Hamilton Heritage

by Darrin DeRoches November 28 - December 4, 2013

I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion of the Economics of Heritage Preservation at the Hamilton Club. Every time you hear about “heritage” in a city, you think of stuffy people trying to save old buildings and slow up the progress of new properties. I figured I would enjoy the beauty of the Hamilton Club, some food, and a few drinks and that would make it worthwhile.     The room was filled with a diverse group including the who’s who of Hamilton builders, politicians and city employees. The mayor started off with a warm welcome and positive outlook on the evening’s speakers. The speakers came from Toronto, London, Buffalo, Ottawa, Waterloo, and New Hamburg. They all had a different perspective on saving “heritage properties” and the costs of doing so. Each speaker could have held their own night and gave a lot of information about the pursuit of transforming a heritage property into a successful, profitable property. I was impressed by each speaker and their candor and willingness to share their experiences. They freely showed the cost per foot and the “premium” people will spend to be in an updated heritage property.     You can replace the windows with replicas for a lower cost than removing, restoring and re–installing the existing ones. The costs, preservation and even landfill ethics when it came to windows was discussed. This all just proved a point as to where does heritage take over function and costs. I was most impressed with Clayton Smith from Commercial Realty Group who is, in my opinion, doing restoration the right way. He is taking underserved properties in downtown Toronto and restoring them to their glory. I spoke with him over a beer in the meet and greet and his openness to share the real costs and the higher returns he gets from his properties really drove home the message of the night.     Take an old building, update it to today’s standards but keep all the history in place. I always thought that a “heritage designation” would hurt the process but listening to the discussions throughout the night, everyone is happy to have a building saved and repurposed properly. I walked away with a new perspective and a kind of excitement to see what Hamilton has to offer with our old buildings and our builders restoring them. Stinson School, Dundas School and the Royal Connaught are all going to be proof that restoration and heritage will bring great profit and a greater pride in our city. I applaud everyone who was involved in the night and look forward to the future of our heritage! 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 sold@uniquerealty.ca.