Happy New Year Hamilton Real Estate Investors!
2010 was a monster year for Hamilton and we are still many years away from seeing the “Steel” City’s complete transformation into an economical power house where everyone wants to live but we have seen many signs that corroborate Dalton McGuinty’s prediction that “the next 10 years belong to Hamilton.”
So to recap 2010, here are the top 10 stories from Hamilton, Ontario (in no particular order):
- $1,000,000,000 in Building Permits in 2010 with December’s figures still outstanding. Click here for a previous post. A record year for Hamilton!!
- Site Selection Magazine, based in Atlanta, Ga., has honoured Hamilton’s economic development department as one of the top performing economic development organizations in Canada. The city itself has been ranked as one of the top
five metropolitan areas in the country for economic development. Click here for the complete article. How great is that?! Our local leaders have created a growth atmosphere attracting investment and now they’re being recognized for it. I would also like to thank the Hamilton Econonomic Development Department for always being so helpful to my clients and I. - Siemens Hamilton to Cut 550 Jobs: Unfortunately 2010’s job growth story was not entirely rosy as Siemens decided to move their manufacturing and 550 jobs to North Carolina. Siemens also awarded a new wind turbine blade plant to Tillsonburg (Click here for the complete article) over Hamilton and Windsor. Hamilton’s distance from the end delivery destination and urban environment were two reasons Hamilton lost the bid. Hey Investors, look on a map where the Siemen’s plant is or just click here. What do you think will happen to property values when the major employer in the neighbourhood shuts down?
- Hamilton named #6 Best Canadian City for investment (#2 in Ontario) by REIN and Don R Campbell. The report can be found here.
- US Steel (the former Stelco) – the ongoing dispute between the company and the union and the locking out 900 employees. Click here for the full story.
- German Buyer (Max Aicher Inc.) Firing Up Two Shuttered US Steel Mills. Click here for a previous post. The province is also lending 9 million toward a $106 million revival of the idled plants. Expected job creation – 300.
- The Great Stadium Debate: previous post and ongoing story. Seriously, what a mess! Now the Ti-Cats and the City of Burlington want to build a stadium near Aldershot in Burlington and still call them the Hamilton Tiger Cats? And just two weeks ago, Hamilton City Council voted down the proposed location of Centennial Park? Oy vey, seems to me we are still far away from a decision placing the new stadium funding and the Pan Am Games in Hamilton at risk (Trivia: my Ti-Cat Jersey number is 15 for 2015, the year of the Pan Am Games)
- JNE / Daqo Group – $5 Million joint venture to manufacture Solar Panels, 300 “green” jobs. Click here for a previous post
- Blood breakthrough at Mac – click here for the full article. Scientists at McMaster have found a way to create blood from skin, a significant breakthrough that could have broad implications for medicine, for the university and for Hamilton. A sign of Hamilton diversifying its econonmy moving from a steel/manufacturing based to knowledge based.
- Canada Bread Company coming to Hamilton (mountain) – Click here for a previous post. 120 construction jobs plus 300 manufacturing jobs once the plant is completed in the Red Hill Business Park.
What a year!!!! Thank you to all my readers, my investor client, Tom and Nick at Rock Star Real Estate, REIN, my family and Melissa for making 2010 such a successful year. You guys and gals rock and cheers to a massive 2011!!
Is 2011 the year you decide its your life so you better live it on your terms? No time like the present!
Till Next Time!
Erwin Szeto
MrHamilton.ca
Real Estate Investment Adviser
e: erwin@mrhamilton.ca
p: 289-288-5019
f: 905.481.2341
PS – Big thank you to Neil Uttamsigh from FirstRentalProperty.com for selecting MrHamilton.ca as a top 10 real estate blog in 2010. It really is an honour to be even mentioned alongside the best Canadian real estate bloggers out there like Don R Campbell, Tom and Nick Karadza, Julie Broad and Dave Peniuk. Also thank you to Neil for his encouragement and coaching that proved instrumental in getting this blog of the ground and into cyberspace 🙂
PPS: If you would like to learn more about investing in real estate in Hamilton please feel free to call 289-288-5019 or email me erwin (at) mrhamilton.ca.
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