IBM not moving into Stelco Tower, but begins 'innovation' work downtown
IBM Canada is looking for commercial space for 'long-term' investment in downtown Hamilton
IBM is not moving into the building formerly known as the Stelco Tower.
The announcement, back in March, that it was planning to came with much fanfare and poetic descriptions of Old Hamilton meeting New Hamilton.
Whether they're in one tower or the other, I think the citizens of Hamilton just want the jobs and innovation in downtown Hamilton.- Glen Norton, urban renewal, city of Hamilton
There's lots of open office space downtown. But the 26-storey Stelco Tower carries particular symbolism as corporate headquarters built at a time when the hometown steel industry was flush and employing thousands of Hamiltonians.
IBM is still moving into downtown Hamilton, into space to be determined, but they've gotten things started with some temporary office space across the street on King Street West.
"There isn't anything negative; it's just normal business," said Ross Rosier, an executive with IBM Canada overseeing the Hamilton operation.
What the international corporation hopes to do here is still undetermined. That can make it difficult to figure out how much office space might be needed, now and later.
'Space that could support more'
IBM announced in March it would set up a collaborative innovation centre with Hamilton Health Sciences to work together on big questions like preventative health care and streamlining patient records and data.
Rosier said the company was looking for space with room for about 50 people to start.
But that may not be the only thing IBM decides to do in Hamilton, Rosier said.
"We're searching for space that will be appealing for our long-term needs," he said. "Space that could support more than just the collaborative initiative. That takes time."
'Bringing people together to solve problems'
Renato Discenza is HHS's executive vice president of enterprise and innovation. He said he and HHS's chief innovation officer will be spending a lot of time in the collaboration space.
The real estate manoeuvring "hasn't been stopping us from getting our engineers, clinicians, IT together," he said. "We're bringing people together to solve problems."
HHS and IBM have settled on "three or four projects already" that they want to focus on, Discenza said.
Those include tapping into the company's Watson technology and the world of cognitive computing to give doctors, nurses and hospital systems insights into what's going to happen to people's health, not just waiting for them to come through the doors of a medical institution.
Some of Hamilton's top researchers have been puzzling for years over the disparities in lifespans and overall health across the city depending on what neighbourhood people live in, what environmental pollution there is and how much money they have.
'Let's face it; it's really about the jobs'
HHS is still moving 350 administrative employees into the Stelco Tower at 100 King St. West beginning next month. The HHS move is supported in part by a $450,000 forgivable loan from the city for improvements to the building.
Glen Norton, the city's urban renewal manager, said he doesn't think anything will be lost by IBM being nearby instead of in the same tower as HHS.
"Let's face it; it's really about the jobs," he said. "Whether they're in one tower or the other, I think the citizens of Hamilton just want the jobs and innovation in downtown Hamilton, that's all."