New partner in Hamilton west harbour film hub project

A plan to create a film studio hub on city-owned lands at Hamilton's west harbour has added a cast member.

And another step toward a potential deal setting the stage for the megaproject will go before city council in early July.

TAS - a Toronto-based firm that focuses on mixed-use projects and commercial community hubs - is to lead the proposed redevelopment of the roughly 14 acres of barren land between the CN rail yard, Queen, Tiffany and Barton streets.

Our story is one of a company who's focused on delivering deep impact and using real estate as the tool and the platform that we engage around to do that," Mazyar Mortazavi, president and CEO of TAS, told The Spectator.

We see a great opportunity in the Barton-Tiffany lands."

TAS is also working with the Hamilton Community Foundation on refurbishing the historic Coppley building downtown on York Boulevard.

Meanwhile, Aeon Studio Group, which already has a production studio on Queen near the city-owned parcels, is thrilled" to have TAS aboard, partner Jeff Anders said.

The consortium, which aims to turn the properties into a mixed-use creative arts and residential district anchored by film and television production studios, also includes Forge and Foster, a local real-estate investment firm.

In 2019, Aeon agreed in principle to buy the land that the city bulldozed a decade earlier for a stadium that was ultimately built at the former Ivor Wynne site in the east end.

In doing so, the partners also committed to forming a team that could access the capital to be able to execute a project of this scope and scale," Anders said.

We are very excited to take the next steps and get to the point where we can start developing those lands as quickly as possible."

City staff expect to update council July 4 on the consortium's efforts to satisfy the conditions of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) designed to lead to a land sale.

With that being said, we're not at the end of the process right now. We're right in the middle of the process," said Chris Phillips, the city's waterfront lead.

The partners have held public engagement sessions and submitted a master plan and business case, as required under the MOU.

There are also environmental hurdles, Phillips noted.

All parties in this recognize that it is a brownfield. It does have a significant degree of contamination."

Many Ward 2 residents are interested in seeing the project move forward, Coun. Jason Farr said. We could, quite possibly, by the end of the summer officially call the Barton-Tiffany precinct Hamilton's state-of-the-art film and television hub."

In February, Aeon opened its Bayfront Studios in an 80,000-square-foot former manufacturing building at 243 Queen St. N., across from the city-owned lands eyed for the mixed-used development.

Anders says he hopes the consortium makes Hamilton a destination" for film and television production, as well as other creative sectors such as gaming, animation and special effects.

Spaces for labour unions and post-secondary institutions are also contemplated, he noted.

So we really want to see all of that skill development, job creation, as part of the fabric of the place."

The partners have also committed to ensuring" a portion of the future housing mix includes affordable units, Anders said.

Over the years, the city has spent roughly $13 million on securing property in the Barton-Tiffany area, where it demolished homes for the failed stadium plan.

In 2020, the city brought a roughly two-acre former Stelco property at 242 Queen St. N. for the studio, which Aeon later purchased for $3.9 million.

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com