View of downtown from Witton Lofts at night
Hello Hamilton Real Estate Investors!!
Remember last week’s post when I was in Bayfront Park? If you missed it, here’s the post.
If you’re not from Hamilton, don’t yet invest in Hamilton but are considering it, one of the hottest neighbourhoods is James North and the West Harbour. For those of you who had any doubts about the regentrification going on in the area, then you need to look at this video where I’m standing in front of the first major residential development in years in the neighbourhood owned by Core Urban Inc. Specifically, they are converting an existing building into luxury condo lofts with high end finishes and mechanicals with a serious view of the city or the lake or both! (it was a bit bright out when I shot this video so sorry for all the squinting):
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn0MmrU3qGY
(Correction: Mission Services sold the property to Core Urban Inc. and not the city)
And here’s the a video I shot from the roof of the building which would be the same as the fourth floor in the plans:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFx-sFcPHHE
Steve, one of two partners at Urban Core Inc. is the one avoiding the camera and he has a pretty cool story about his journey to become a condo developer. Hopefully he’ll be willing to do an interview someday 🙂
Not familiar with Hamilton? Here we are on a map.
As previously mentioned in past posts, the planned James St North Go Station would be part of a Niagara to Toronto Union station Go Train service. Also, if it happens, the LRT B/North-South line would have a station in the vicinity as well.
Bonus Material!!
Check out this short video of a completed loft condo at the Core Urban Inc’s other development in South-West Hamilton at called the Herkimer at Bay Lofts located at the intersection of Herkimer and Bay (where else?!). Now if only Steve would have stood still you would have had a reference for how tall the ceilings and doors are…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-q64gNhIyk
OK – enough from me and enough of you sitting in front of the computer screen. Time to get in the car, hit the road and check out this neighbourhood.
A big thank you Stephen K from Core Urban Inc for reaching out to me and taking the afternoon to give me the tour around these amazing projects!
Till Next Time – Happy Investing Everyone!!
Erwin Szeto
MrHamilton.ca
e: erwin@mrhamilton.ca
p: 289-288-5019
f: 905.481.2341
PS: If you would like to attend a free training class on investing in residential real estate click here.
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YUMMY! I hear the guys do amazing work in their condo units. I actually have friends who bought one of the Witton Lofts : )
Thanks Maria! the Herkimer and Bay Lofts are indeed amazing! I hope to get invited back to Witton when the work is underway 🙂
Erwin
Wow, what a great way to market your properties – and your entire AREA!
I don’t know if it a coincidence, but it seems like I am finding a lot of Canadian Realtors very active in promoting thier properties in the internet.
Not just blogging, but MARKETING. I love the map and the video. Very nice.
No, I am not from Hamilton, nor do I have any investors thinking of placing money there – yet! But when I do, I will certainly take advantage of these great resources.
Very impressive!
Thank you for the kind words! Just to clarify, these are not my properties and I don’t make a penny if they sell. I only did these posts to provide Hamilton real estate investors a “from the streets” view into the latest residential developments.
Best Regards,
Erwin
Always good to see new developments.
Did you happen to find out why the developer picked this site as far as proximity. Is it because of the downtown core or the potential for West harour. The potential that most who know the area have dreamed about for the last 10 years since the city had the “setting sail” plans for the area. Where this site is, I personally dont think it really will impact the harbour neighbourhood residences too much because if you drive around the tracks seem to seperate West harbour from the core.
Dont get me wrong all new developments benifit Hamilton but i (plus plenty of investors i suspect) have been waiting for the West harbour to turn around into the desirable waterfront neighbourhood as seem in other waterfront communites. Wittion lofts are close but i think it will help the core more then west harbour.
keep up the good work,
Dwayne
Hi Dwayne,
Thank you for the kind words!
I’ll let Steve from Core Urban Inc. answer your questions.
In the meantime, here are my two cents: I like this location because I’m a fan of the victorian architecture of the homes in the neighbourhood, the area is in transition, short walking distance to the shopping and restaurants on James North, Bayfront and Pier 4 Parks, and the planned James North Go Station. I stopped by the Sales Office yesterday and judging by the number of sales, it seems many believe this location is a desireable place to live.
Hope that helps!
Erwin
Hi Dwayne,
To answer your question I would have to say both. The Murray St location has so much potential because of the close proximity to a variety of amenities. Located in the setting sail boundary perpendicular to Bay and James North allows easy access to Bayfront park, Pier 4 & 8, the James North community not to mention the planned GO station. That being said the other major draw is having the downtown core within walking distance which offers the Farmers Market, Library, Copps Coliseum, Shopping and various restaurants. Truthfully, Hamilton being such a small ‘large’ city puts the Witton Lofts close to all major attractions within the core. Our goal is not to gentrify one area over another but to help keep the momentum of Hamilton real estate going as a whole. So in a round about way I hope that answers your question.
I am an investor, and I live in Toronto. For the past 6 months I have been researching Hamilton. James North was out for the count early on in my search. This was mainly due to all of the riff raff I saw hanging around at different times of the day and night. After I crunched some numbers, it became clear this area is steadily on the rise. Upon closer inspection it dawned on me that James North reminds me of Queen St West “circa 1982”
The transition is still very much at the beginning stages but just right for young urban, artsy professionals. The silver lining is plans for the GO station, which sealed the deal for me. I decided to buy a unit with Witton Lofts…cross your fingers for me.
P.S
One last thought…
The finishes the Witton Lofts are going with was a refreshing discovery, which also helped seal the deal. I cant tell you how much junk I have seen in the Toronto condo market. Builders cutting corners, using cheap fixtures, faux wood kitchen cabinets, absurd maintenance fees etc. etc. the list goes on and on…
Louise 😉
Hi Louise! Thank you for sharing your insights! I totally agree on how you have drawn parallels between James N and Queen West in Toronto. I’ve read a few articles where artists from Queen West sold years ago to move to James North because of the affordability and they saw the signs of transition years ago.
Indeed there is some less fortunate people walking the street but from speaking to the locals, they too agree with your assessment that the area is on the rise. And that is the same reason Mission Services decided to sell their building, it is an under utilized asset due to the lack of demand for their services.
All the best!
Erwin