New site plans, renderings revealed for major industrial park in Hamilton

New site plans and renderings for a major industrial development that’s the size of New York’s Central Park on Hamilton’s harbourfront were revealed earlier this week.

Slate Asset Management, a global alternative investment platform, provided updates on Oct. 11 about its investments on the 800-acre Steelport and Corktown, two major development projects in Hamilton. The company hosted the event on the future Steelport site at 530 Gage Ave. N.

Slate said it plans to submit a formal master plan for Steelport in the coming months. It plans to break ground on phase one of the project in 2024. The Steelport renderings it released are a preliminary vision for phase one of the development.

“Growing up in this area, I was always proud that steel was produced here because it helped build this country,” Blair Welch, Slate’s co-founding partner, said in a recent press release. “Now, with our investment in Steelport – named partly in celebration of Hamilton’s proud heritage as the Steel Capital of Canada – and Corktown, we are helping to honour a century of enterprise while forging a new future for the city, and we are excited to share these plans with the Hamilton community.”

As part of its master plan for the site that it sent to the City of Hamilton, Slate proposes a multi-use recreational trail network connecting Hamiltonians to industries and the waterfront. It also proposes to preserve Stelco’s coke battery plant structures in a hybrid park.

Moreover, it plans a “Pipe Gallery,” which will have commercial and creative office spaces that will be integrated with the gallery’s infrastructure. This district will be a place for social gatherings and retail amenities for both workers and visitors.

It will also include a Lagoon District by regenerating lagoons to create a “sculptural micro-topography” that creates a park-like environment connected to the waterfront. This district aims to support recreational activities, biodiversity, ecological programs and habitats.

“The proposal offers a transformational opportunity for Hamilton,” Slate wrote in a document about its new site plans. “As the City transitions from its history as a centre for heavy industry to a modern and diversified economy, these remarkable 800 acre lands can support a uniquely Hamilton fusion of new creative industry, community and waterfront connections, and ecological regeneration.”

A proposed plan for Steelport will preserve Stelco’s coke battery plant structures in a hybrid park. COURTESY OF SLATE ASSET MANAGEMENT

Steelport touted as future ‘state-of-the-art’ industrial hub

Slate introduced a preliminary vision for the Steelport project earlier this year. Steelport will be on an 800-acre industrial parcel Slate bought from Stelco Inc. in 2022.

“Slate’s vision is to reshape the underutilized property into one of the largest, state-of-the-art intermodal industrial hubs in the country,” it said in a press release this week.

Redeveloping the site will bring new industry to Hamilton, it added.

It cited an economic study conducted by EY that forecast that it will create up to 23,000 new jobs and inject up to $3.8 billion into Ontario’s economy over the next decade.

“It will also make portions of the Steelport site accessible to the public for the first time in a century,” Slate noted in the release.

Slate launches sales for mixed-use residential project

Along with the Steelport update, this year Slate Asset Management launched sales for Corktown, its first mixed-use residential project in Hamilton.

Slate calls Corktown a “design-forward” 27-storey tower and 14-storey mid-rise, with retail spaces at the ground level.

“The development is set to redefine luxury living in Hamilton with high-end amenities and a premium location in the City’s downtown,” it said in the release.

The Corktown project is located near local parks and nature trails, St. Joseph’s Hospital and McMaster University, as well as pubs, breweries, high-end restaurants and local markets. It’s also a five-minute walk from the Hamilton Go Centre and a 10-minute drive from Highway 403 and the QEW.

One of the project’s two towers, Corktown East is a 27-storey residential tower that is offering studios, one bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, two bedroom, and two-bedroom plus den suites ranging from 340 square feet to 851 square feet. Prices start from the $500,000s.