Condo sales in new Corktown highrise will open next month: developer

Construction of an innovative residential complex atop a downtown strip plaza is expected to begin in less than a year - but you'll be able to put money down on a unit in just a few weeks.

Slate Asset Management says condos in its long-planned 27-storey highrise at John and Young streets will open for sale in May as it aims to break ground in late 2023 or early 2024.

There's been a lot of pent-up demand for new housing over the past year as people have been kind of sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens with interest rates," said Brandon Donnelly, managing director of development at Slate.

We're really excited and think this is the right time to launch."

It marks the first phase of the Toronto-based developer's ambitious project to flip the sea of parking at Corktown Plaza into a splashy mixed-use residential complex.

Pitched to council in 2018 and approved in 2021, the complex is comprised of two buildings: a 372-unit condo tower and a 374-unit, 14-storey mid-rise, each separated by a courtyard on the ground floor with a wide array of retail offerings, including a possible micro-grocer.

Donnelly said the boutique scale" mid-rise development - sales for which have no set open date yet - will wrap around the slender point" highrise, giving the development a unique, design-forward look. A rooftop terrace will overlook Lake Ontario, while indoor units (consisting of studios to two bedrooms) will mesh with a fitness centre, social lounges, co-working spaces and an outdoor pool.

Slate originally told The Spec it hoped to begin advertising units in the complex last fall. But according to Donnelly, those plans were delayed after rising interest rates cast uncertainty over the market in late 2022.

We wanted to watch and see how the market would evolve, but now we think there's strong demand for the right kind of projects in the right locations, like Corktown."

The condo tower units, which range from 340 to 851 square feet, will start at $300,000 next month. There's still no set date yet for unit sales in the mid-rise.

Donnelly said the design of the complex will be an ode to Hamilton's future as a growing, entrepreneurial urban centre and its past as an industrial hub, with architects planning to incorporate bricks from nearby buildings into the site.

The residential development represents a small portion of Slate's broader imprint in the city.

Last summer, the developer purchased 800 acres of Stelco's prime waterfront land in a whopping $518-million deal. It plans to transform the area into a state-of-the-art industrial park and commercial district, which one study said could create up 23,000 new jobs and inject $3.8 billion into Ontario's economy.

We're committed to Hamilton," Donnelly said of the Stelco land deal and Corktown development. They're not just individual projects for us; they're a broader commitment to the Hamilton market."

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com