Raise the Hammer

I would not be so hasty, promises and free money does not necessarilly mean there will actually be anything happening. Just more promises set to be broken and tax money lost to bad deals. Excuse the pessimism but this is Hamilton where the only people who do well are crooks and developers.

I hear you. I agree about the way things have developed in this city over the years, but these announcements are different in a couple of ways - a. the city isn't on the hook for any money. if a developer walks away, he gets nothing. In fact, none of the loan money is given to a developer until the project is completed. b. there has been huge response to this loan program. so much so, that they had to turn down several projects and limit it to these 14. All of these projects are far along in the planning and development stage that it would be unlikely to see too many stall. I'm sure the odd one will, but most seem to be going ahead. And if some don't, that simply frees up their loan money to be offered to one of the many other projects that applied.

I guess the cliche of 'cautious optimism' is in play here. As for the Junction Cafe salivating over the proposals--too late. The Junction is shuttered.

well, this is Hamilton - cautious optimism must always be used. as for the Junction, Ronn simply stepped away due to personal reasons. As we all know, he's had a rough couple of years. If and when the construction cranes show up for these new condo towers you can bet that there will be a bidding war to buy the place.

I'm disappointed, but not surprised at the negativity in some of these comments. Negativity like this is a disease, and is the reason why so few people know exactly how beautiful Hamilton is. All anyone ever does is talk about how ugly the view is from the QEW, but we never mention what a beautiful view those travelling through on the 403 get. My only hope is that with the dawning of optimism, enthusiasm and energy downtown, the negativity of the few, will be left behind. Great update this week Jason.

If I had to take a wild guess what kind of street retail will go into the 212 King William new condo building (11 stories) I would say a grocery store. The area doesn't have any grocery store and will this boom in the International Village the demand for a grocery store will be high.

Turning property is a great way to make money, especially if the city foots the bill. Who cares if they have to complete the work before they get a cheap loan? If I were a developer I'd create a holding company, get the loan and then hire my brother-in-law to do all the work. Somebody will make money whether the development is a future success or not. I especially like the part of the document that states that they will ensure that "Cost over runs are being funded by borrower equity and/or primary lender loan increases". Good thing these kinds of projects never go over budget ;)

I'm not sure why residential developments would necessarily change the character of the core and start to bring people back downtown? I understand that it would be beneficial to have more people living in the core, but Hamilton has an ample amount of cheap rental units and houses available within a short walk (20 minutes is still short these days right?). I'm sure you'd agree that it isn't hard to find a place in Hamilton. So why is this going to work? The whole "If you build it they will come" thing is played. I don't have stats to back this up, but it's my impression that employment in the core is either down or hasn't changed much in recent years. So again why? Why are people going to move to the core when nothing has really changed? I think the bottom line is that for people to want to live downtown they will first need to work downtown and see how great it is and then move downtown, not the other way around. I'd get behind a project that was going to lend people money to start downtown businesses or help fund a campus, but not a series of possibly ill fated real estate ventures.

hey folks...good discussion here. a couple thoughts from me. 1. 'possibly ill fated real estate ventures'? there are only 3 units left in the Annex lofts on Rebecca (a friend of mine who just moved here from Alberta really likes the city and is going to buy one of them). There are only 2 units left in the Core Lofts. The bottom 9 floors of Chateau Royale are almost filled and they are now releasing the upper floors (final phase). The Margaret St lofts have been filled since they opened along with the Allenby and Stone Lofts. Developers wouldn't build more of this stuff if it was 'ill fated'. A $300,000 loan on a 5 million dollar project doesn't fill their pockets with gobs of money. 2. I've spoken with the manager of Jackson Sq. and they do great business during the day. There are 40,000 jobs downtown but many of those folks leave and downtown feels less busy after 6pm. having more folks living right on our main arteries - King, James etc...along with the physical changes these projects will bring to formerly empty buildings and empty parking lots will start to change people's perception of downtown. It's not that these next 2,000 residents are somehow our saviour, but is one more good step in the right direction. Cheers Jason

There is demand for housing in the Hamilton area -- witness the growth of the suburbs. The bet is that urban living choices -- including condos rather than rentals -- may be an appealing alternative for some. Now, many of the people in the suburbs are not working in the suburbs either. The upside of having people living downtown is that it is easier to put together public transit packages that get them to work (especially through the GO system, but also due to the fact that downtown gives you plenty of cross-town HSR choices, as well as most mountain routes). It is true that we need more employment downtown, but one way to spark that is to increase aggregate demand (i.e. spending) downtown -- precisely what increasing residential density downtown will do. I do not have much faith in the creativity (not to mention the law-abiding nature) of our local development industry, nor have Mr. Marini's performances on the opinionators always been particularly stellar. But these redevelopment loans smell a lot better than a lot of city sweetheart deals.

As of Feb 21st 2006 5 of the 6 loans are much larger than $300000 and only one has been repaid in full - the future isn't clear, it hasn't been a massive sweeping success. I'm sorry that I can't share your optimism. Condos trouble me too. There have been a large number of buildings in Hamilton that have been "touched up" by the owners and then sold off as condo units because the buildings need major work done. There is one on Catherine South that sold units for $50000 and two years later the condo board announced all of the balconies and the roof needed to be replaced and each condo owner would have to pay $20000. A condo on Main West needed a new parking garage to the tune of $30000 each. The future is not clear for these 6 projects and even less clear for the recently announced 14.

