Hamilton council approves new 12-storey Stoney Creek residential building

The City of Hamilton approved the application to build a 12-storey residential building in Stoney Creek on Wednesday.

The approval at the council meeting was a “no brainer” for some, while others couldn’t get behind the project.

161 residential units, with one, two and three bedroom apartments — that’s the plan for a new 12-storey building that has been approved to be built on Highway 8 at Dewitt Road in Stoney Creek.

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says it checks all the boxes with staff, and so the city should not stand in the way of the developers.

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However, not everyone was on board.

“I support housing on this site,” said Hamilton Ward 5 Councillor Matt Francis. “I’m not convinced this is the right development, the right scale for this particular site and we listened to a lot of upset delegates with very valid concerns.”

“These are the very kinds of build units that this city has identified in need for families, for working professionals, who we are trying to attract and retain here,” said Hamilton Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson.

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“The project was approved by council — the bottom line is housing can’t get built unless we build it and we are in a housing crisis as everybody knows,” said Horwath. “If we are lucky, there are going to be many, many projects coming forward. That’s why we got over half a billion dollars from the provincial government, that’s why we lobbied at Queen’s Park to make sure that we got the money that we need from the joint program that’s federal and provincial.

“That’s why we got rid of development charges, so the responsibility now lies on us — they gave us what we wanted, now we have to do what we need to do with it, which is make the infrastructure investments necessary, which are already underway, and also approve the housing that is necessary. It fits all of the criteria is what our staff said.”

According to the developer’s website, construction on the building is planned to start in 2027, and be completed by 2029.

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