BUILDING UP Condo boom in downtown core
Deal for troubled Connolly falls through, but there’s plenty of other activity
A downtown highrise condominium project placed in receivership this summer was close to finding a new buyer but the deal fell through.
Plans for The Connolly, located at the site of the former James Street Baptist Church, looked like they would move ahead after the receiver entered into a conditional agreement of purchase and sale this fall.
But the receiver, Spergel Inc., learned the transaction won’t go through and is restarting its marketing efforts, according to a Dec. 20 notice to people who had purchased units.
While recent plans for The Connolly have fallen through, this is just one condominium project among many that have popped up in Hamilton in recent years as the city seems to be experiencing an influx of condominiums.
At The Connolly, Spergel said it con-
firmed deposits paid by those who purchased units are held in trust with the law firm Schneider Ruggiero LLP.
“We appreciate the difficulty that this uncertainty may cause you and we will keep you updated with further information as it arises,” the notice reads.
The James Street South project has been envisioned as a 30-storey, $80-million undertaking. Former owner Louie Santaguida previously said the 259 units were between 70 and 75 per cent sold and ranged in price from $250,000 to $500,000.
The project attracted a number of bidders, according to Michael St. Jean of St. Jean Realty, which was the selling agency for the project.
“There was quite a bit of interest,” he said earlier this month.
The Connolly is one of several developments that have popped up in recent years — with many centred on the core.
Between 2013 and 2016, 1,391 condominium units were built in downtown Hamilton, according to the city’s director of economic development, Glen Norton.
Currently, 2,221 units are in progress and another 2,488 units are “under discussion,” meaning they are proposals at this stage and nothing has been approved, he said.
Compare that to 2010, when Hamilton reported 10 housing starts of any kind in the downtown that year, Norton said in an interview last month.
“That’s pretty significant,” he said. “We’ve come a long way.”
But it’s not just downtown that is seeing these developments.
Norton said he’s recently learned of projects on Rymal Road, a couple in Stoney Creek and at least one in Ancaster, which he called a “positive” step.
A four-storey condo building on the west Mountain — part of the Scenic Trails Community — will be home to 144 units at its 1 Redfern Ave. location.
“The whole urban area needs to have more urban density,” he said, noting people need to have choice around building style no matter where in the city they choose to live.
Outside the Downtown Hamilton Community Improvement Project Area (CIPA), 11,265 residential dwelling units have been completed or almost completed between 2012 and 2017. There are another 9,128 units in the planning or formal consultation stages.
Those numbers include apartment as well as condominium units.
Height also plays a role in development.
While some of the city’s buildings, both proposed and existing, are condo projects — think Television City on the CHCH TV site and the Royal Connaught — not all condominiums will tower over the city.
A project on Locke Street that incorporates condos with commercial space is expected to be six storeys when complete.
And another six-storey condominium development at James Street North and Cannon Street West is working its way through the approval process.
Norton attributes part of the condo growth to changed perceptions around condominiums — from the “poor cousin” to a desirable choice.
“I’d say prior to eight or nine years ago, a condo is something that most people in Hamilton thought of as where you went if you didn’t have enough money to buy a singlefamily home,” he said.
“Since then, a lot of people have realized that condo living is a whole different lifestyle and can be quite appealing.”
George O’Neill, CEO of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington, thinks buyers’ interest in condos likely has something to do with their cost.
The median condo price in Hamilton at the end of October 2017 was $345,000, compared to the median price for freehold properties at $470,000.
“As the market moves up generally, it makes condos continuously more attractive,” he said. “I think that’s what’s playing into this.”
Asked if there’s a looming tipping point when the local condo market will be oversaturated, O’Neill said he doesn’t see that happening any time soon.
He pointed to Hamilton’s affordability compared to other cities in the GTA and its access to GO service as key factors.
“As long as the economy stays healthy, interest rates stay reasonable, Toronto remains more expensive than here, which I think is fair to say it will, and the economy in Hamilton continues to grow, which I think all indicators are that it will, I think that speaks to further demand for condos,” O’Neill said.