Pier 8 redevelopment proposals now public
The city has unveiled four residential redevelopment proposals for Hamilton’s Pier 8 waterfront for public review.
Glitzy multimedia proposals are now viewable online for the 5.24-hectare waterfront space the city hopes to sell and transform into around 1,500 residential condo units as well as new commercial space.
A series of public open houses will also be held to show off the proposals, including one Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at William’s Fresh Café on 47 Discovery Dr., on the recreational side of Pier 8. The public can comment on the proposals until April 17.
The four remaining consortium bidders include:
• Gulf Dream (including Great Gulf Enterprises, Dream Asset Management Corp, Hariri Pontarini Architects and McCallum Sather).
• Tridel (including Tridel Builders Inc. and architects-Alliance).
• Urban Capital/Core Urban (including Urban Capital Property Group, Core Urban Inc., Milborne Real Estate Group, Saucier + Perotte and RAW Design.
• Waterfront Shores (including Cityzen Development Corp., Fernbrook Homes Group, GFL Environmental Inc., Greybrook Realty Partners Inc and KPMB Architects).
The bidders were asked to come up with development proposals that meet city criteria around green-space, building-height restrictions and affordable housing, among others.
Council last year voted to include language in project criteria that provides for at least five per cent of units to be priced more affordably, or within reach of a family with an annual income of $70,000.
City evaluators will narrow the bids down to a preferred proponent later this year. That consortium will earn exclusive rights to negotiate purchase of the pier from the city. Questions remain about what type of development will be legally allowed on the pier thanks to an ongoing Ontario Municipal Board appeal by a resident group as well as industrial businesses east of the pier.