CityHousing Hamilton to use old City Motor Hotel property for seniors residence

The site of the old, infamous City Motor Hotel is one step closer to becoming a mixed use residential development for seniors.

Ward 4councillor, SamMerullaannounced Friday that the city hadexpropriated the land where the hotel once sat.

"I'm just glad that we're closing this file. It's one file I'm very proud of," saidMerulla.

Some of the peoplewho might live there some day will remember what the oldCity Motor Hotel was like. Back in 2013 former CBC Hamilton columnist Paul Wilson wrote this:

"This was the place where a guest smuggled in a hundred pigeons. Where two guys carried a stolen safe into their room. Where a would-be Ticat who got cut paid his bill at check-out time with a credit card stolen from the general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.Hookers, cons and cops were frequent visitors to this east-end institution, where Main meets Queenston at the traffic circle."

The hotel was built in the 1960s.It became a den of drugs, prostitution and gun activity, and saw the highest number of police calls of anywhere in the city, Merulla said in 2013.

"There were a 100 units in there and most of them were being used for a criminal element," saidMerulla.

ACityHousingmeeting is expected to take place this week to discuss the purchase of the site at 55 Queenston Rd. "With positive recommendation, and I'm very confident to speak of my colleagues on that committee, that this will be a slam-dunk," saidMerulla.

The development will include aneight-storeytower, six-storeybuilding and townhouses.

There are going to beapproximately100 units.

LRT plans

Back in 2011Merullahelda rally and made a committed effort to ensuring that they would not only deal with the blight, but that it would also be repurposed.

Merullastarted the expropriation process of the 5,241-metre property, funded by the area Ward 4 capital area-raiding fund, with the support of council. It was taken down in 2013.

The plan that's in place now was developed and zoned for an eight-storeybuilding anda six-storeybuilding.

Merullasays shortly after, they discovered that Metrolinx would be supporting the LRTand would needthat land because, at that point, it was supposed to end at the hotel site so they had declared interest in purchasing it.

"So all that work from 2011 to 2014 was literally for naughtand was put on the shelf at that point," saidMerulla.

We did all the leg work, so it's a turnkey development in that all the planning work is done.-Ward 4councillor, SamMerulla

Earlier this year it was decided that the end of the line would be set at EastgateSquare, meaning Metrolinx didn't need the property anymore.

"Metrolinx then came back to us and kicked us to the curb and said we don't need the property anymore, which I was somewhat infuriated, to be honest because it delayed the repurposing and redevelopment of it all," saidMerulla.

"Because they kicked us to the curb, we had to put this in overdrive to find a solution. Fortunately we did all the leg work, so it's a turnkey development in that all the planning work is done," saidMerulla.

The Ward 4councillorcan't say for certain what kind of timeline this development have, but says it should move fast.

"Because of the fact that all of the leg work has been done, it's already planned. The planning process is complete, it's literally just getting a permit and starting to develop so we're talking pretty short-term," saidMerulla.