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Recent Updates 

Update, January 2017 - Over 50% sold. The OMB directed the Town and condo developers to come to a resolution to the issue of the variance in questions, specifically to allow 11 stories instead of 8 stories as permitted in the secondary plan, by February 25, 2017. In the meantime, both developer and Town are working on the site plan and other aspects required to move the proposed development forward. 

Updated floor plans have been released with floors 10 and 11 being combined into single, 2 floor units. There are now 18 units planned for those floors vs. the 6 or so originally planned. Square footage for the units is between 732sf to over 1,500sf and can feature 18' ceilings, glass enclosed bedrooms, sky-lights and personal balconies.

Also of note is the several units on the north-west side of the building that have been redesigned with larger terraces (and reduced suite square footage) as a result of feedback from potential buyers. If all goes well, construction should begin in 2018 with occupancy in 2020.

Update, May 2016 - According to staff at the Town of Halton Hills, The Residences of the McGibbon are still subject to an official plan amendment and zoning variance which they expect to comment on in September or October this year. Typically, a developer will wait until they have received zoning and plan amendment approval before they start a site plan, however, I understand that this work has already been started by the develop in anticipation of Town support for the project. It is unlikely that the developer will begin to sell units until these milestones have been passed.

In the meantime, other developments that affect Downtown Georgetown and Park Area residents are also in planning progress at the Memorial Arena site on Mill St. and the old Catholic church site on Maple Ave. The Mill St. location will have 30-50 condos plus a retirement living building while the Maple Ave. site will be an assisted living facility. Maple St. will likely start building this year (2016).

 

Background 

Where local heritage and modern living meet at Mill and Main in the heart of Georgetown. The town's legendary 19th Century landmark, now breathtakingly re-envisioned into a remarkable one-of-a-kind edifice that blends an authentic renovation of the original hotel with a modern residential condominium, offering all the necessities for contemporary life.

 

 

The preliminary stages of building a mid-rise luxury condominium atop the McGibbon Hotel have begun. Georgetown’s SilverCreek Commercial Builders Inc. has been working on finding a way to revitalize the famous hotel since 2014. Now, the company has officially submitted an official plan amendment application and a zoning bylaw amendment application to the Town of Halton Hills to get the project going. “This project is very near and dear to our heart,” Don Jackson, general manager at SilverCreek, said. “We’ve done an unconventional approach by trying to consider every aspect of the impact it will have on the downtown core.” Currently, the McGibbon is not strong enough to house the proposed 11-floor, 125 condo building.

To host the new development, the McGibbon will have to be made structurally sound and will undergo a complete rebuild using as much original material as possible. “We committed that we would save that corner,” Jackson said. “But the engineering in that building is not stable, it can’t be salvaged or constructed properly. So we’ve committed to replacing the building using as much original material as we possibly can.” “It’s going to look like the same old corner,” he said. “It will just have a better retail front on it as well.” The entire project will cost over $50 million to build and will be completed by 2018, but that number is still an estimate.

“The construction phase will take 18 months. To get there, we anticipate roughly 16 months [of planning],” Jackson said. “But that’s the variable. There are a lot of agencies involved… and everybody has to sign off.” One of the biggest concerns residents have brought forward is the impact the 11-storey building will have on the skyline. Jackson explained because of the architecture behind it, the building wouldn’t be seen at eye level or from different vantage points in Georgetown, and the most it will be seen is from the Guelph St. and Main St. S. intersection. “On Main St. you really don’t see the impact of the building at all,” he said. “We stepped it back that way and we did it also so the tallest part of the building is at the back towards the east on Mill St.”

“It has the effect of visually lowering the building,” he said. “This is a very well-thought-out design principle.” Many residents have taken to Facebook to voice both support and why they are against the project. On May 15, Architectural Conservancy Ontario Halton Hills posted an update about the project along with a sketch of the building, informing residents a meeting between the branch’s president Pat Farley and SilverCreek’s Doug Pattison had taken place. “This does not blend in at all with the downtown area,” Jen Winfield-Cass wrote. “This idea should never be given the go ahead. We need to preserve our downtown heritage, not add more overpriced condos!”

Another resident voiced why he supports the project. “I love it,” Jason Farmer wrote. “My family has been in Georgetown for over 100 years. My grandfather was born just up the street. It’s nice to have a cute little bedroom community in Georgetown but it needs growth too. If this can be done while preserving the Main Street, I’m behind it.”