[SteelTown]

Rendering.....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a382/hammer396/AmicaatDundas.jpg

Definitely one of my favourite developments in Dundas.

[raisethehammer]

dang! how about building one of those on King William Street downtown (but with trendier interior designs for younger folks).
awesome building.

[flar]

The exterior is not finished yet, but so far it doesn't look very good. The bricks looks cheap and generic, many of them look like plain cement blocks (basically they are plain cement blocks). We'll see when it done, which should be soon. I'll post pics as soon as the exterior is finished.

[flar]

Amica gets uglier everyday. Other than the shape, it's not looking like the rendering at all. What an abomination! I'll take pictures soon so you can all judge for yourselves.

[fastcarsfreedom]

I havent seen the place in person--but plain cement blocks aren't unusual--chances are they will be covered by some sort of facade or stucco.

[DC83]

stucco?? in Hamiton??? hahaha NEVER

I'll take Flar's word for it... but I'm assuming they'd be putting brick up after the cement-block walls are up?

We'll just have to wait for the pics I guess.

[flar]

They have the brick up, some of the bricks resemble cement blocks. My latest disgust is directed at the mansard style roof. The building would have been acceptable except the mansard roof is covered in dark brown corrugated aluminium roofing, exactly the same as you'd see on a barn. The shouldn't have cheaped out ont he roofing, it will cost $3000/mo and up to live there.

The roof is similar to this:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/guelph/00161.jpg

I'll take a picture sometime, but it gets dark too early at this time of year so I never get a chance.

[flar]

Amica is nearing completion. Overall this is an interesting project:

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00092.jpg

The first thing I don't like is that these look too much like plain cement blocks
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00088.jpg

A closeup of some balconies:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00097.jpg

the other thing I don't like is this cheap roofing, there's not that much of it so why didn't they splurge on something a little more distinctive. The same cladding can be found on strip malls and the like:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00095.jpg

Perhaps another phase of this project will be built up against here, extending the streetwall:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00087.jpg


A pedestrian's view:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00098.jpg

[matt602]

Certainly looks like something else is going to be built there. Looks like theres even doorways to nowhere on each floor.

[SteelTown]

I like it, creates a nice streetscape.

[raisethehammer]

very nice. sure, it could be better, but it's already WAY better than most of the new stuff built these days. Dundas is a cool little place.

[DC83]

It's not as bad as I was expecting from your ealier comments, Flar.

The only thing I don't like is this
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oddstuff/00087.jpg

but if they're adding to it, then that's ok.
Damn those balconies are small, eh!? Wow. Don't take a full step, you'll end up on the street! haha

[flar]

I still think it's ugly.

This solidifies my opinion that architects should design buildings in today's styles instead of these faux-Victorian monstrosities.

[NorthEndRules]

Used to live behind it in the Spencer Creek condos. Considering the whole block(4 condos, Amica and Day/Night pharmacy) was once industrial and had to be remediated, Dundas has done well. The mock up to Amica was much nicer though.

[Clockwork]

I dont see any street level retail. Do you know if any businesses are planned for the building?

[flar]

^^That's another negative about this development. There is nothing along the street excpet the main entrance. The sides of the building along the sidewalk don't even have doors. The awning they're building is purely decorative and there will obviously be no street level retail. Just down the road a bit is the pharmacy/dollar store, which again has no street presence. The entrance is on the back. These buildings make a nice streetwall but it is not a functional streetwall.

[SteelTown]

Retire to a 'five-star resort'
Amica offers aging boomers pub, putting green, pedicures in 'antithesis of nursing home'

June 02, 2008
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator

This retirement home is certainly putting a new shine on the golden years.

The recently opened Amica in Dundas, on Hatt Street, offers a fine-dining menu, concierge service, a pool, fitness room, a pub and games room, massage, manicures and pedicures, a large theatre, wireless Internet lounge and even a woodworking shop and kiln.

The furnishings and artwork are stylish and contemporary. In fact, the home's entryway looks very much like the lobby of a sleek hotel.

And a kitchen and dining room available for residents, who want to host dinners for guests or bake a batch of cookies, are worthy of a magazine spread.

It's part of a growing demand by boomers and seniors who want more out of life and aren't afraid to pay for it, said Roy Oostergo, vice-president of business development for Amica Mature Lifestyle.

"We've tried to create a business model based on a hospitality paradigm, rather than an institutional or health-care paradigm."

The posted menu this day illustrates the difference.

Dinner is cream of leek soup or roasted beet salad to start, a veal cutlet with mushroom sauce or sesame ginger chicken, and bread and butter pudding with whisky sauce.

A full bar list is available with dinner, or in the Crooks Hollow pub next door.

The games room features a pool table, shuffleboard and a baby grand piano. A sun room on the third floor overlooks a rooftop patio and a putting green down below.

Throughout the building, homage is paid to the history of Dundas. The six-storey structure is built on the site of the Bertram foundry, a landmark in the town.

Not surprisingly, none of this comes cheap.

Independent living suites range in price from $2,800 a month for a studio to $4,800 for a two-bedroom, two-bath; second occupants cost an additional $600.

Assisted living suites, with nursing, bathing, additional meals, laundry and housekeeping services, cost about $1,000 more a month.

Though the age range is typical of a seniors home -- 76 to 101 -- Susan Gerard, vice-president of marketing and communications for Amica, says it's "the total antithesis of a nursing home."

The best analogy, she says, is imagining "a cross between a cruise ship and a five-star resort."

There are 16 Amica retirement homes in British Columbia and Ontario, and nine in development.

The company was seriously looking at expansion into the United States, but current economic conditions will stall that for now, said Oostergo.

He expects two or three new projects will begin in the next year. The company will eye another location in the Hamilton/Burlington area once the Dundas home is at capacity, he said.

Brian Townend, general manager of the Amica at Dundas, predicts the 136 units will be full in about 18 months.

There are about 65 residents now and 30 on a waiting list trying to sell their houses.

The first residents moved in at the beginning of March. The official grand opening is Friday.

The Vancouver-based Amica, founded in 1995 by then-25-year-old real estate executive Samir Manji, went public in 1997.

The company was drawn to Dundas's bustling downtown and its natural amenities, says Oostergo.

Amica owns a 17 per cent equity interest in the building. It has partnered with the developers behind a quartet of geared to seniors condos across the street.

In addition to equity interests, the company generates revenue by charging property management fees through long-term leases on its residences.

With more than 10 million Canadians now aged 50-plus, and a growing demand for senior-geared living, analysts have praised Amica's model.

For 2007, the company reported cash flow of $8.6 million, which was up 41 per cent, and earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of about $2.1 million, up from break-even results the year before.

But in the fallout of the subprime meltdown, share prices have taken a battering, falling from a high of $12.35 last July to a close of $6.84 on Friday.

[highwater]

Damn those balconies are small, eh!? Wow. Don't take a full step, you'll end up on the street! haha

Small, and no shelter from the blazing sun. Who'd want to spend any time on these wretched little things? They're obviously just for decoration, which is too bad, because my grandmother and my husband's grandmother both had balconies in their retirement homes that were sheltered , and big enough to allow them to do some container gardening, which kept them both busy and happy.

Is there any space in this development for garden plots for the residents?

[flar]

Is there any space in this development for garden plots for the residents?

I doubt it, though it's hard to tell right now because the areas surrounding the building are still littered with construction debris. The putting green is very small and squeezed in at the south part of the property right along the intersection of Ogilvie and whatever the new road is. I suspect much of the remaining space on the block will be used for new developments. There are currently 5 buildings and I think there will be 8 total on the site.