Hamilton non-profit aims to buy Delta Secondary to convert into affordable housing

A Hamilton non-profit hopes to transform Delta Secondary School's empty classrooms into affordable housing and community space.

Indwell is among three bidders - the others private developers - aiming to buy the shuttered Main Street East heritage building from the public board.

The idea is to split a future residential component between affordable rental and ownership units, says Graham Cubitt, director of projects and development.

But Indwell, which specializes in deeply affordable units, also wants Delta's phenomenal" facilities - including its gymnasium and auditorium - to remain available for community use.

Those types of assets are not being replaced as part of modern-day commercial developments, Cubitt says. So how we keep those kinds of spaces within an urban neighbourhood is so important."

The school board shuttered Delta in 2019. Built in 1924, it was Hamilton's oldest high school.

The roughly 200,000-square-foot building is on a six-acre site that backs onto Maple Avenue and sits between Wexford Avenue South and Graham Avenue South.

New Horizon Development Inc. hopes to turn the old school into condo lofts and build housing units around it, president Jeff Paikin says.

So a combination of the old and new, and somewhere in there have a historical room that's almost a Delta High museum."

Condo units would offer entry-level" prices for young house hunters to break into Hamilton's runaway market, Paikin said.

Whatever New Horizon might build on the site would respect the predominantly low-slung, single-family Delta East neighbourhood, he added.

Super height doesn't exist in our thought process here," said Paikin, whose Burlington-based firm is planning a trio of towers near the Stoney Creek shoreline.

Windmill Developments, a Toronto company with experience in adaptive reuse projects, envisions various forms of housing" on the site, including affordable units, partner Alex Spiegel says.

That would be the intention, but it's very early stages for us."

The school is a wonderful building," Spiegel said. It's a great cultural asset."

Any development would be very sensitive to the neighbourhood context," he added.

The Hamilton Community Foundation is backing Indwell's bid through a deposit and favourable financing, which can be tough for non-profits to line up.

I think it starts with our deep commitment to affordable housing," said Terry Cooke, president and CEO. I think this is the challenge of our generation."

Delta is situated along Hamilton's future LRT route, which is to run from McMaster University to Eastgate Square.

The prospect of light rail has spurred intense interest from private developers, which makes it crucial for the public realm to act on parcels within its reach as values head upward, Cooke said.

We need to move quickly to protect them for affordable housing and to ensure that we're creating mixed-income communities."

Cubitt said rental units at the reimagined Delta school would fall in the range of $500 a month.

Compare that to $1,482, the average going rate for a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, according to Rentals.ca's latest report.

Indwell would also like to partner with a developer to build affordable ownership units at Hamilton rates, but not GTA rates," Cubitt said.

In October, the average sale price for a residential property was $864,474, up from $664,478 a year earlier, the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington reported.

Cubitt said a number of agencies and organizations expressed interest in Delta, but the complexity of the site, which requires costly asbestos abatement, was an issue.

So on behalf of our community, we took the chance of putting in an offer that we believe could be a winning offer, and we'll see what happens."

Any agreements would be executed based on staff availability and legal review," school board spokesperson Shawn McKillop said via email.

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