Big empty buildings

omro · #1 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 6:53 PM**

Hi,

Feel free to delete this thread after this question has been answered.

I remember a thread which contained a few photos of big empty buildings, one was a big red brick building, looked like it might have been a school or something, a total shame to have been left unused for something. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of that thread as I can't find the bugger.

Feel free to PM me the answer if you know it, then it's easier to kill this thread off. Thanks.

Millstone · #2 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 7:43 PM**

Stinson?

highwater · #3 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 8:41 PM**

I'm pretty sure Stinson's still in use, and it's not red, so I don't think that's it.

astroblaster · #4 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 9:00 PM**

federal building on main and caroline

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emangro...n/photostream/

?

omro · #5 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by astroblaster

federal building on main and caroline

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emangro...n/photostream/

?

That could be it, though the photo I remember was in this forum I'm sure.

markbarbera · #6 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 9:55 PM**

You may be thinking of 220 Dundurn, which has its own thread in the "urban issues" discussion thread. Or perhaps the former Camco building which is being renovated as the principle building in McMaster University's Innovation Park, which I believe has a thread in the same section (although the discussion was effectively hijacked as yet another big box good/bad debate).

raisethehammer · #7 Posted **Sep 16, 2008, 11:13 PM**

"big, empty building" in Hamilton??
this thread could go on for pages. Lol.

FairHamilton · #8 Posted **Sep 17, 2008, 12:50 AM**

Was it a large home (at one time)? If so, it could be flar's picture of the house on Wentworth, with the neighbouring empty apartment building.

You can find it on this thread; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=151749

omro · #9 Posted **Sep 17, 2008, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

Was it a large home (at one time)? If so, it could be flar's picture of the house on Wentworth, with the neighbouring empty apartment building.

You can find it on this thread; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=151749

No it wasn't that one, it was that thread which reminded me.

omro · #10 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 12:09 PM**

Ah ha!

I've found the bugger.

I was showing a friend some of Flar's photo tours, to show him where I'd be moving to and came across the building in the Downtown in Canada's worst major city thread.

This is the building I remember:

So where is this building? What was it? Will new life be breathed into it one day?

matt602 · #11 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 2:06 PM**

That's the old Federal building. It's on Main between Caroline and Bay. The Hamilton Motor Products building used to be it's neighbour to the East. It's owned by Darko Vranich who intends to convert it into condo's. He has intended to do that for years, however. It's largely empty and stripped down on the inside, used as hotel furniture storage. Definitely a building with LOTS of unrealized potential.

coalminecanary · #12 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 2:14 PM**

the official story is that the condo project will not be feasible until they find a major tenant for the main floor - which is a wide open space with high ceilings and marble floors I believe. Not an easy space to fill.

I tried at one point to convince MEC to locate there, but they put their new store in burlington instead, sadly.

But something tells me that vranich is not really that interested in getting the project off the ground. In the end, MEC did not move in simply because Hamilton did not meet their criteria of targeting the Oakville market. BUt during the whole process, the city actually worked really hard to get MEC on side - at one point I think they sent a councillor to speak with MEC directly. Meanwhile, the "developer" never said peep. I don't think he's really trying to fill that first floor, hence the entire building sits empty.

I would like to see a flagship retail location in there - even if it is a value village, it would be better than nothing!

I have more pictures of the old federal building here.

omro · #13 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 2:25 PM**

Oh so both buildings are owned by the same developer? Surely it costs more to keep it empty than do do something with it? It's a shame, it's a nice building. I remember being struck by it's potential and the waste of just leaving it empty when I first saw it.

go_leafs_go02 · #14 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 2:26 PM**

Haha.

I thought it was slated for demolition, and just for some reason, it wasn't taken down due to who knows what..asbestos? who knows. I thought that due to the big hole out of the back of the building.

coalminecanary · #15 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 3:10 PM**

that hole was created when hmp came down. i think they were kind of attached somehow?

omro · #16 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 4:56 PM**

So it's going to ultimately be demolished due to neglect?

geoff's two cents · #17 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 5:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt602

Definitely a building with LOTS of unrealized potential.

Couldn't agree more - Anybody ever considered putting a grocery store in there? Its proximity to the high density Durand neighborhood, high ceilings, and the lack of a good grocery store nearby (within walking distance, with heavy bags) makes it seem like a no-brainer.

That building has irked me since I moved here - Anybody know the precise reason the feds abandoned it in the first place? Such a shame to see it go to waste. . .

Has the city ever taken action on negligent property owners that disfigure the core by letting otherwise sound buildings go to waste? I seem to recall the city of Vancouver taking action in the early 90s on absentee residential landlords who let their properties go to seed - I believe their properties were expropriated if they didn't clean them up in a certain amount of time. . . Now there's a thought!

geoff's two cents · #18 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 5:32 PM**

By the way, thanks for posting this omro - I, for one, hope the post isn't deleted (though perhaps the name could be changed), as it would be great to brainstorm, rant, etc.

Which brings me to another thought: Has there ever been any organized protest in Hamilton concerning properties (such as the Lister Block and the fed building) that are allowed to go to waste? Any protests, that is, directed against the negligent property owners themselves?

Perhaps LIUNA has its own squad of protest-busting auxiliary police?

omro · #19 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 5:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geoff's two cents

That building has irked me since I moved here - Anybody know the precise reason the feds abandoned it in the first place? Such a shame to see it go to waste. . .

I agree, total waste. I also wonder why it was abandoned. It would make awesome apartments.

What was the Federal building? Federal what?

omro · #20 Posted **Sep 29, 2008, 5:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geoff's two cents

By the way, thanks for posting this omro - I, for one, hope the post isn't deleted (though perhaps the name could be changed), as it would be great to brainstorm, rant, etc.

Happy to change the name if anyone can suggest a better, assuming I can change the name, if not we can ask Flar or Steeltown nicely if they'll change it.

I started the thread because I didn't know which building I'd seen. Turns out astroblaster was spot on with his/her guess (thanks btw!!), I wasn't initially sure because I hadn't remembered the concrete parts - thought the building was all red brick - it was only when I saw Flar's photo that shows the entire building that my memory clicked back into place.