193 King Street East | ? | ? | Under Construction - Page 2

SteelTown · #21 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 3:20 PM**

King William Street Mixed Use Parking Structure:

The design concept pictured below features a 408 space parking structure with ground level retail with office/residential space on the upper floors. The project represents a value of $17,000,000 office/residential and $3,000,000 retail space for a total of $20,000,000. The development would utilize an existing parking lot at King William and Walnut Streets and incorporate 193 King Street East (the former Sandbar property). The parking structure would address, in part, the direction of the Downtown Transportation Master Plan that recommends the development of strategically located parking structures in the Downtown to address future pressure when existing surface parking lots are developed for residential/commercial use. This project will complement the Downtown Secondary Plan that identifies the existing surface parking lot at John and Rebecca Streets as an urban park. The park project is identified in the Downtown/West Harbourfront Co-ordinating Committee’s 10 Year Capital Budget Plan and, in 2007 the Division co-ordinated a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) on the site in preparation for development of a park and is moving forward with a Phase II ESA in 2008.

SteelTown · #22 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 4:10 PM**

matt602 · #23 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 4:15 PM**

That would be absolutely wonderful for that corner. The Theatre Aquarius patrons would have a much more pleasant walk out of/into the theatre.

raisethehammer · #24 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 5:07 PM**

yup...that's the drawing they've had for 2-3 years. any construction timelines??

HAMRetrofit · #25 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 5:19 PM**

I think one of these complexes will also be needed on James North right across the street from the new GO and VIA station. Perhaps the condo there should be slightly taller. I think these will have many positive spin offs for the cultural and retail establishments in the surrounding area.

raisethehammer · #26 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 5:21 PM**

ahh, found the report with all this great info:

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...01PED08075.pdf

SteelTown · #27 Posted **Mar 28, 2008, 5:29 PM**

Opps I was gonna add a link, just ran out of my lunch break time. It also helps that Moodie is related to my mom and lives nearby lol.

the dude · #28 Posted **Mar 29, 2008, 10:24 AM**

any specific mention of the century theatre? i guess it's a goner. too bad, though i never liked the idea of converting it to residential. typically, i'm confused and agitated by the city's 'supposed' need for parking but whatever...i guess i'm pleased by it.

matt602 · #29 Posted **Mar 29, 2008, 12:13 PM**

I'm depressed about it as well, but I've been in there and seen it first hand. The place is decrepit. The walls are starting to lean outwards, the roof has completely collapsed onto the fake ceiling over the auditorium and many parts of the ancient wooden floor in the office area are un-safe to walk over. I have fallen through it myself, getting saved by a support beam. One of my friends was not so lucky and took a tumble back down to the floor under. Thankfully he wasn't seriously injured.

This isn't to say it would be impossible to save but it would take somebody who is seriously dedicated to restoring old theaters and has very deep pockets. The building would have to be essentially stripped down to the structural supports (or what's left of them) and a new roof would have to be manufactured. That or the auditorium could be isolated from the rest of the building and a structural shell built around it... but I personally think that defeats the purpose of even bothering in the first place. The offices and lobby are just as much the heart of an old theater as the auditorium is.

raisethehammer · #30 Posted **Mar 29, 2008, 12:55 PM**

Theatre Aquarius looked into it a year or two ago...for a dinner theatre type place.
they found the work required simply too much.

SteelTown · #31 Posted **Aug 8, 2009, 12:17 AM**

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...10PED09226.pdf

The City is about to sell the property to Hamilton Realty Capital Corporation Inc. at a determined fair market value.

realcity · #32 Posted **Feb 26, 2010, 4:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Here's the rendering!!

You're looking at it from King William not King St E

A city-owned parking lot at King William and Walnut streets is set to become a mixed-use parking structure. The draft design features six levels above ground and another two below. The complex, which would incorporate the old Sandbar, would also have retail and residential features.

I can't wait until this is done!!!

DC1983 · #33 Posted **May 4, 2011, 4:25 PM**

This site has been rumoured (by the City's EcDev folks) to be home to a new Downtown Grocery Store.

I hope they don't build it a-la Shoppers at Cannon/Wellington ie: entrance facing sideways into large pkng lot over a street-facing entrance.

SteelTown · #34 Posted **Aug 8, 2011, 12:54 AM**

Looks like the Public Health department will be the main tenant.

SteelTown · #35 Posted **Aug 8, 2011, 12:59 AM**

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=673

SteelTown · #36 Posted **Nov 24, 2011, 7:45 PM**

Hamilton police may set up shop in infamous Sandbar Tavern

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...sandbar-tavern

Hamilton police are looking at moving in to the notorious Sandbar Tavern, once the downtown’s busiest crackhouse.

The Hamilton Realty Capital Corporation recently gave up on a $100-million redevelopment plan that would have used the former Sandbar as the “piazza entrance” to a mixed use project featuring condos, a grocery store, medical centre and offices for the city’s public health department.

A recent report on the corporation, a public-private partnership formed to pursue downtown redevelopment, says the HRCC gave up its purchase option on both the Sandbar property and the nearby city parking lot on King William Street “in favour of Hamilton Police Services.”

Glen Norton, the city’s urban renewal manager, said the building is being considered “for something along the lines of community policing.”

But spokeswoman Catherine Martin couldn’t confirm what uses Hamilton police are considering for the former tavern. Instead, Martin said the board is still looking for ways to solve a “space deficit” that includes inadequate room for forensic labs and parking.

Police haven’t confirmed any plans for the city-owned building, she added.

The boarded-up property hosted two brutal homicides in the early 2000s and was eventually seized by the province in 2006 under the Civil Remedies Act and turned over to the municipality.

SteelTown · #37 Posted **Nov 24, 2011, 7:48 PM**

I know for a fact that the Police department is working on a funding request from the Province for a new forensic lab. It'll be the main forensic lab for Hamilton/Brant/Haldimand and Niagara area.

Friend of mine provided them a quote for a new lab late summer.

durandy · #38 Posted **Nov 24, 2011, 8:37 PM**

well that's great. I'm not sure which is worse for neighbourhood revival, a crackhouse or a forensics lab.

markbarbera · #39 Posted **Nov 24, 2011, 11:04 PM**

Seriously, you think the socio-economic impact a neighbourhood experiences from a regional forensics lab employing well paid scientific professionals is similar to the impact of a crackhouse? Kirkendall is doomed, then, now that the CANMET lab is open...

durandy · #40 Posted **Nov 25, 2011, 2:23 AM**

this is prime downtown real estate. I wouldn't want Canmet there either.