Is a height of 35 stories for the Waterfront Hotel site redevelopment on the table?

By Pepper Parr

July 26th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

Revisions have been made to this story since it was first published.

There appear to be two Facebook based news outlets – both with the name Burlington News.

There also appears to be some significant hearings taking place at what we used to know as Local Planning Act Tribunal now called the OLT – Ontario Land Tribunal.

The Burlington News logo has a green logo and is the site we have drawn material from. It is popular.  WE have not been able to identify the owners of this site.

The Burlington News with the red logo has been around a long time – no one knows who is behind that one but there are members of Council who follow what they publish.

There is yet another web site that was set up by former Mayor Rick Goldring.  Former Councillor Craven writes for this site along with former city general manager Kim Phillips.

During an OLT  meeting that was focused on the Carnacelli development on the corner of Pearl and Lakeshore Road the argument was over the 29 storeys the developer wanted and the 17 storeys most people believed the city could live with.

The Waterfront Hotel stands at six storeys – plans have been in the works for more than a decade to replace it with a series of structures that would be closer to the water’s edge and more to the east.

During that meeting in July, David Bronskill, speaking for the Waterfront Hotel owners is reported to have said the following:

“… our client has concerns with the proposed implementation of this intensification potential. In particular, the ongoing delay in planning for the Property is of serious concern and can no longer be accepted by our client. The Property has not been included within the scope of review related to the new official plan, despite our client having invested approximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars over five years ago to assist the City in determining the appropriate form of redevelopment for the Property. It would appear that this study is now further delayed with a report on a proposed revise action plan suggested for Q4 2020.”

“During a discussion about height in the downtown, a pending application for the redevelopment of the Waterfront Hotel was revealed. The acknowledgment of a proposed 35 storey development on the Waterfront Hotel site was surprising as there is no information available on the City’s web site, and the lack of transparency regarding the possible future of our waterfront is astounding.

“This proposal will not be a surprise to City staff, the Mayor or Council as they would have known about a pending application as far back as Sept. 2020 when a letter from the landowners representative, David Bronskill advised them of their client’s concerns regarding the City’s delay and their intentions to seek approval of their proposal were made clear.

Bronskill said: “This is unacceptable to our client. We can no longer wait for the City and our client’s intention is to proceed to finalize the study on its own and submit an application to secure approvals for the Property in an expedited fashion.”

“As the city learned with the Interim Control By law, (ICBL) planning and development does not stop and wait for the Mayor and Council. It continues and is considered within the approved policy framework that is in force at the time of the submission of the applications.

” It is not clear if this application has been submitted yet or if it will be in the next few weeks however, there is clearly very little, if any, transparency regarding the status of the Waterfront Hotel redevelopment.”

What would a 35 storey building on the edge of the Lake look like?  The Bridgewater condominium is 22 storeys high.

To give you a sense of the height we took a photograph of the Harbour Commission building in Hamilton that is six storeys with a 17 storey building beside it.

Hamilton Harbour Commission on the left – six storeys; apartment building to the right – 17 storeys. The proposal for the waterfront is 35 storeys -twice the height of the apartment building.

What is being talked about is 35 storeys where the current Waterfront Hotel is located.

What the Burlington Local News does not tell is the working arrangement that has been in place for close to a decade, one that had the developer putting up a significant amount of money to pay for a study on how any replacement of the Waterfront would relate to the Naval Promenade.

The lawyers do what they are paid to do at OLT hearings – what is surprising is that the Waterfront Hotel re-development is not before the Planning department yet – there is no word on just where the study is – but legal counsel for the developer has gotten their number on the table.

Related news stories:

Plan B

Is Plan B getting the attention it deserves?

 

Return to the Front page
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 comments to Is a height of 35 stories for the Waterfront Hotel site redevelopment on the table?

  • Bob

    Is this height really safe? I assume the buildings will all have underground parking which would have to be below the level of the lake. Any rise in lake levels and/or leakage into the building could seriously undermine the integrity of such a structure. With climate change and rising water levels, has this been taken into account?

    • Bob

      Manhatten with its 100 story buildings is built on an island
      Toronto’s Harbourfront with its 50+ story buildings is built along the waterfront
      We have an Ontario Building Code as well as local codes the developer will be required to follow so you’ll need to dig a little,deeper for a valid argument in opposition.
      Not only that but with global warming, lake levels should decrease due to evaporation not rise.

      At this point in time the developer is the one playing by the rules.

  • Penny Hersh

    Plan B, spent time and money to come up with suggestions on how to develop the Waterfront Hotel site that could be more resident friendly. At the time I questioned if this plan would be taken seriously by the Developer and the City.

    The City has a history of “make work projects” for volunteer groups. The volunteers meet with the city departments and spend countless hours in meetings presenting their case to no avail.

    Just ask the volunteers involved with the National Home Development at Brant/Havendale how the hours spent with the City ended up with the developer getting essentially everything it wanted, even though the group had promises from the city to help change the development.

    It will be interesting to see how this transpires.