Wilson Blanchard plans apartments and retail for vacant Gore buildings

A downtown developer has unveiled plans fora critical row of historicbuildingsin the heart of Hamilton's downtown that havesat vacant for more than two years.

The company,Wilson Blanchard,is proposing tobuild Gore Park Apartments, afive-storeybuilding with 14 units in the row of boarded-up buildings in the Gore, whichrun from18 to 28 King St. E.

Architect David Premi and lawyer Tim Bullock, representing the developer,told city councillors on Wednesday that the plan includes maintainingthe facades of 18 to 22 King St. E., andhavingmore than 3,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

The remaining facades, and the back endsof the buildings, wouldbe demolished.

There was community outcry in 2013 whenBlanchard bought the buildingsand obtained a pair ofpermits to demolish them.

It's the first formally presented plan for the buildings since then.

City councillors negotiated with Wilson Blanchardand pre-approved $1.1 million in development grants if the developer was willing to designate them as heritage.

During a dramatic city council meeting that December, the city moved to designate the buildings as heritage to prevent their demolition. Wilson Blanchard is appealingthat.

City staff will come back to the general issues committee in a month with a report on the plan.The company hopes to apply for site plan approval as soon as possible, and to start work this year.

Jason Farr, theWard 2 councillor who prompted the last-minute heritage designation attempt, says he feels the two sides have a workable plan that maintains the heritage feel of the Gore.

Bullock said the company still hasn't determined whether the units will be condos or rental units.

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC