By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 23, 2013
Connaught owners aim for condos by 2015
The Royal Connaught will be ready to reinhabit as early as 2015, according to the hotel’s owners.
Ted Valeri and Rudi Spallacci say the first part of their proposed 700-unit condominium development is expected to be built and ready for occupants within the next three years.
The initial phase of the project is expected to include 135 units constructed behind the original façade of the two existing Connaught buildings. The one- and two-bedroom suites will start “in the high $100,000s” and range in size from 530 to 1,190 square feet.
“We’re Hamiltonians,” Valeri said in an interview Monday. “We’re proud of Hamilton and we grew up with the Royal Connaught. We want to bring her back.”
But first, they’ll have to see if she can sell — which could be easier said than done in a market where annual condo sales are going down (around 8 per cent in the region last year), and a slew of competing developments are going up.
Valeri and Spallacci say they plan to open a presentation centre in the hotel’s three-storey lobby this summer. The contemporary space will feature a glass staircase and mezzanine, a grand piano and a coffee bar, and will later transition into the building’s main lobby and reception area.
A sales-oriented website (source: www.royalconnaught.com), has also gone live. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)