Featured Property

500 MacNab Street North

The Ken Soble Tower, located at 500 MacNab St N, is owned by CityHousing Hamilton (CHH), Hamilton’s largest provider of subsidized housing. Built in 1967, it is the oldest high-rise multi-residential building in CHH’s portfolio.

This ground-breaking project is North America’s first EnerPHit retrofit of an apartment tower.  The transformation will modernize 146 units to provide high quality, affordable seniors’ housing.

At 18 storeys and morethan 80,000 sq.ft., the Ken Soble Tower will be one of the largest EnerPHit projects in the world. The design tackled several challenging technical issues common to residential apartment towers, including the modernizations of ineffective ventilation systems; replacement of aging mechanical, plumbing and electrical distribution systems; and elimination of thermal bridging at balconies. The retrofit was designed for changing climate, using 2015 temperature projections to test thermal comfort in all seasons.

Slated for completion in 2020, the Ken Soble Tower will be one of the most ambitious social-housing transformations in the country, paving the way for the nation’s aging housing supply to secure a healthy, resilient future for thousands of Canadians.

A high-rise multi-residential building in the city’s North End neighbourhood providing 146 rent-geared-to-income units for seniors. At 18 storeys and more than 80,000 square feet, the CityHousing Hamilton building – also known as the Ken Soble Tower – is one of the largest EnerPHit projects in the world and the first high-rise retrofit to this standard in North America.

Highlights

• # of Units: 146 social housing units, fully rehabilitated
• Status: Construction
• Estimated Completion: 2021, Spring
• Investment: $34M
• Funding Partners: FCM, CMHC, Ontario, Enbridge

Team:

• Owner: CityHousing Hamilton
• Project Management: City of Hamilton
• Architect: ERA Architects Inc.
• Mechanical Engineer: Reinbold Engineering Group
• Building Envelope Engineer: Entuitive Corporation
• Passive House Consultant: JMV Consulting
• Construction Manager: PCL