News of Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Stadiums progress made headlines again this week. The ongoing development of the stadium has become a contentious issue between the City of Hamilton and Infrastructure Ontario. The stadium, which was supposed to open in June of 2014, now runs the risk of not being finished in time for the Pan Am Games in July. The federal, provincial and municipal governments have invested...
April 2015
image courtesy of Niagara Falls Review Community Improvement Plans (CIP) provide a variety of financial incentive programs to encourage development/redevelopment in key areas. As part of an ongoing series, I will be assessing the CIPs of specific areas within the Greater Horseshoe. The focus of CIPs in Niagara Falls includes the downtown core, historic Drummondville, and brownfield areas. Today, I will...
Environmental Site Assessments (ESA) are conducted in order to monitor major projects and to assess their possible environmental impacts. They have become a requirement for developmental planning and management and they provide the opportunity to mitigate environmental liabilities associated with industrial and commercial land. There are three phases associated with an ESA, to conduct an ESA at any phase a...
Throughout the past few years there has been a whirlwind of growth in the non-residential sector with large projects such as LR Wilson Hall at McMaster University in Hamilton and the Outlet Collection and Meridian Centre in the Niagara Region. As a result of their completion, non-residential permits in Niagara and Hamilton were down 40% in 2014. The two regions aren’t the only part of the country...
Image courtesy of the City of Niagara Falls Community Improvement Plans (CIP) provide a variety of financial incentive programs to encourage redevelopment in key areas. As part of an ongoing series, I will be assessing the CIPs of specific areas within the Greater Horseshoe. Today, I will be focusing on Brownfield sites in Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls has a unique story in relation to...
If you are searching for an office in the commercial office market in Niagara or Hamilton, one that makes the best sense for your business financially and operationally, you should be conducting a financial analysis of each lease proposal. Entering into a lease is a long term decision decision for your company and a financial analysis will allow you to have transparency and complete understanding of the...
The City of St. Catharines recently released a new Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2015, replacing a previous plan which expired in late 2014. The new plan reflects a re-evaluation of the City and also includes a tailored improvement upon the former programs, as the previous CIP had been in effect for a decade and there has been significant commercial developments and redevelopments in the City...
The Connaught Hotel from The National Post- current and proposed extension For many years downtown Hamilton has lived with an undesirable reputation, many Hamiltonians, including its oldest residents, have avoided the declined downtown area. The City has slowly been climbing back from the effects of a 2009 recession and as of spring 2015 the downtown core of Hamilton has moved into a new phase, one that...