Social housing eyed for former City Motor Hotel site

Proposal is for two buildings housing 100 apartments

Hamilton’s social housing agency is proposing to build close to 100 affordable apartments and townhouses atop the property that once hosted the infamous City Motor Hotel.

The hotel at 55 Queenston Rd. was expropriated and knocked down by the city in 2013 following growing complaints about crime and violence at the formerly iconic building.

Plans for a commercial and residential hub were initially derailed by Hamilton’s $1-billion light rail transit plan, which called for a combined LRT terminal and bus hub at the Queenston traffic circle.

But council’s recent decision to extend the LRT line all the way to Eastgate Square has resurrected the potential for a housing redevelopment that will “continue the ongoing revitalization” of the neighbourhood, said Ward 4 Coun. Sam Merulla.

A report going to the CityHousing Hamilton board next week recommends negotiating to buy the former hotel property, which it estimates is worth between $2.2 million and $2.4 million at fair market value.

The city paid about $2 million to expropriate and demolish the hotel.

The report suggests a two-phase redevelopment of the site that would eventually include an eightstorey residential tower, a six-storey mixed use building and townhouses fronting on Main Street East.

The land was zoned for mixeduse residential shortly after the city committed to demolishing the old hotel, making it a “turnkey scenario” for CityHousing, said Merulla.

A regular LRT stop, rather than the earlier planned terminal, will still be located near the proposed development, making it an “ideal” location for seniors, he added.

“It’s very exciting because we are taking what was a blight on the community and turning it into a multi-faceted community-building opportunity,” he said.

The report recommends CityHousing proceed in stages, starting with 41 rent-geared-to-income units at an estimated development cost of around $9 million.

The project would also help the social housing agency meet its legal obligations to replace about 100 aging single-family and attached homes that are currently up for sale.

Those homes were deemed too expensive for the cash-strapped agency to fix and maintain.

The housing provider plans to use the proceeds of the home sales in a hot housing market to build new — and more — affordable units in the city.

The Queenston circle site makes sense, Merulla argued, because many of the soon-to-be-sold singlefamily homes are in the east end. “This enables us to keep those affordable units in the community,” he said.