General Business Updates and News

[panamaniac]

The place on King E is not good/"authentic"?

[robdrimmie]

The place on King E is not good/"authentic"?

I can't speak to authenticity but I can say with some confidence that Sahar's kitchen is good. I think it's not well known yet though.

[bpoland]

Chopan Kabob near Highland and Belmont is really good. I also can't comment on authenticity (they call themselves Afghan/Indian) but everything is delicious and the folks are super nice.

[tomh009]

The place on King E is not good/"authentic"?

I can't speak to authenticity but I can say with some confidence that Sahar's kitchen is good. I think it's not well known yet though.

Sahar's is good (albeit heavy use of oil, but that's a fairly common practice for restaurants) but off the beaten path. And the ambiance is, uhh, fairly basic.

Having two options would be nice.

[tomh009]

Chopan Kabob near Highland and Belmont is really good.  I also can't comment on authenticity (they call themselves Afghan/Indian) but everything is delicious and the folks are super nice.

But a fairly lengthy walk from DTK ...

[bpoland]

Chopan Kabob near Highland and Belmont is really good.  I also can't comment on authenticity (they call themselves Afghan/Indian) but everything is delicious and the folks are super nice.

But a fairly lengthy walk from DTK ...

Ah, fair enough.

[taylortbb]

Indeed, if located in DTK. Not sure if we know the exact location yet.

They currently have an office in DTK, looks like they have for a few months. But I don't believe it's currently large enough for that headcount, so we'll see where they expand to.

[panamaniac]

Indeed, if located in DTK. Not sure if we know the exact location yet.

They currently have an office in DTK, looks like they have for a few months. But I don't believe it's currently large enough for that headcount, so we'll see where they expand to.

There's space available in the two new buildings under construction, if they're looking for that class of office space.  One hears that there may be space availble in the King Centre as well (  ).  Although they're also looking for production space, no?

[robdrimmie]

I can't speak to authenticity but I can say with some confidence that Sahar's kitchen is good. I think it's not well known yet though.

Sahar's is good (albeit heavy use of oil, but that's a fairly common practice for restaurants) but off the beaten path. And the ambiance is, uhh, fairly basic.

Having two options would be nice.

I'm very much in favour of multiple options and I resent the implication that I suggested otherwise. I did no such thing.

Also, regarding the beaten path, I submit that your awareness of something is not a measure of its popularity. It's literally on King street, less than a block from Frederick Station and closer to King and Queen - the centre of DTK afaik - than Victoria street is. If you think that area isn't heavily trafficked I suggest you spend more time there. There's tons of foot traffic during the day.

[tomh009]

Sahar's is good (albeit heavy use of oil, but that's a fairly common practice for restaurants) but off the beaten path. And the ambiance is, uhh, fairly basic.

Having two options would be nice.

I'm very much in favour of multiple options and I resent the implication that I suggested otherwise. I did no such thing.

Also, regarding the beaten path, I submit that your awareness of something is not a measure of its popularity. It's literally on King street, less than a block from Frederick Station and closer to King and Queen - the centre of DTK afaik - than Victoria street is. If you think that area isn't heavily trafficked I suggest you spend more time there. There's tons of foot traffic during the day.

I did not intend to imply anything... I only said that it would be nice to have two options.

I walk a lot downtown, including the stretch of King St E down to the market and the Drewlo project. Based on my anecdotal observations, though, I think the lunchtime demographic is much different on the E side of Frederick/Benton than on the W side. Toward Queen St and Victoria St, the people look like mostly office workers out for lunch, whereas near Sahar, the lunchtime crowds look like mostly high-school students. I have no actual data or studies to back this up, but most of the DTK office space is well W of Frederick/Benton so Sahar really does end up being a bit out of the way for the lunchtime tech crowd.

[taylortbb]

They currently have an office in DTK, looks like they have for a few months. But I don't believe it's currently large enough for that headcount, so we'll see where they expand to.

There's space available in the two new buildings under construction, if they're looking for that class of office space.  One hears that there may be space availble in the King Centre as well (  ).  Although they're also looking for production space, no?

What makes you think they're looking for production space? I haven't seen any sign they're looking for production space, but I'm certainly no authority and happy to be corrected. Electronics manufacturing in NA is nearly impossible these days, outside of low volume prototyping (and even that's going away with overnight shipping).

I do think 345 King and Glove Box will do wonders for attracting tech offices to DTK. Right now 305 King is the only building that I think has received a true top-to-bottom reno to bring it up to modern standards. Europro has definitely been improving the quality of their offerings, but I don't think they've quite matched Perimeter's budget.

[tomh009]

What makes you think they're looking for production space? I haven't seen any sign they're looking for production space, but I'm certainly no authority and happy to be corrected. Electronics manufacturing in NA is nearly impossible these days, outside of low volume prototyping (and even that's going away with overnight shipping).

Not impossible, but NA is clearly not the right place for high-volume, low-cost manufacturing. Complex high-value, lower-volume products that need quick and/or responsive manufacturing are still quite possible. Celestica, for example, still has 16 (I think) locations in US and Canada.

[panamaniac]

There's space available in the two new buildings under construction, if they're looking for that class of office space.  One hears that there may be space availble in the King Centre as well (  ).  Although they're also looking for production space, no?

What makes you think they're looking for production space? I haven't seen any sign they're looking for production space, but I'm certainly no authority and happy to be corrected. Electronics manufacturing in NA is nearly impossible these days, outside of low volume prototyping (and even that's going away with overnight shipping).

I do think 345 King and Glove Box will do wonders for attracting tech offices to DTK. Right now 305 King is the only building that I think has received a true top-to-bottom reno to bring it up to modern standards. Europro has definitely been improving the quality of their offerings, but I don't think they've quite matched Perimeter's budget.

I thought that it was mentioned in the original report.  Perhaps I'm mistook.

Edit:  Indeed it was mentioned in the origianl CBC report that I saw:

He said they plan to hire 250 to 300 engineers as they set up a production facility in the region. (my bold)

VVDN is an acronym for voice, video, data, network. The company manufacturers products such as wifi access points, artificial intelligence cameras and computer networks, as well as doing product design for voice, video, data and network electronics.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-1.5363882

[jwilliamson]

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...3610046801

Between 2012 and 2016 the economy of the KWC CMA grew by about 20%. The Canadian economy as a whole grew by 10% over the same period.

[jeffster]

They currently have an office in DTK, looks like they have for a few months. But I don't believe it's currently large enough for that headcount, so we'll see where they expand to.

There's space available in the two new buildings under construction, if they're looking for that class of office space.  One hears that there may be space availble in the King Centre as well (  ).  Although they're also looking for production space, no?

Actually, yeah, King Centre would be a good spot. Potential for building growth too.