Hamilton looking to sell land under Jackson Square

The city of Hamilton is considering the sale of the downtown property that Jackson Square sits on.

City staff are hoping to get permission to negotiate with the mall’s owner, Yale Properties, about a potential sale at today’s meeting of the general issues committee.

Yale Properties currently has 56 years left on its lease for the downtown property and is looking to add additional 50 years to the deal, but says they are open to talks about buying the property entirely. The mall’s owner says it needs to extend its lease to justify the recent and future renovations for Jackson Square.

The city and Yale have been in talks for several months. According to a report last fall, Yale cited numerous problems with the building that required a complete overhaul, which in turn was an chance to redesign parts of the mall.

The nearly 400,000 square foot mall spans two blocks along King St W between James and Bay street. In recent years Jackson Square has added the Anchor Bar and Nations Fresh Foods.

Yale Properties says the renovations are long-term investments and need a longer lease term to spread the cost over a longer period.

The GIC meeting will be held at 9:30 this morning.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the meeting start time as 9 o’clock. This has been corrected.