A once-infamous downtown Hamilton property is about to get a new lease on life.
The city’s planning committee has approved plans for a five-storey building, including a medical clinic and 45 housing units, on Catharine Street North near Barton Street.
The site at 245 Catharine St. N. was seized by the city for back taxes in 2013 after years of neglect and property standards violations, including the storage of barrels of toxic rainwater. It was later sold by the city in a tax sale.
Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr says the transformation will be a “Cinderella story” and is the result of a “tremendous amount of investment, passion and effort.”
Tuesday morning’s unanimous approval by the planning committee still requires ratification from Hamilton city council when it meets next Wednesday.
A decision on a second downtown development proposal for a 13-storey, 110-unit building on MacNab Street North near the West Harbour GO Station has been delayed for 30 days.
During that time, Farr will be trying to address neighbourhood concerns about the building’s height and density as well as what critics say is a lack of parking.
Farr has told the planning committee that he believes there’s a willingness to compromise on both sides.
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