developers

Wednesday January 23, 2013

Wednesday January 23, 2013By 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)

Wednesday August 15, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday August 15, 2012

Councillors frustrated by stadium secrecy

The secrecy surrounding Hamilton’s new Pan Am stadium has led to one councillor threatening to step down from the Games subcommittee.

Bernie Morelli, whose ward will house the new venue on the site of the current Ivor Wynne Stadium, says he’s so frustrated by the process that he’s thinking of quitting the Pan Am stadium subcommittee. Councillor Brad Clark also expressed his frustration at Infrastructure Ontario, the province’s development agency.

“We’ve relinquished all of our responsibility to Infrastructure Ontario,” Clark said.

The comments came about after councillors dealt with a report about a cost-sharing agreement for the new Pan Am stadium at Monday’s general issues committee meeting.

City staff were asking for council’s approval to enter into discussions with Infrastructure Ontario to determine the “roles, relationships, joint and separate responsibilities, authorizations and obligations” for the Pam Am stadium.

According to the report, the capital cost for the stadium is $145.6 million. The operating costs for 2012 are $340,300. However, the staff report offered few details about how the costs and operating responsibilities of the stadium will be shared.

When councillors asked staff for more information, Gerry Davis, the city’s general manager of public works, said they would have to check with Infrastructure Ontario to see if they had permission to share those details publicly. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)