A 45-storey residential tower is soon to become a fixture on the city’s waterfront after councillors approved the project Wednesday.
The 645-unit structure is earmarked for Pier 8 at 65 Guise St. as part of the larger West Harbour development, joining several other approvals that would bring close to 1,600 units to the area.
Despite recent political and public opposition, with some citing inhibiting sight lines to the waterfront and incompatibilities with nearby industry, the project designed by famed north-end architect Bruce Kuwabara was given the green light in an 11 to 5 vote.
Joe Valela of Tercot Communities, who is a managing partner for the project, believes the structure not only supplies the city with much-needed housing but also stands out as a modern attraction for the city.
“So people coming over the (Burlington) Skyway, for example, will see the building and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of social media shots taken from that terrace,” Velela said.
“I think it’s going to bring tourists in …. and hopefully really help the local businesses.”
Valela said the process was a long one, having started in 2018 after a city RFP process that gave Waterfront Shores Corp. the exclusive right to negotiate contracts for Pier 8.
The tower will be placed in “block 16,” a key portion of the waterfront transformation previously documented as a “mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly and transit-supportive destination” by the city’s planning department.
He said that “in a nutshell,” the public consultation took years via processes set up by Waterfront and the city, which generated four meetings.
“One of the things that we set up was the Design Review Panel, … a bunch of architects and influential people that know design in Hamilton that actually were involved in what the building was going to look like,” Valela said.
Despite the work, the approval on Wednesday wasn’t easy, with counsellors Craig Cassar (Ward 12), Tom Jackson (Ward 6), Nrinder Nann (Ward 3), Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) and Maureen Wilson (Ward 1) voting against the development.
Mountain Coun. Jackson characterized the project as a “monstrosity” that would dwarf the existing north-end neighbourhood.
“I’ve never, ever wanted to go down the path of Burlington’s waterfront, where first they had along their lakeshore, 20 storeys then 30, then 40,” Jackson said.
“If you all recall politically in 2018, three-quarters of that council was defeated, including their mayor then. … I would humbly suggest that was primarily because of the vertical intensification.”
Valela contests that the Burlington structures are not a fair comparison since the lands were owned by the developers and the Hamilton tower is being built on city-run property.
City centre Coun. Kroetsch, whose Ward 2 will host the development, suggested in a social media post the “luxury waterfront” condo doesn’t represent an “inclusive” Hamilton and will “encourage above market prices for housing.”
Kroetsch did support an effort to make it a “net zero building,” which was an amendment brought forward by Ward 8 Coun. John Paul Danko during the vote.
However, Danko had been seeking something more stringent in the wording to guarantee net zero.
Delegate Ian Borsuk from Environment Hamilton told council in a statement that buildings “new and old” pose a challenge to reducing construction-related and energy consumption-related greenhouse gas emissions.
“Every new building constructed in our community that does not achieve these important standards only exacerbates the global problem,” Borsuk said.
“And ultimately generates future costs for owners, residents, and the city as we begin to grapple with the daunting task of retrofitting our older and unsustainable building stock.”
Valela says his partners will “work with the city to make that happen” since it’s a condition of the building.