Comment 117983

By RobF (registered) | Posted April 27, 2016 at 14:11:58 in reply to Comment 117973

Staff is well aware of the Regent Park style revitalization approach for the Jamesville complex. The Deloitte report (real estate strategy for West Harbour lands) suggested the secondary plan would allow the existing 91 townhouses to become 330ish units in low-to-mid-rise apartments. The Ken Soble Apartments at 500 MacNab were pitched for private or public retrofit (i.e. tower renewal), but the secondary plan doesn't allow for much intensification on that parcel, so it was left as a ? mark.

The challenge with the above is that the ratio of new to old units to make Regent Park work in Hamilton is seldom openly discussed. It isn't the 3 (and some odd) to 1 that the Deloitte report mentions. Lawrence Heights near Yorkdale Mall is undergoing a similar revitalization process and its ratio is 4 to 1. I'm told the ratio for Regent Park is considerably higher than that.

As they say the devil is in the details. Many of the people living in Jamesville have indicated they want to stay in the North End. People living nearby Jamesville will have strong views on how many units, how tall, in what configuration or design, etc.?

You are right on the UDS ... there is a lot to like, but no commitment to making it a complete community with a mix of incomes and household/family types. That is a political question, not principally a design matter, to be sure. That said, we should be careful not to fall for pretty pictures and miss that implementation is when things go from plan to reality ... how committed will Council be after they sell the land and developers decide the design concept needs to a "tweak" here and there?

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