jackson Street West.

Ontario's land-dispute tribunal backed the Television City twin highrises last year.

This past spring, a spokesperson for the developer said pre-construction sales would launch later this year."

Lamb initially agreed to an interview but then became unavailable after a spokesperson said he didn't want to field questions about the project's recent history.

Objections to higher-density developments in established residential areas aren't surprising, says Michael Mercier, an assistant professor at McMaster whose research interests include urban social geography.

Tall buildings in the core and along main streets to fight sprawl makes a lot of sense," Mercier said.

We are having a difficult time updating our water and sewer infrastructure in the core of the city and so adding more onto the periphery doesn't really make sense.

But if you increase the development in the core of the city, you have efficiencies that you can then rehabilitate."

But the closer taller buildings creep into traditional, single-family neighbourhoods, the greater the pushback, he notes.

Anything under six (storeys), nobody should really be objecting to. It's when you start to get over that six, that it starts to get tricky."

Concern over diminishing property values is often cited when density increases in neighbourhoods, but generally, over time, the opposite tends to occur, Mercier says.

We need to do a better job about selling the merits of increase to density - when it's done right - if you just gradually increase the density in your neighbourhood."

High buildings, high prices

The development - including the towers - that LRT brings will do nothing for housing affordability if the market is left to its own devices.

So say housing experts and those who want the light-rail line to translate into big wins for the community - not just developers.

That's why it's crucial for the city to play a strong role in demanding affordability along a densified LRT corridor, Karl Andrus says.

It has to happen, otherwise LRT is just going to become a further engine of gentrification," said Andrus, who's the manager of the Hamilton Community Benefits Network.

The network is a collective of representatives from social-service, environmental and labour organizations that negotiated with Metrolinx in the project's last round of talks.

The goal is to make sure marginalized residents also reap some of the project's expected economic benefits, including a projected 7,000 jobs.

As for housing, Andrus says the city must implement zoning tools available under provincial legislation to ensure affordable units are built, not just in the LRT corridor but throughout Hamilton.

Inclusionary zoning, which the Ontario government has limited to areas around major transit stations, allows cities to demand developers set aside a certain portion of units to affordable housing. Community benefit charges are another lever for the city.

As cities densify, it's important for them to get ahead of the game with effective policy if they want to offer residents affordable options, advises Steve Pomeroy, a police research consultant who focuses on urban planning and housing.

Properties along a future transit line sprouting condos will have lower unit prices relative to the value of single-family homes but not necessarily within reach of residents in need, Pomeroy says.

If the location is attractive, prospective buyers will pay what the market dictates.

Why would a developer turn around and provide the units at a lower price or a lower rent just because he thinks it's a nice thing to do? That's generally not the way developers work."

Older, inner-city building stock - think three- to four-storey apartments - tends to be lost to higher-density redevelopment in areas with transit-area zoning, Pomeroy notes.

Tenant rights advocates in Hamilton have pressed the city for stronger local rules to prevent renovictions that are displacing tenants and leaving them priced out of the escalated open market.

Without even any track laid, LRT has already left a bad taste for some.

Before the province abruptly cancelled the project in late 2019, Metrolinx bought 60 properties to make way for the line. That forced dozens of tenants to relocate elsewhere.

Sara Mayo places hope in federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna's insistence that the LRT project carry a condition to build affordable housing. McKenna hasn't offered specifics.

But Mayo, a social planner with the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, says the Ontario government needs stronger policy to eliminate incentives landlords have to push out tenants in order to jack rents.

If we only have a supply answer, then the supply is going to be very expensive, especially because we have high competition for units right now, rental or ownership."

Andrus hopes the benefits network can soon get back to talks with Metrolinx - if city council agrees to move the resurrected LRT project forward under senior governments' $3.4-billion offer.

Nonprofits that build affordable housing need to be at that table, he says. It's incumbent on us to get this right."

It's also time the city stopped offering private developers breaks to build in downtown Hamilton - a city with one of hottest property markets in North America, Andrus says.

Our municipal leaders and our policy planners need to start looking at Hamilton as that, as opposed to what it was say 10 years ago, when we couldn't get anybody to build a tower here."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com

NEW HEIGHTS FOR HAMILTON

Landmark Place, a 43-storey apartment block at 100 Main St. W. that was built in the 1970s, is Hamilton's tallest building. Here are some rivals that are planned or already breaking ground:

- New Horizon: Developer Jeff Paikin's firm has massive plans for a property near the Stoney Creek lakeshore. An earlier plan for towers of 48, 54 and 59 storeys at 310 Frances Ave., has been muted" in a revised version but is still tall, Paikin says.

