Port authority maps out plans for part of unused Stelco lands NATALIE PADDON

The Hamilton Port Authority has put prospective plans on paper for its vision involving about 250 acres of former Stelco lands.

The federal agency has mapped out how it could run trains in and out of the site or on a round-trip “circle track” because of the property’s size, said president and CEO Ian Hamilton.

“That’s a potential vision of the Stelco lands,” he told The Spectator this week at an editorial board meeting.

The HPA has become more vocal in recent years about its interest in the lands for industrial, employment and advanced manufacturing uses. While the port authority has 630 acres, it’s running tight on space with only about 30 developable acres remaining.

The Stelco lands are viewed as the ideal place to grow because of the available space and configuration of the site, Hamilton said.

“We are very interested in taking a leadership role.” A complicated deal that lifted the steelmaker from creditor protection on June 30 calls for the lands previously owned by U.S. Steel Canada to be turned into a land trust, called LandCo, with Stelco leasing about one-third of the property. The rest of the land is to be remediated over several years with the eventual goal of getting it back into production.

LandCo will take over ownership of 818 acres on Hamilton’s bayfront. The port authority would have liked all of that land, but Hamilton said it’s particularly interested in the areas closely linked to transportation assets — close to 150 acres near the water and another 100 acres where rail travels through the property.

“It has a lot of value to have that docking infrastructure,” said spokesperson Larissa Fenn. “To have it coupled with the extensive rail infrastructure on that site — that makes it a really special space for which we would see a lot of demand for transportation intensive uses.”

Asked about relocating CN’s Stuart Street yard away from the west harbour, Hamilton said the decision would be up to the owner, but he sees the Stelco lands as part of the solution.

The port authority would try to start a dialogue with CN about the matter if it managed to get hold of the land, he said.

The agency is waiting for the land trust to be finalized so those conversations can begin, Hamilton said. It’s his understanding that the timeline is “fairly fluid” but the target date to have the trust in place could be as early as January.

The city has been trying to convince CN to move the facility since the 1990s.

CN previously told The Spectator they were not planning to relocate the Stuart Street yard.