The Woolcott Team at Re/Max Escarpment Realty has opened a second office in downtown Hamilton. The new office space takes over a sprawling former bank at 303 James St. N.
“Hamilton has long been underestimated by people and businesses outside of the city,” says Drew Woolcott, broker of record. “We are strong believers in Hamilton and all it has to offer, and this building was the ideal project for us to invest in and grow with the city.”
The building served as a Bank of Hamilton branch as early as 1894.
The building at 303 James St. N. has a long, rich history. The brokerage says its earliest use has “yet to be uncovered (but) it is known to have served as a branch for the Bank of Hamilton as early as 1894. In 1969, it underwent an extensive renovation under the helm of famed Hamilton architect Trevor Garwood-Jones and went on to house a Bank of Montreal branch. Its final iteration, prior to The Woolcott Team’s takeover, was as an illegal cannabis dispensary in early 2020,” says the brokerage in a news release.
“The space was a real diamond in the rough, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to restore it to its former glory and help it shine along with its peers on the strip,” says Woolcott. “It has been a true labour of love keeping the old character while modernizing the space.”
Woolcott was born and raised in the city and opened his real estate business in the early 1990s when he was living in the downtown core.
“Hamilton is really home to me,” says Woolcott. “It’s where I spent my formative years, where I met my wife and had my oldest kids. I am always drawn to the grit of the city and find myself coming back to the excitement of Hamilton time and again.”
He says, “Our goal, post-COVID, is to have this office space become a destination for Hamiltonians to drop in and learn about real estate in an unintimidating, casual environment.”
The design features soft meeting spaces, a coffee bar and drop-in desk spaces for real estate agents to use.
The Woolcott Team is one of the top-selling real estate teams in the Hamilton-Burlington area. It includes more than 25 agents and a full-service support team consisting of marketing, staging and administration. The team services buyers and sellers across Waterdown, Burlington, Hamilton, Flamborough, Dundas and Carlisle. In 2020, the team did more than 500 real estate transactions.
