Condos to rise 13 storeys on former east Hamilton university site

• By Mike Heddle
• Posted Monday, Aug 15, 2022 10:03 am

Condos to rise 13 storeys on former east Hamilton university site

City councillors have backed a plan for condos reaching 13 storeys at a former university campus in east Hamilton.

New Horizon Development plans to build 1,341 units at 1842 King St. E., where Brock University once had a satellite campus in a squat building.

The development’s seven- and nine-storey components will be visible from the street, planning consultant Matt Johnston told councillors.

“You can’t see the 13-storey elements because they’re recessed back.”

The plan, which also includes four-storey maisonettes and ground-floor commercial space, features a pedestrian thoroughfare connecting King to Lawrence Road. 

Permeable surfaces, solar panels and geothermal energy are green elements of the future buildings, which accord with the city’s goal of compact form within Hamilton’s fixed urban boundary, Johnston said.

“So in the end we have an application that represents good land-use planning.”

But area residents begged to differ, arguing the future mid-rise buildings would add to traffic woes and mean a loss of privacy and hours of sunlight.

“People will stare right into my backyard,” Bruce Picken told councillors at Tuesday’s planning committee, asking them to “downsize this monstrosity.”

Dave Wilson, who noted he lives about 200 metres away, said the development’s “proximity to existing single-family homes is overwhelming.”

Councillors, however, applauded the residential...[READ MORE]