A client from Toronto came into the city this week to decide
whether to move his business to Hamilton. He is looking for a work/live
situation where he can have a retail presence with the ability to live in the
same location. This live/work scenario
is the big buzzword in real estate in major centers. Small business make up the majority of our
retail landscape and people who are photographers, artists, jewelers, book
stores etc., are unable to afford to lease a space for their business and then
rent an apartment on top of that. They
are looking to pay around $1,200 to $1,500 dollars a month for a space that can
accommodate both living and working.
I have a 12,000 sqft building for lease which is set up for
only commercial business and we are unable to accommodate people living in the
space – legally. We have at least one
inquiry a week for the live/work scenario and being a real estate broker I
started to look around town to find such a space. So when my client from Toronto wanted a
live/work space I decided to “tweet” it out to #hamont. The response was quick and impressive. The responses were Hamilton Economic
Development, a Councillor, a landlord on James Street and one from Ottawa
street. Everyone who responded wanted to
help a Toronto native find a space in our city. I took their suggestions and
combined them with the leads I could muster up from the real estate board and
set out a little tour for a live/work space in Hamilton.
My client emailed me he missed the 9:30 bus but would be on
the 10 bus out of Toronto. I picked him
up at the hunter station at 10:45 and we headed on our tour. I drove him around Locke, Aberdeen, Hess, International
village, king and main street through Ottawa street and back down Cannon and
James. Every street has something to
offer at different price levels and sizes.
We really took our time on James Street and looked at the new CBC/Art
Gallery building and he was impressed with the architecture of the city. We stopped in Mixed Media where Dave, the
owner, gave my client the lowdown on space, the city, art community etc. We then showed him available space on James
and even though it was pretty run down he was impressed with the community and
space to really consider making the move from Toronto.
Hamilton should focus on the live/work space since we are
still an affordable city. A ton of small
business is being done on the internet but these small business owners still
need space to live – create – sell their creations. They are making money and want to be part of
a community. Hamilton is the only “real
city” close enough to Toronto that can provide a community, parks, education,
airport, transportation, green space that will make people make the move. It may only take 45 minutes to get here but
once they leave the “big city” they realize pretty quickly how Hamilton is the
“real city” not a beige, plastic suburb.
