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“We’ve been in downtown Hamilton since 1995, a time when there was a lot of space available,” said Gary Graham, Partner, Gowling WLG. “When our first lease in one of the office towers expired in 2005 we had to decide: do we stay or do we move out to a highway-type location? We chose to stay and to make a big commitment to the fabulous grand banking hall that we moved into. We just love the direction in which the downtown is trending-the emerging foodie scene, the growing younger demographic, and some great new restaurant and patio venues.”

With an ample supply of office spaces that feature brick and beam construction from several decades ago, Hamilton has been able to attract a new suite of office users in new economic areas such as animation, app development, and healthcare development.

In fact, the former office spaces that once housed the executives of Stelco Canada has been renovated into working space for the administrative staff of Hamilton’s largest employer, Hamilton Health Sciences. Across the street, IBM Canada has established a new office presence in collaboration with the hospital, creating IBM’s first innovation centre in Canada focused on cognitive computing and health care.

“The relocation of our administrative offices to the downtown is a signal to the rest of the city, and to outside investors, that we believe in the future of the Hamilton’s core and we want to help enable the changes occurring here, and that healthcare research and innovation are a cornerstone of Hamilton’s economy,” said Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences.