A local entrepreneur who presented a private sector proposal to build a $250-million technology hub with Class A office space in Hamilton’s downtown core says he’s open to either a purchase or long-term lease of property from the city at fair market value.
Paven Bratch, speaking on behalf of a delegation who presented the idea to city councillors in February 2020, reiterated a pitch on Monday for 20- and 24-storey towers as well as a retail plaza on under-utilized municipal property behind city hall.
“We continue to believe that our downtown also needs to have a critical mass of what we think is the employers of the future,” Bratch told councillors as a spokesperson for Metro Partners Inc.
The scheme was revisited by the general issues committee on Monday following the release of a preliminary assessment from city staff on the feasibility of the project earmarked for the City Hall Precinct lands with potential 2026 completion date pending approval.
Bratch suggested to councillors that the hub would be complementary to nearby projects like the modernization of downtown entertainment venues and recent resurrection of the city’s LRT project.
“I continue to feel that in the absence of any Class A office space, now post pandemic, that a tech hub would really significantly provide the fourth important leg…for Hamilton’s kind of continued renaissance that that we’re all part of,” Bratch said.
The staff report suggested the city “is well positioned” to take on the concept, since the development could add value financially and qualitatively to Hamilton.
However, the research did not conclude that use of precinct lands had any potential benefit over other locations in the city.
“From a development feasibility perspective however, staff have concluded that additional studies and analysis would be required to make a firm determination,” the report said.
An option for a separate 12-storey expansion building with 120,000 square feet of office space is also in the proposed development.
Bratch told councillors he believes that project would provide a “better life-work balance” as “secondary headquarters” following an office market crash during the pandemic which left many workplaces vacant for safety reasons.
The legacy of the development would be to “create a critical mass” which Bratch hopes would encourage other companies to consider moving to greater Hamilton beyond the downtown core.
“I would say that it is my hope that our graduates and others who’ve chosen to make make their way back to this city or to the city for the first time, are able to pursue their careers here as well,” Bratch said.
Staff are recommending further study on the concept, suggesting $100,000 would need to be spent on consulting expertise to develop another report tentatively set for early 2022.