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 4 councillor, Sam Merulla announced Friday that the city had expropriated 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," said Merulla.

Some of the people who might live there some day will remember what the old City 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," said Merulla.

A CityHousing meeting 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," said Merulla.

The development will include an eight-storey tower, six-storey building and townhouses. 

There are going to be approximately 100 units.

LRT plans

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

Merulla started 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-storey building and a six-storey building.

Merulla says shortly after, they discovered that Metrolinx would be supporting the LRT and would need that 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 naught and was put on the shelf at that point," said Merulla.

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

Earlier this year it was decided that the end of the line would be set at Eastgate Square, 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," said Merulla.

"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," said Merulla.

The Ward 4 councillor can'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," said Merulla.