LIUNA cuts ribbon on new student residence in downtown Hamilton

One of downtown Hamilton’s most active developers has cut the ribbon on its latest project.

It’s a 20-storey, 169-unit residence off James Street North that will bring approximately 400 post-secondary students into the city core.

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The Labourer’s International Union of North America (LIUNA) financed the project through its multi-employer pension fund.

LIUNA’s Joseph Mancinelli believes it will contribute to the core’s “vibrancy.”

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He describes the residence, and other downtown housing projects, as “a means of bringing people like a magnet into the core.”

Mancinelli adds that once there’s people living downtown, “everything changes.”

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The $45 million project has also retained the facade of the 1850’s-era William Thomas building, prompting Mayor Fred Eisenberger to describe it as “a marriage of new and old.”

The residence is adjacent to the previously restored Lister Block on James Street North, another historic building restored by LIUNA.