Hamilton iConnect Community | ?m | ?s | Krpan

[Chris R.]

Master-planned iConnect in Hamilton 'a city within a city'
Krpan, Remington get zoning approval for 45 acres of residential development at long-term project.

Master-planned iConnect in Hamilton 'a city within a city'

Master-planned communities aren't new, but few have been developed on the scale of iConnect Community in Hamilton, a joint venture from Krpan Group and The Remington Group. “We’re building a city within a city,” John Krpan Sr. said.

renx.ca

Saw this was posted a few days ago. Maybe I'm out to lunch, but I thought this might be something that might need a thread and then split into different projects.

If the admins think it should remain or it hasn't been posted already I suppose it would just go at Clappison's corner for the time being seeing as the plan surrounds it.

 

[Northern Light]

So this is the east side of Highway 6 at Highway 5 (Dundas Street):

The forest to the south (right) is the escarpment and where the Bruce Trail passes through.

The proposal shows a full highway interchange at the heart of the community which seems an odd way to plan this, so we must consult the resident UT highway expert on whether that reflects current MTO plans for the area; ahem @innsertnamehere .

One thing that really should change w/this proposal is the branding..............what a horrible name. "Yes, the wife and I are looking at moving to "Iconnect" .....uhh.... rolls off the tongue great, immediately makes you think of an urban village in a suburban context and the escarpment and hiking.......

One more story: https://canada.constructconnect.com...al-transform-clappisons-corners-new-community

 

[innsertnamehere]

Good question Northern Light!

This development is a big reason that MTO is planning on building an interchange here starting next year:

You can get details on the project here:

Highway 5 and Highway 6 Interchange Project

Ministry of Transportation (MTO)

hwy5andhwy6interchange.ca

Highway 6 is the primary highway between Hamilton/Niagara and Kitchener / Guelph, so it's honestly a remarkably terribly designed highway both for safety and capacity / speeds, by any global measure. This intersection currently gets severely congested in peak hours and is probably one of the single highest volume intersections on a provincial highway in the province, if not the single highest.

The 2013 design for the interchange which is now being updated, but I expect it to remain substantially similar:

IConnect here is actually not a new project at all and has been around for a while. The developer has picked up some key, high-profile tenants for the industrial component of the development including L3Wescam, the largest office building built in Hamilton since the StelCo tower in the 1970's (300,000sf):

The industrial component of the development is actually almost built out already - the residential component from my understanding is conditional on the interchange happening, so will move forward in the coming years. With Remington at the helm however, I don't imagine it'll happen in any particular rush..

I too am puzzled at the choice of location for it. It's a location with basically 0 transit access, poor amenity access, etc.

 

[imerk]

I too am puzzled at the choice of location for it. It's a location with basically 0 transit access, poor amenity access, etc.

I guess it is worth noting that the Dundas BRT will hopefully eventually serve this area and connect all the way to the Kipling GO / TTC Transit Hub.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I guess it is worth noting that the Dundas BRT will hopefully eventually serve this area and connect all the way to the Kipling GO / TTC Transit Hub.

Dundas "BRT" west of UTM is only planned to be "priority measures" like fancy bus stops and "queue jump lanes" which are really just right turn lanes.. It's really not a BRT. Right now there isn't even bus service into Burlington from Waterdown along Dundas St. Halton Region is spending big money to widen Dundas St through Burlington right now without much of any significant priority transit measures.

As of right now the only public transit here is a bi-hourly GO bus to Guelph and Hamilton and an infrequent local bus which connects in a winding route to Aldershot GO.

 

[Branden Simon]

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[Branden Simon]

IConnectt Community officially approval to move forward with fourth and final pillar of the LIVE phase.

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[Sunnyside]

Waterdown should theoretically be easy to serve with rapid transit up Hwy 6 and Dundas. Bring this type of density, and maybe the proximity to downtown Hamilton will click. Perhaps Waterdown won’t just be another Meadowlands/Upper ‘Creek?

 

[innsertnamehere]

They have had conditional approval here for a long while, with a hold in place for the interchange before residential started.

The Interchange is starting construction this summer, so the hold is now lifted and they are clear to proceed with the residential. Just in the slowest residential market in decades..

 

[Sunnyside]

They have had conditional approval here for a long while, with a hold in place for the interchange before residential started.

The Interchange is starting construction this summer, so the hold is now lifted and they are clear to proceed with the residential. Just in the slowest residential market in decades..

Maybe so, but high-value areas always retain value better than the market avg. Waterdown’s seen similarly to Burlington, Dundas, Ancaster, etc. Such can act as a ‘safe haven’ for buyers while the rest of the market sh*ts itself.

Its poor planning to be tied solely to highway expansion, but there’s alot going for this from a RE perspective; views, nature, accessibility and a ‘nice area’ with jobs built-in from earlier phases. If the developer starts to think they can’t sell that, then the market is in really bad shape…

 

[innsertnamehere]

What an innovative development..

 

[innsertnamehere]

Also a new rendering from their website:

 

[macro]

Zooming in on the carpool lot in that render, I really hope they didn't remove the bus loop that was in the old plan.

This could be a crucial transfer node for the 17 GO bus. The Aldershot detour is just so convoluted and unnecessary.

This much density should warrant another route anyway. Here is my solution which should ease congestion on the 403 while keeping all of the nodes connected.