Indwell plans to demolish a derelict former theatre in west Hamilton and build roughly 50 units of supportive housing as the charity continues to focus on turning a rising tide of homelessness.
The non-profit housing provider has bought 434 King St. W., a boarded-up address near Locke Street and Victoria Park where the Kenmore Theatre opened in the 1920s, for $1 million.
“I’m excited because we’ll be able to develop the site quickly into new, stable homes,” Jess Brand, Indwell’s regional director for Hamilton, told The Spectator.
Indwell plans to demolish the former Kenmore Theatre on King Street West and build 50 units of supportive housing.
The plan is to use modular construction for a faster delivery of deeply affordable and supportive housing.
“We’re looking at construction options that will minimize time on-site,” said Graham Cubitt, director of projects and development.
The target is to have a building up within six months, he noted.
The plan calls for a commercial element and upper-floor terrace spaces for outdoor programs, but the future building’s height isn’t determined yet.
However, transit-oriented zoning in place on King allows for up to six storeys, Cubitt noted.
The Kenmore redevelopment promises to breathe new life into a tired leg of King where more than one revitalization project has fizzled.
“There’s been so much investment in the site over the years, people that care about it and really tried to keep it going,” Brand said.
Indwell’s plan promises to bring “brightness, newness and vibrancy” to the area, she said.
This past winter, a tour of the “rickety” building, which CHCH TV also once called home, left little doubt it would be a knock-down.
“And we’ve been in a lot of old buildings,” Brand said.
That includes Century Manor, a heritage survivor from the original 1875 Hamilton Asylum for the Insane on the west Mountain brow, which has “good bones,” Brand said.
Indwell is refurbishing the long-shuttered building and converting it into 41 supportive housing units.
In the east end, the non-profit is using modular construction to build 32 apartments after demolishing a problem-plagued bar on Ottawa Street North.
Those supportive-housing units will complement 12 apartments Indwell has already built in a refurbished brick building next door that includes The Cannon coffee shop.
The Christian charity has 14 sites in Hamilton and provides supportive housing for 1,450 in 10 Ontario communities.
Supportive housing, which can include an array of programs, including meal planning, addiction counselling and health services, is widely seen as key in helping to keep vulnerable people off the street.
An Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) report warned the province’s homelessness crisis could get significantly worse, with as many as 297,000 without housing by 2035 if the right mix of measures and funds aren’t dedicated to the problem.
In 2025, funding for housing and homelessness combined in Ontario was $4 billion, with municipalities providing about $2 billion of that, the AMO report estimated.
Hamilton’s new housing and homelessness action plan, a provincially mandated document that maps out the city’s approach to 2035, also calls for more help from senior levels of government.
Last year, Hamilton put $191.6 million toward housing and homelessness, which was $5.7 million more than in 2024, the report says.
“Transformational change cannot be made under the current investment model. City of Hamilton taxpayers currently fund 75 per cent of the total investment in housing and homelessness; over three times more than other levels of government.”
In an emailed statement last month, Housing Minister Rob Flack’s office said municipalities, not the Ontario government, allocate provincial funds “to ensure local needs are addressed.”
This year, the province is “investing over $27 million in Hamilton” for shelters, outreach, housing assistance and supportive housing.
In Hamilton, more than 3,000 people have been homeless for at least one day, on average, since 2021, the city’s action plan notes.
Moreover, the city saw a 200 per cent increase in unsheltered homelessness between November 2020 and October 2025. Local shelters served 3,260 people last year.
Indwell is part of a coalition of non-profit housing providers called Hamilton is Home that aims to build 5,000 units by 2030.
With that goal hinging on government funding, coalition members have filed applications to Ottawa’s new $13-billion housing agency, Build Canada Homes.
Of particular interest is its planned $1-billion commitment for supportive and transitional housing operations, the delivery of which is still subject to talks with territories and provinces, including Ontario.
The “outcomes of those discussions will be announced in due course in collaboration with partners,” the federal housing ministry recently told The Spectator in an email statement.
Meanwhile, Indwell’s plan for the former Kenmore Theatre property marks another project in the western city along with Century Manor on the Mountain.
“It’s important to have supportive housing in different places where people live,” Brand said. “Our whole city needs this as we all know.”
With the project in its early stages, Indwell hopes to commemorate the former venue and is making a call for memorabilia and ideas.
“We care about honouring the building’s history,” Brand said.
Indwell