- The Moderne: Spallacci Group and Valery Homes plan to build a 36-storey tower at King Street East and Catharine Street South, the latest phase of the Royal Connaught hotel's restoration and conversion into condos. Construction is anticipated to be complete in 2024 or 2025.

- The Connolly: LCH Developments and Hue Developments have taken over the construction of a 30-storey, mixed-use condo building behind the facade of James Street Baptist Church. The 1877 church was demolished in 2014 but the previous builder ran aground financially. The new partners say restoration efforts continue and construction is expected to pick up in August.

- Cobalt: LIUNA's two 30-storey residential towers that will straddle King Street East and King William at Hughson North will have commercial space below. The construction is anticipated to wrap up in about two years. A plan for another 30-storey highrise between James and Hughson South at Jackson doesn't yet have a name. The work is expected to take four years.

- 71 Rebecca: Rosehaven Homes has plans for a 30-storey mixed-use building with 477 residential units at the current site of Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre, a former bus station across from John-Rebecca Park.

- 41 Wilson: Emblem Developments hopes to build three towers of 30 storeys each for a total of 908 units on a parking lot between Hughson and John. Trinity Lutheran Church is to remain on the southwest corner.

- 10 Bay: McMaster's future off-campus student residence, a public-private partnership with Knightstone Capital, will be 30 storeys. Construction has started and more than 600 graduate students and family members are expected to reside there in the fall of 2023.

- 1190 Main West: McMaster also has plans for an undergraduate residence that's mostly 11 storeys but has a 15-storey tower at 1190 Main St. W. at Traymore Avenue.

- 925 Main West: Another student residence is conditionally approved for this lot by Longwood Avenue South near Columbia International College. It is to have two towers - the tallest at 18 storeys - and 514 units with 1,088 beds.

- City Centre: IN8 Developments envisions a roughly 2,000-unit redevelopment of the downtown shopping centre distributed among four towers - three at 30 storeys and one at 24. President Darryl Firsten said it could be 10 years before the towers are built out.

- Grace Lutheran: In8 also hopes to build a 15-storey mixed-use building at the current site of Grace Lutheran Church at 1107 Main St. W. The plan for 310 units calls for the 1959 church's demolition but to use some of its elements in the design.

- Television City: Brad Lamb's two condo towers of 32 storeys each on the site of CHCH TV's former offices on Jackson Street West was the subject of a dispute with the city and residents before the provincial tribunal last year. A spokesperson noted via email pre-construction sales would launch this year.

- Corktown Plaza: Slate Asset Management received council approval early this year for its plan to build a 769-unit residential complex on the parking lot and the strip mall plaza just southeast of downtown. Three buildings - 27 storeys, 14 storeys and eight storeys - are planned for the site.

- Metro: Spallacci & Sons Ltd. aim to build to build 773 units in towers of 22, 24 and 25 storeys on John Street South and St. Joseph's Drive next to a city park and across from the hospital. The Metro condo complex is to replace a five-storey apartment building on the site.

- Medallion: The developer's proposal for a 19-storey tower added to an existing low-rise apartment complex at 195 Wellington St. S. by Corktown Park is the subject of an ongoing provincial land-use tribunal appeal.

- Vrancor: The firm led by megadeveloper Darko Vranich always has a few big projects on the go. A 12-storey hotel is well underway at the northwest corner of Queen and King streets. The developer hopes to build a 25-storey residential building on the same site. East of downtown, Vrancor is building at 26-storey mixed-use building at Main Street West and Walnut. There's more: At the corner of Caroline and King, a 30-storey building with rental and hotel rooms is on the books.

- Platinum: Coletara's 24-storey condo on the corner opposite Vrancor's property at King and Queen is well underway. The tower is being constructed where All Saints Anglican Church was demolished.

- 115-117 George: Coletara also plans 18- and 23-storey residential buildings on the edge of Hess Village on Main Street West by Queen.

- Belmont Equity: This developer has approval for a 23-storey building at the southwest corner of Main and Queen South. The plan also includes low-rise townhouses on Jackson Street.

-Beasley Park Lofts: Harry Stinson says his latest plan for the Cannon Knitting Mills at Mary Street could now surpass 20 storeys. The building is to include 450 residential units and 150 small commercial and retail spaces. Stinson is shooting for occupancy in 2024.