Windsor Hotel renovation moving ahead without Homegrown
Toronto developer looking for tenants as work should be finished by late spring
The renovation of a historic but shabby building on the edge of an emerging restaurant district in downtown Hamilton is moving ahead, but without a key local partner.
The Toronto-based developer of the former Windsor Hotel at the corner of John Street North and King William Street hopes the revamped building will be open in spring or summer.
“We’re seeking tenants for all three floors at this point. We’re aiming optimistically for mid-2018,” Maciek Walicht said Thursday.
The operator of the former Homegrown Hamilton, a café that was forced to leave its space on King William Street last year, is no longer working on the renovation.
Mike Pattison was originally going to take charge of the Windsor Hotel revamp and reopen a larger Homegrown there. The goal was to be open in May 2017.
Walicht was taking too long to line up financing for the project, Pattison said Thursday.
“I had lost confidence and had already paid a large sum in energy at the Windsor and in the closing of Homegrown on King William.”
Walicht said Thursday he discovered the renovation was going to be “significantly more expensive” than anticipated, and required more time.
“Really, what it came down to really is (Homegrown) needed to get open last year.”
This is another unlucky stroke of luck for Homegrown, which Pattison operated with Beth Chichakian.
In 2016, the café and music venue’s landlord decided not to renew its lease at 27 King William St., leaving the operators to find another spot.
Pattison struck a deal with Walicht to renovate the main floor of the old hotel and lease it for Homegrown. He was also to prepare secondand third-floor office space.
Hamilton architect Bill Curran, who was initially working with Pattison, is no longer with the project, either.
Walicht bought the old building, which has been vacant for years and is more than 100 years old, for about $400,000 in 2010.
The Toronto mortgage broker said he hopes to maintain some heritage features when the roughly $2million renovation is done.
“We’re maintaining the façade. We’re probably going to be opening up more windows.”
Walicht said the upper floors will be office space, but believes a restaurant lounge would be a good fit below.
King William Street between James and John has undergone a significant facelift in recent years with new apartments, office space and eateries.
Rust City Brewery now occupies the space where Homegrown had operated.
Pattison had budgeted at least $250,000 for the café’s relocation. A former staff member spearheaded an effort to raise $10,000 for the move.
He said Thursday that with no contract to rebuild the Windsor, he doesn’t have the startup capital to re-establish Homegrown, which also featured live music, showcased art and served as a space for community groups.
“I am still interested in moving the project forward, but will only do so with the proper backing,” Pattison said.
“I know a void has been left in the downtown core by our absence, affirmed by the thousands of people who tell me so every time I see them throughout this great city and beyond.”
Walicht’s building, 31 John St. N., has a colourful history.
John Dick, husband of Evelyn Dick, was last spotted at the Windsor Hotel in 1946 before his torso was found near Albion Falls.
Years later, police found $1.2 million worth of pot plants when they busted a grow-op above the nightclub operating there in 2008.