For $1 million, you can buy former home of a Hamilton massage parlour
Published September 1, 2022 at 12:41 pm
A remnant of a seamier Hamilton — located well within walking distance of grocery stores, coffee shops and the waterfront — is on the market.
A realtor in Hamilton is selling the property at 18 Barton St. E., which was long the home of a massage parlour. Tucked just around the corner from trendy James North, the 3,210-sq.-ft. building is being sold for $999,750 by Ron Ashwood, a RE/MAX broker based in Mississauga. It includes a business space on the ground floor — which is likely the source of the reputation attached to the address — and four second-storey apartments with “a solid core of tenants,” according to the listing.
A virtual tour posted on mediatours.ca acknowledges the address’ history: “This Property Is For A Discerning Buyer … Google the address. Yes Ladies and gentleman, this was Aroma Therapy & Spa. The main floor was gutted and rebuilt 2018 for that use.”
The massage businesses located at 18 Barton E. also went by Today’s Temperature, Venus, Exxotica Spa and Signature Spa. The virtual tour posted on YouTube shows that many of the tools of the trade — an automatic banking machine, sheet-draped tables and a sign declaring that certain services are officially not on offer — are still in the domicile.
That said, the 130-year-old building is said to be “in good condition,” with the ground floor business space having been remodelled less than five years ago. As well, “all chattels… (such as) security system, TV Monitors, room furnishings, counters and light fixtures” are part of the deal.
The building does not have on-site parking. However, it scores 90 or higher in 2-of-3 Walkscore categories. The lowest score is for transit, but it is only a 350-metre walk from the West Harbour GO Station.
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Massage businesses in Hamilton have been described as a mixture of legitimate, illegal and in-between.
In 2019, Hamilton Police looked into the activities of nine massage businesses as part of Project Orchid, an operation which also involved, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada Border Services Agency, Ministry of Finance and City of Hamilton municipal law enforcement.
Advocates for sex workers, and migrant sex workers in particular, have said such operations do not address the root causes that lead to people choosing sex work.
In Hamilton, the Sex Workers’ Action Program (SWAP) offers a safe space to sex workers. It is located at 771 Barton E., and offers several resources and drop-in services, including free counselling from registered psychotherapists.
(Photos, video, graphic via RAMedia. Link found via r/Hamilton.)
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