Residential construction falls in core
March 03, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/731764
Public sector construction boomed in downtown Hamilton last year but it was a terrible year for boosting the number of people calling the core home.
There were 95 building permits issued in 2009 for the downtown, adding up to more than $108 million in construction. That almost doubled any single-year total since 2001 and lapped the average of $20 million a year.
But on the flip side, just three residential units were built in the core last year. That's a sharp drop from previous years and far off the average of 96 a year.
The city has cancelled more than $12 million in loans for residential development in Hamilton's downtown this year.
Of 10 projects approved for loans in 2007, eight have now been cancelled. Another six approved in 2003 and 2006 have been terminated.
Beginning in 2007, the city's loan program began to require construction to begin within two years so that funding is not tied up in projects not moving forward.
The cancelled loans include $1.7 million approved for the redevelopment of the now demolished Century Theatre into 97 residential units, $3.4 million for the former Royal Connaught property and $1.8 million to build a long-term stay hotel on Main Street West.
Ron Marini, the city's director of downtown renewal, says a lot of the recent residential slowdown is due to the recession and he's confident the numbers will start to climb.
There were no applications for the city's downtown residential loan program last year but there is already one filed this year. That's for a seven-storey condo and mixed-use building on James Street North beside Acclamation Bar and Grill.
More than 90 per cent of the city's downtown construction last year comes from five taxpayer-paid projects: City Hall, Lister Block, farmers' market and central library, the new transit terminal on MacNab Street and a new elementary school and community centre.
Councillor Chad Collins said at yesterday's economic development and planning committee meeting that he thinks attracting a grocery store to the downtown would go a long way to bringing in more residents.
Marini said it has been a priority for city staff but grocery chains generally make location decisions based on disposable income. "From a numbers point of view, we have a challenge with income levels."
He said the city tried to convince the owners of the Connaught property to consider a grocery express store, without success.
Councillor Brian McHattie said the city should directly market itself to every college and university in Ontario to attract a downtown campus.
Marini said his department is in "discussion with an institute of higher learning." He declined to say more in the public session.
Since its inception, the downtown residential loan program has helped to fund 747 units worth close to $85 million.
The program has delivered $33 worth of construction for every city dollar spent, Marini said. That ratio includes the program's only default: a $1.1-million loss when a condo development on King William Street went bankrupt.
That property, the former Spectator press building, has since been bought and is expected to be completed within the year.
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