As innumerable downtown revitalization programs have shown, nice, shiny bricks and mortar won't necessarily attract affluence. And that's what we want, right? We want folks with ample disposable incomes to populate these new "projects" to help rejuvenate the heart of Hamilton. Two things must also be done: take some of the halfway houses out of the core (not politically correct, I know, but perception means a lot); and mount a marketing campaign to sell the downtown - not to outsiders but to Hamiltonians. Big Bri, Downtown Hamilton

I would also be happier with money being spent to lift the empoverished rahter than drive them into greater concentrations by dumping a bunch of more affluent folk in their midst. The core will not work without helping those in need. I also have grave reserrvations about the developement community in Hamilton. Given their prior links to DiIanni and Co. I still think we are goiing to foot the bill for another cosying deal for developers. I wish I could be more hopeful but there is too much corruption in this city and too many of the beauutiful spots are being destroyed. I also fear as the election nears, council will ride this into another term and that would be a disaster. This will not make up for all the harm council has done and continues to do.

I think this is exciting. The peaople above are the exact reason that Downtown is falling apart. Its that same negative feeling that the most of the city has about downtown that is causing it to faulter. Has negative thinking gotten anyone anywhere in life. Anyway I think this is exciting. And I say if even 1 of these projects come through which im sure it will be more, but if just 1 comes through it will be a plus for downtown Hamilton.

you may have noticed in Tuesday's Spec that the spokesperson for Yves Rocher mentioned all the developments in the city core as part of their reason for coming here. She said 'we do our research'. More residents, more businesses will follow and this will lead to more residents etc...and the cycle repeats....they feed off each other.

All of the development in downtown Hamilton is great but I have a suspicion that it is the payoff from our illustrious Mayor to those that helped finance him into office. I have to commend Joanne Chapman for uncovering the mishandling of election funds, the illegal way records were kept and now missing. Hamilton could make a mark on society by doing the right thing - we threw the Liberals out for mishandling of funds.

Problem is the City has paid over $60,000 for this investigation more than the actual cost of over contribution Di Ianni collected during the election. I couldn't give a crap if Di Ianni "buddies" are making money off on the Residential Loan Program just as long condos are being built. Are we suppose to cherry pick developers for the loan program now? First people claim that the Residential Loan Program was doing criminal wrongdoing now it's just a loan program created for Di Ianni's buddies. Jeez seems like there's people contend on destroying anything that does good for the city.

the only reason we've had to pay 60,000 for the campaign trial is because council voted a year ago to not lay charges, but send the issue to court in the hopes that little old Ms Chapman wouldn't have the time or money (as most people wouldn't) to actually carry the process through. This week, 60,000 dollars later, they face the exact same vote and voted 12-1 to lay charges. It's their own fault for the cost to taxpayers. PLUS, I could care less how much taxpayer money is spent if the end result is more accountability and hopefully the beginning of a long, slow process of returning democracy into the hands of citizens, not big business.

The only people destroying this city are the people unwilling to question. People who do not care about truth or fairness. People who allow corruption to grow as if it is a part of doing business. Suspicions abound because too many shady dealings and unfair actions have oozed out of City Hall. If you do not know this, take off your rose coloured glasses and take a good look around you. I hope the development helps but past record show it probably won't. Too many other issues besides catering to developers (not like this new in this City) need to be addressed for true improvements. Whining and begging to other levels of government while suing them does not help anything.

The people ruining our city are the people who don't value Hamilton enough to want something better for it. These same people don't think that Hamilton has enough going for it already so therefore we can't afford to hinder development or criticize any proposals. It's these people who have let our neighbourhoods be 'gentrified' into places no one wants to be. The people who think 'We should take anything we can get at this point' or "just as long condos are being built" or "And I say if even 1 of these projects come through which im sure it will be more, but if just 1 comes through it will be a plus for downtown Hamilton." (2 quotes from earlier posts). It's the people that can't see past the immediate gratification of having something new built that have ruined, nay are ruining our great city. This is why we have a downtown that is basically a mall surrounded by parking lots. This is why the one of the busiest shopping districts in the city is in Ancaster. This is why we have let developers do anything they want with us and this is why when we travel and we tell people where we're from they say "Sorry" or "Ouch" or "Oh…". I want well planned residential developments that fit with the built, social and economic character of the city. I want the housing to be meant for today's Hamiltonians, our current citizenry not Toronto commuters lured by cheap condos. The bottom line is that I'm skeptical because Hamilton's municipal governments have written many 'carte blanche' permits to developers in the past and I worry this government is upping the ante and writing 'carte blanche' cheques to developers now too.

Downtown is looking up. We should give credit where credit is due. When they do right, we should be praising our local politicians as loudly as we boo them when they do wrong. Anything else is nonsense.

I wonder how many of the people who post negative comments about Council's desire for downtown improvement have actually taken the time to sit with the mayor to find out what his dreams for Hamilton are. Might be a good place to start? Until then, I agree whole heartedly with "King James".

The core will not work without helping those in need. I also have grave reserrvations about the developement community in Hamilton. Given their prior links to DiIanni and Co. I still think we are goiing to foot the bill for another cosying deal for developers. I wish I could be more hopeful but there is too much corruption in this city and too many of the beauutiful spots are being destroyed.