Residential apartments going up beside Stoney Creek Value Village plaza. Pictured are members of the New Horizon team during an October 2021 sod-turning event at the 870 Queenston Rd. site. The team is holding an artist’s rendering of the development. Photo credit: New Horizon
New Horizon Development Ltd. is in the process of constructing a 14-storey rental building at 870 Queenston Rd. The project broke ground in Fall 2021 and is targeting a LEED gold designation for environmental sustainability.
A number of other buildings in Hamilton are LEED-certified, but none of them are multi-residential high-rises. Thus, 870 Queenston Road would become the first open-market multi-residential building in Hamilton to hold the certification. The apartments will have a geothermal heat exchange system as well as solar energy generation.
The original proposal was meant to be 19 storeys tall, but was cut down to the current 14 storeys after mediation between the City of Hamilton and the developer. Opponents of the development wanted it limited to nine storeys, in line with most of the nearby apartments on Queenston Road and Riverdale.
Despite the knockdown in height, the building will retain the same number of units as the original proposal (219 units). But, as a result of the height decrease, 75 per cent of the units will have to be one bedroom.
New Horizon is also designating 20 per cent of the units to be affordable at mid or below market rates for the next 10 years.
There will be approximately 265 parking spaces, with an underground parking garage providing most of the spots. Residents will access the building through the Battlefield Plaza at 860 Queenston Road which is home to Value Village and Denninger’s.
Hamilton City Council originally voted to oppose the development altogether in February 2017 even though it was supported by staff. The site has been undergoing remediation and work on the geothermal heat exchange system. A large construction crane was erected on the site a few weeks ago.
The apartment is less than 500 metres from the future Eastgate Mall LRT terminus. It is also located close to the future Confederation GO station and is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2024.
New Horizon states that construction is generating “over 408,000 employment hours for a primarily locally-based workforce.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
