Waterloo Region Connected
725 Main St | 12 fl | Proposed - Printable Version

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725 Main St | 12 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 09-16-2022

A developer is proposing a development for 725 - 775 Main Street in Cambridge with designs by Fryett Turner Architects.

Proposed are 4 townhouse blocks and a 12 floor apartment building containing a total of 254 units. A total of 276 parking spaces are proposed, combined both underground and on surface lots. An outdoor amenity area is proposed on the property as well as protected wetlands at the centre with a private road snaking through the property.

[Image: AUYeOI9.png]


RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - bravado - 09-16-2022

(09-16-2022, 02:08 PM)ac3r Wrote: A developer is proposing a development for 725 - 775 Main Street in Cambridge with designs by Fryett Turner Architects.

Proposed are 4 townhouse blocks and a 12 floor apartment building containing a total of 254 units. A total of 276 parking spaces are proposed, combined both underground and on surface lots. An outdoor amenity area is proposed on the property as well as protected wetlands at the centre with a private road snaking through the property.

[Image: AUYeOI9.png]

This is about 400m from my current spot - There's going to be an absurd amount of resistance for something like this in a forgotten and parking-lot filled corner of town. The large Zehrs-anchored plaza nearby is also very specifically in the city's list of "needs revitalization" during the presentation for 200 Dundas. Main Street is essentially semi-rural at this spot, so a large tower will set a lot of the usual types off.

Franklin Ave already has very serviceable MUTs (north-south), and Main Street is proposed to get on-road bike lanes in 2024 or so. The new, expensive sports complex is set to start construction just south of here on Dundas. Stuff like this will make that project make a lot more sense than it currently does in a very low-density part of town.

Across the street is this project: https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/showthread.php?tid=1668
200m away is this project: https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/showthread.php?tid=1669

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - bravado - 09-19-2022

Just some more images from the documentation that is now on the City's website:

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[size=1][Image: e7I0NP3.png][/size]

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - Spokes - 09-20-2022

Is it just me or does this feel very....blah?

I get not every project can be award winning, but this is just bland.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - neonjoe - 09-20-2022

(09-20-2022, 10:01 AM)Spokes Wrote: Is it just me or does this feel very....blah?

I get not every project can be award winning, but this is just bland.
The shape and massing remind me of some of the Mid-Late 70s rental buildings in Kitchener.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - bravado - 09-20-2022

Is it bad if the blandness keeps costs down in a rental (not condo) building? Are we in a place where developers feel some shame or market pressure for ugliness (hell no)?

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 09-20-2022

(09-20-2022, 11:10 AM)bravado Wrote: Is it bad if the blandness keeps costs down in a rental (not condo) building? Are we in a place where developers feel some shame or market pressure for ugliness (hell no)?

Agreed. It's bland but not offensive, but it'll provide much-needed rental housing units.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 09-20-2022

I've got such mixed opinions on this. On the one hand, as an architect and designer, I understand the need and importance of good design. A good looking building has immense value that we can't tangibly measure and even perceiving the rewards is tricky to quantify. But the benefits of good design exist nonetheless. To quote an article I recently read...

Quote:Adding to this refresh is Louisa Talks Buildings, a TikTok account with more than 392,000 followers run by 18-year-old Louisa Whitmore. "My perspective is ‘man on the street looking at a building,’ which I think is a very important perspective because those are the people who are actually experiencing the building," says Whitmore

And that's very true. Who experiences buildings the most? The people who live, work and travel amongst them. Not the architects, designers, critics etc. So a good looking building is important. We can look at the disasters of 20th century modernist social housing to see that a cold, lifeless environment generally has a negative psychological and socioeconomic impact when your surroundings look depressing. London has tore down countless buildings because they bred anti-social behaviour as the environments were awful. Meanwhile, you had more playful architects like La Corbusier who, even when designing "social" housing or buildings, would still be playful with his work by utilizing colour, sound, light etc and now his buildings are timeless works of human civilization.

But then at the same time, not every building needs or can be designed to be nice and that's especially true in residential structures. You need to at least try to make them look fine, but they don't need to win awards. Residential architecture is very much a functional thing and housing people is the most important thing. So while this is a pretty generic looking apartment block, it's like...oh well, build it anyway because that's 254 new places for people to live in.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - westwardloo - 09-21-2022

My biggest issue is that the city did not force the developer to continue the street "grid" of that nieghbourhood from Green Gate to Main. That area of cambridge is a suburban hellscape, yet so close to downtown galt. Such a shame that somewhere in the last 100 years planners in north america forgot how to design cities. Zoning, parking minimums and giving large developers the power over road and park placements ruined virtually every city.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - nms - 09-22-2022

It's hard to tell from the satellite phot of the property, but is the pond a natural feature? I could imagine that it could have been a challenge to continue Ferncliffe up to Main St without having to go through the wet area.

RE: 725 Main Street | 12 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 09-23-2022

Yes, it's an existing body of water hence why they'll preserve it. With some pathways and benches it could be a nice feature on the property unless there's some environmental rule that wouldn't allow that (potential pollution and such).

RE: 725 Main St | 12 fl | Proposed - bravado - 12-08-2022

Just a note this will be coming up in a very useful public information centre:

https://www.cambridge.ca/en/learn-about/Growth-and-Intensification-Study.aspx

https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/planners-setting-the-stage-to-reshape-key-parts-of-the-city-6214764