Indwell buys historic dairy building as next project
Charity plans to adapt Royal Oak Dairy for affordable housing
If you thought that the Royal Oak Dairy building had long ago reached its best before date, Indwell has a deed of purchase it would like to show you.
On Wednesday, the Christian affordable housing charity announced it has acquired the venerable red-brick structure, which once helped put the calcium into Hamilton’s bones. And Indwell plans to adapt the space for use as low- and medium-income apartments and residential units.
The Royal Oak Dairy property — on East Avenue North, south of Barton, in the Landsdale neighbourhood — is one with a rich history in this city but, as it lapsed into disuse over the years, its role in our future seemed much dimmer. Until now.
About a year ago, Ed Ulrich says he bought the building after plans by earlier owners to turn it into retail and local artists’ space did not pan out.
“I had plans of my own,” plans which probably would have involved “ripping down the old building and putting up townhouses,” says Ulrich.
But when he heard Indwell was interested and had a vision for the place, he knew what to do.
“They do good work and it’s a benefit to the whole community,” says Ulrich,
Graham Cubitt, Indwell’s director of projects and development, says the organization’s Royal Oak Dairy development has yet to be designed, “so community input is welcome in identifying the most critical needs facing the neighbourhood. With this input, Indwell hopes to be welcoming new tenants within
three years — an ambitious timeline, but critical to helping address the pressing housing needs of area households.”
In its projects, Indwell usually tries to save as much of the existing building as possible, and Cubitt says the plan is not to raze the old Royal Oak Dairy but “take the opportunity to do as much adaptive reuse as possible.”
The purchase — Indwell paid $2.9 million — is very fresh, and so the exact levels of salvage-ability are not yet clear but, he adds, “structurally, the building seems to be sound.”
Royal Oak Dairy, which began in 1898, was the last of Hamilton’s two dozen dairies to close; it lasted until 1981. The famous building went up in 1929, when milk was still delivered by horsedrawn wagons and the horse stable part of the building is still evident, says Cubitt.
Indwell has a great reputation in the city, says Annette Aquin, executive vice-president of finance and operations for the Hamilton Community Foundation, which has supported Indwell efforts before and invested $1.7 million in mortgage financing to the project.
“They (Indwell) are a strong partner in the community and obviously are filling an important need,” says Aquin. “We’re pleased to be able to support them.”
Indwell is hosting a free community barbecue with live music Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. with the mayor and other dignitaries at the Royal Oak Dairy building.