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Hamilton Spectator
21-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
These Hamilton condos never made it into the housing market
The City of Hamilton is doing what it can to help push along halted private condo development in the city. Anita Fabac, the city's acting director of planning, said the city is pre-zoning land to eliminate the rezoning process for developers, expediting the approvals process and reviewing fees. 'We don't really control the construction of buildings and the timing of that, but we do support the industry where we have a role and where we have a responsibility,' said Fabac. In recent years, several private condo development properties have been stalled after going into receivership as a result of the owners' financial struggles — most recently, Harry Stinson's Gibson School Lofts. Old malls remain empty and construction sites unused around the city as activity in the housing market has declined. Fabac said development activity could remain stagnant for the next few years. 'That really depends on some of the broader economic issues, that aren't controlled by us,' she said, including the ongoing tariff war with the U.S. She said the city is projecting a 25 to 40 per cent decline in development applications it will have received by the end of this year, compared to last year's total. In late 2024 , a market downturn fuelled by higher interest rates, rising construction costs and high housing prices slowed local condo development. Stalled developments mean fewer homes for people to live in and fewer jobs necessary for the process, such as in the construction industry. Here are some condo developments in Hamilton that have not been completed. The Gibson School Lofts property went into receivership this month as a result of missed mortgage payments. The plan is to turn the previous school at 601 Barton St. E. into a condo by adding two floors and building townhouses in the old schoolyard. Developer Harry Stinson said he is in search of a new partnership to help pay out his lender and allow him to complete the project. Restoration, including replacing most windows, has been in process for years since Gibson Lofts Inc. bought the company in 2014. Stinson said he is trying to pull the project out of receivership and secure land construction financing, adding he has a new lender on board for construction. If he is able to keep the property, Stinson said construction to turn old school classrooms into one- and two-bedroom units could begin soon. The Connolly project has been stalled for more than a decade after its owner went into receivership in 2017 and 2024. A 30-storey condo building is meant to replace the 147-year-old James Street Baptist church. Most recently, KSV Restructuring Inc. took over the property from 98 James South (2022) Limited Partnership. Toronto developer Louie Santaguida planned to incorporate the old church facade into a future condo building after knocking the structure down in 2014. But financial troubles led the developer into receivership in 2017, leading Hue Developments to buy the property two years later. But the pandemic pushed down the firm, a subsidiary of a larger Vietnam-based corporation, and its plans to pour capital into the project. In 2022, 98 James South (2022) Inc. bought the property for $24 million before going into receivership two years later. Marbelle Estates Inc. took over ownership for the 15 Cannon St. W. project in January 2022 after the previous owner, Areacor Inc., went bankrupt. The vision for the development is a six-storey building with 40 units, accessible and affordable for people with disabilities. Marbelle Estates Inc. gained ownership after a months-long court-ordered bidding war for the land. Construction originally stagnated in August 2019 when Areacor Inc. struggled with cost overruns and loan rejections, sending them into receivership in early 2022 while owing about $9.9 million to more than two dozen creditors. The struggling company's sale of 29 of the 40 residential units were nulled as a result of the new sale agreement with Marbelle Estates Inc. In February 2023, Marbelle spokesperson Kyle Palbot told The Spectator that the property was left as a skeleton structure with serious foundational concerns and the company was awaiting a final batch of engineering reports to ensure the building's structure was sound. The old City Centre Hamilton core remains empty. IN8 Developments planned four towers — three at 30 storeys and one at 24 — for downtown Hamilton's City Centre building. This would offer 2,200 units to the vacant centre next to Lloyd D. Jackson Square on James Street North. The project remains on hold until the market improves after an initial plan to start demolition in late 2022 or early 2023. The mall closed in 2022. Slate Asset Management planned construction of a three-building complex of 27, 14 and eight storeys offering 796 units for 2023. The condos would be in the now-closed Corktown Plaza parking lot. The developer planned for a possible 'micro-grocer' in the building to address residents' concerns about losing the plaza's Hasty Market. Community consultation was included in the development process. Cheyenne Bholla is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. cbholla@
Hamilton Spectator
09-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Harry Stinson's latest school-to-condo conversion in receivership
Embattled developer Harry Stinson's latest school conversion project, the Gibson School Lofts , is in receivership due to missed mortgage payments. But Stinson said in an interview he is seeking a new partnership to help pay out his lender and allow him to finish the redevelopment at 601 Barton St. E. 'The best way for both of us, for all of us, including the (condo) buyers … is to come to an agreement that the construction gets completed,' said the longtime Hamilton developer. 'We could have people in (the building) this year, occupied.' Harry Stinson in his Stinson School condo redevelopment more than a decade ago. The colourful builder — known for the successful condo conversion of Stinson school , as well as famous failed pitches like a proposal to build Canada's tallest tower downtown — has battled a string of recent project and legal woes. In late 2023, Stinson was ordered to pay a $600,000 fine and repay $13 million to investors in a planned Buffalo hotel redevelopment after a tribunal ruled Stinson broke Ontario securities law. That same project also suffered a serious fire during the pandemic and remains badly damaged. In Hamilton, the 72-year-old's most advanced project looked to be the Gibson School Lofts, a condo conversion of the former Barton Street East school that would see two storeys added to the historic building and townhouses built in the old schoolyard. Stinson's company bought the building in 2014 and restoration, including replacing most windows, has been underway for years. But in January, a Superior court judge signed off on an order to appoint a receiver for the property, assets and projects owned by Gibson Lofts Inc. Court documents viewed by The Spectator show the lender is seeking more than $4 million in repayment on two separate loans. The documents also noted past lender concerns about contractor liens and tax arrears that totalled hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2022. The current status of those previously cited liens and arrears was unclear Thursday. The Spectator reached out to the receiver, B. Riley Farber Inc., on Thursday to seek clarity on plans for the property, but has yet to hear back. Stinson confirmed he 'fell behind' on payments to the lender. 'There's no question it has been a rough year,' he said. But the developer also stressed he hopes to maintain control of the project, noting the land has not been put up for sale and he continues to maintain the building. Some would-be condo buyers have left deposits in trust with an independent lawyer during the receivership, he added. 'Discussions between myself and the mortgage holder are ongoing daily. There is really no animosity,' he said. 'We're trying to get a sufficient amount (of money) to pay them out.' The proposed Gibson Lofts would be in the old school on Barton Street East owned by Harry Stinson. Stinson said he is talking to prospective 'joint venture' partners to help the project emerge from receivership — and also to land construction financing, which he described as 'extremely difficult' to find in the current 'appalling market.' Late Thursday, he said he has a 'new lender on board' for construction on the project. The developer also acknowledged his own finances have been squeezed — first by the fire at his ambitious Buffalo project, then by the fines and investor repayment ordered by the provincial Capital Markets Tribunal following a probe by Ontario's securities regulator. Stinson said he has made a 'settlement proposal' to the regulator that is lower — 'on a completely different planet' — than the ordered fine and repayment amount that totalled nearly $14 million. The Spectator sought an update from the regulator Thursday, but did not hear back. Despite those challenges, Stinson said he has no plans to sell local projects like Gibson or a long-delayed condo proposal at the Cannon Knitting Mill. 'Selling any project in this market would be delusional,' he said, adding he hopes to go ahead later this year with new marketing for the project at the former knitting mill near Beasley Park, which the city recently decided to designate as a heritage building. If Stinson retains ownership and management of the Gibson project, he suggested construction could soon begin on one and two-bedroom units, making use of the old classrooms in the former school. 'We have buyers who want to be there,' Stinson said. 'We think this will be (back) on the rails and under construction this summer.'
