Whether for redevelopments or completely new commercial or industrial builds, King & Benton has a proven track record for delivering successful projects to the Southwestern Ontario community.
The Brantford Family YMCA
In 2004, after years of operating in a century-old building, The Brantford Family YMCA sold the property, with a plan to build a new facility at another location. The new facility was only in the planning stages and had no site on which to build. With time running out, The Brantford Family YMCA faced the possibility of having to halt its activities until a new facility was built. A long shut-down would have been detrimental to the group, which has been in operation in Brantford for over 150 years.
A King & Benton Solution
King & Benton redevelopment partnered with The Brantford Family YMCA to come up with a solution. The outcome was a unique partnership between a private developer and a charitable organization. King & Benton owned one of nine remaining properties of Brantford’s original list of top 15 Brownfields. The former site of Work Wear Industries, this Brownfield had lain abandoned for over a decade and was heavily contaminated with Trichloroethylene (TCE), due to its former use as a dry-cleaning facility. With a favourable location and at approximately 22,000 square feet, it was ideally suited to the YMCA. The redevelopment process required to bring the site up to code, however, would be a huge undertaking.Lightning-Speed Redevelopment
The building needed gutting down to the bare walls. The site required the remediation and removal of contaminated soil. The roof needed replacing. The interior required redesign and rebuilding to suit The Brantford Family YMCA’s needs. Within just four months, and without any public funding, King & Benton Redevelopment repurposed one of the most contaminated Brownfields in Brantford and transformed it into a state-of-the-art facility.
The redeveloped facility provided a work-out centre; a gym; a kid’s play-land and babysitting facility; locker and changing rooms; 81 parking spaces with drop-off and pickup areas; administrative offices; and a customer service area.
Giving Back to the Community
During construction of this project, and consistent with King & Benton’s ongoing commitment to the Brantford community, King & Benton, big brothers & big sisters of Brantford and The Brantford Family YMCA hosted an event for local children to have first-hand experience with the many opportunities available in the construction and skills trades.
Once the privately funded Brownfield cleanup was completed, the King & Benton Redevelopment Group donated the building to The Brantford Family YMCA, resulting in a truly one-of-a-kind charitable venture.
695 Bishop Street, Cambridge
Early in 2012, King & Benton began negotiations with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the City of Cambridge and the trustee managing the former Northstar Aerospace plant. The former Northstar plant, an MOECC RFP Director’s Project, is the largest trichloroethylene (TCE) contaminated site in North America.King & Benton is proud to have been chosen the preferred redeveloper for this project by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the City of Cambridge.
The redevelopment included demolition, cleanup and repurposing of 100,000 square feet of industrial space for new nuclear-certified component assembly and storage (BWXT/Bruce Nuclear), which generated more than 75 new jobs and a renewed tax assessment for the City of Cambridge.
King & Benton worked closely with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and the City of Cambridge to effectively remediate and redevelop this facility.
CN Rail Spur Line, Brantford
In late 2015, approximately six (6) kilometres of the CN Rail Line (formerly the Burford Short Line), running from Clarence Street in the East to Parkside Drive in the West, was purchased by King & Benton. The lands comprise 14 parcels over 18.84 acres and are currently undergoing the remediation of Hydrocarbons, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals in preparation for the development of new commercial, residential and park lands for the benefit of transecting neighbourhoods and the greater community.Lot 1 will be transformed into 13 single-family lots with higher-end homes to be built by Schuit Homes.
Plans for Lot 4 are to build loft condos similar to those at the 85 Morrell Street location. Visit our Development Projects – Residential page for more details.
Lot 6 will form part of a land assembly, including the old train station on Market Street, to create a new state-of-the-art student-housing facility for the fast-growing population of students coming to Brantford for their post-secondary school education.
In total, these projects will add 270 new housing units to the downtown core and surrounding area.
44 Elgin Street, Brantford
This former manufacturing plant in Brantford, once occupied by United Technologies Corporation (UTC), was the second largest Trichloroethylene (TCE)-impacted site in Canada; a compliance order had been issued to UTC by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MOECC). King & Benton worked on the remediation of and improvements to the site, bringing a 400,000 square-foot industrial, processing, warehouse and logistics space back to life.81 Elgin Street, Brantford
In 2009, King & Benton purchased this property previously owned by Cascade Canada Inc. who facility had been used for the re-pulping and reproduction of recycled paper into various products, including egg cartons and take-out trays.
Several environmental studies were then performed on the soil, underground water and materials inside the building, indicating heavy metal and hydrocarbon contamination. In early 2012, King & Benton leased the building to GreenMantra Recycling Technologies and their assignor, Ceranovus Chemicals Inc., for the manufacture of wax from plastic waste.
Upon completion of the transaction, King & Benton began redevelopment of the site, which included the remediation of more than 30 tonnes of asbestos, the removal of a 40,000 square-foot second-floor concrete mezzanine and the removal of more than 1,500 tonnes of plant production infrastructure. The result was a completely renovated space to host GreenMantra Recycling Technologies, completed in August 2015.
GreenMantra’s commitment to King & Benton and the City of Brantford includes more than 40 new jobs and a $20 million investment in new equipment and technology.