Downtown: The future is now

by Darrin DeRoches May 5 -11, 2011

There has been a lot of hub bub about what is going on downtown and its revitalization. The first person to knock what is going on simply has not walked around downtown lately.  I finally got to walk through the new glass enclosed market and library this weekend and overall I’ve got to give it top marks.  Some people complain the aisles are too tight and the selection is limited but overall the only problem I can see is keeping it clean.  It may only be months old but the white walls and glass needs to be cleaned. The design is awesome but the upkeep must be a priority.  There are a lot of other buildings in various stages but it seems as spring has sprung, so has the activity on many properties.     The burned out building on the corner of Hess and King, finally has a crew in there cleaning up the debris. Word is they are going to rebuild the floors and put a roof on.  At least this is a step in the right direction. The Hamilton Grand at the corner of John and Main has the construction boards up and they are starting to get all the soil out for remediation.  People having been knocking this project as another pie in the sky but you have to understand how long things take to get permits and plans all in order. It will be an odd site to see a crane in downtown, but I hope to see it soon with many more to follow.      McMaster University is putting money where their mouth is on a proposed project at the corner of Bay and King.  They are doing a study to see the real cost to build a medical building at this location.  They are talking up to 100 million.  We are still waiting to see the construction begin across the street with a new hotel, condos, etc. Everyone loves to give their opinion to this site but the owner has invested millions and I mean millions in our city and when he is done the city council should not only apologize for their skeptics, they should rename a street after him.      There are a lot of other condo projects in the works and some other exciting announcements coming soon for our downtown.  In the next few years the new projects will change the landscape of our city.  The all–day GO trains and being listed in the top 10 cities to invest in are all steps in the right direction.  It takes time for all these things to be built and let’s not forget how tough the last two years were. Condos, hotels, medical and new artists buildings are all the right factors to show the future of our city is happening now! All we need to do now is to start boasting about our city instead of knocking it.  V                                   Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.