Stinson School Lofts

200 Stinson Street, Hamilton, ON

Project History

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. Stinson was invited to Hamilton by a local architect who realized that a Candy Factory style and scale of project could have a similar catalyst impact on downtown Hamilton. 

The planets really lined up when the opportunity arose to acquire the historic (1894) Stinson School on Stinson Street in the Stinson neighbourhood, all of which were named after Ebenezer Stinson, a 19th century developer who also established the Stinson Savings Bank (unfortunately no useful connection could be determined, although rumour has it that SSB eventually was absorbed into what is now CIBC). Aside from the backstory and karma, Stinson realized that the combined elements pretty much ensured perpetual high search optimization on Google searches (an ironic insight for a professed techno-cynic).

As with the Candy Factory, each of the 66 suites is unique and photogenic. Every inch of the building was creatively repurposed, including the basement, the attic and even the boiler room, with its 17-foot ceilings providing an ideal opportunity for serious home theatre. The Stinson School has become somewhat of a tourist attraction particularly for realtors cruising around the full-block site to show their clients “the new Hamilton”. And as predicted, the urban renewal impact was dramatic, for which the building (and Stinson) received multiple awards.