Most noticeable is the recent opening of the Canadian Tire gas bar on the northeast quadrant of Clappison’s Corners next to the Canadian Tire/Mark’s Work Wearhouse department store. A Bank of Montreal is also being built on the east corner of Clappison Avenue and Dundas Street and just north of the bank, a new Starbucks is under construction. The bank is tentatively scheduled to open Wednesday, October 22.

Six additional businesses are planned further back from Dundas Street and adjacent to Boston Pizza and Zellers. Immediately west of the pizza eatery on Horseshoe Crescent, a Squire’s Pub will be built and further west along the street, a new Turtle Jacks will be built. Currently under construction near the end of Horseshoe Crescent is The Keg and just west of Zellers, the frame of a new building that will house a Dollarama can be seen. A Value Village and Royal Mattress store will be built on sites west of the Dollarama.

While the north side of Dundas Street at Clappison’s Corners is a beehive of construction activity, the south side lies temporarily inactive, except for RONA and the Scotiabank branch that opened last fall. However, a commercial strip mall has been proposed for a 3.4-hectare (8.4-acre) L-shaped site on the eastern edge of the southeast quadrant. According to information revealed at a meeting early this year, the plaza could see as many as five separate buildings occupying about 60,000 square feet of commercial space. Under the current zoning, permitted uses on the property include a bank, restaurant, convenience store, dry cleaning outlet, appliance store, a small household improvement store, and personal service outlets, such as a beauty salon, barbershop or tanning salon.

In January, Hamilton’s committee of adjustment approved an application allowing for construction of a 170,996-square-foot department store on the southeast quadrant.