HAMILTON — Hamilton City Council has approved a brownfield-remediation grant application tied to a planned 512-bed long-term-care development on the former psychiatric hospital lands at 290 Fennell Avenue West.

The October 7 decision supports Schlegel Villages Inc.'s plan to clean up historical soil and fill contamination before redeveloping the site. The City said the project involves approximately $12 million in eligible remediation costs, including contaminated-soil removal, environmental testing and regulatory work.

Grant is tied to future tax revenue

The support comes through Hamilton's Environmental Remediation and Site Enhancement program. Under that model, grants are paid only after redevelopment occurs and are funded from a portion of the new municipal property taxes generated by the completed project, rather than through an upfront City payment.

Hamilton expects the completed development to generate about $1.98 million a year in new municipal property taxes. During the grant period, the City would keep part of that increase for other brownfield and affordable-housing initiatives; after the grant is paid, it would receive the full annual increase.

Two 256-bed homes planned

The long-term-care component, known as the Village of Fennell Ridge, was announced in 2025 and is planned as two 256-bed homes. Schlegel Villages has said 64 existing beds from Hamilton Continuing Care would transfer to the new site, meaning the 512-bed total does not represent 512 net-new spaces.

The wider redevelopment proposal includes future housing and institutional uses. A 2025 City planning notice described five development blocks intended for long-term care, a retirement home, high-density housing and post-secondary education. Schlegel has previously said it hopes to open the new long-term-care village in 2028, but the City release announcing the grant approval did not set a construction-completion date.

The council vote advances the environmental work needed for redevelopment; it is not the same as announcing that all phases are under construction or ready to admit residents.

Sources: City of Hamilton, October 8; Ontario government project announcement; Schlegel Villages project background.

Lead image: Century Manor on the former Hamilton psychiatric hospital lands, photographed by Nhl4hamilton in 2008 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain; file photograph, not an image of current remediation or construction.