General Suburban Updates and Rumours

[ookpik]

The Waterloo Inn will be closing on Dec 15th. They plan to sell the property to be redeveloped.

Has anyone told the guests who are planning to stay there or have Christmas meals ?
See e.g. http://www.waterlooinn.com/d/waterlooinn...dinner.pdf 

The Dec 15th close date is rather surprising because their Christmas brunch is a local tradition. We've gone to it several times. They told me last year they planned to serve upwards of 1,000 meals on Christmas Day alone. With each guest spending $40 for the buffet plus drinks I'd have thought this would be particularly profitable. It would also be an opportunity to thank us for our patronage. 

Waterloo Inn to close in December; economic factors blamed 

The Waterloo Inn Conference Hotel will close on Dec. 15, hotel president Mary D’Alton said Tuesday in a press release.

“Without substantial capital reinvestment, the business is no longer economically sustainable,” she said.

“Primary for us is making sure our employees are treated very fairly and that our clients are cared for.”

Events already booked up for dates until Dec. 15 will take place as expected, the release said.

[panamaniac]

At 19 acres, that is going to be a heck of a redevelopment opportunity.

[tomh009]

(Reposting my post from the other thread ...)

Waterloo Inn to close in December; economic factors blamed

http://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/mobile/water...-1.2640692

Well ... not the economy, for sure.  It's really a business decision for them:

She said the hotel’s owners had decided that the only way to make the business economically sustainable was to invest a significant amount of money – or to find someone else who would take it off their hands and do just that.

They had a very strong position in the Waterloo hotel market for a long time, with the St Jacobs Best Western the only real competition.  And they bought the adjacent land from the former B-K Volvo dealership, so they had opportunity to expand and upgrade.

But they did not move on this, and they did not sign up with any of the major chains (who probably would have required an upgrade as well). Now there is a new Delta in the Barrelyards, Best Western has become a Marriott Courtyard, and there are a (Hilton) Homewood Suites and a Holiday Inn Express next to the Courtyard.  All those properties are more modern than Waterloo Inn -- and that's not even considering Kitchener (even the downtown Crown Plaza is now much-improved).

Waterloo Inn had a huge window of opportunity.  The owners didn't take advantage of it, but it really was their business decision -- they decided to cash in on the land value rather than invest in the hotel.

Let's hope that something good will replace it, whether another hotel or something completely different.  (19 acres/7.5 hectares is big enough for a lot of things, and very close to the LRT.)

[rangersfan]

The City of Kitchener is going to create a new snow dumping facility in South Kitchener.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/607935...e-concerns

[KevinL]

The City of Kitchener is going to create a new snow dumping facility in South Kitchener.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/607935...e-concerns

Interesting that this is the new permanent dump location. They've been in temporary quarters since closing the last one in the late 80s; that location is now the Meinzinger Park soccer fields off Homer Watson, near Stirling.

[rangersfan]

The building on Randall that was demolished is the building right beside Descartes.

[Waterlooer]

This property on Bridgeport Road, close to Weber Street, has had a "SOLD" sign for the past few months. I've tried looking but can't find anywhere on this forum about this property. Just wondering if anyone knows what this is going to be developed into?

[rangersfan]

Waterlooer I have been wondering the same thing, I posted an inquiry a few weeks back but so far no information out there.

[panamaniac]

I don't know if it has been mentioned previously, but I noticed today what looks like a row of townhouses is being built at the corner of Frederick St and Turner Ave, a block or so from the Frederick/Victoria intersection.

[Lens]

Apparently the Wendy's on Fairway road is boarded up. It'll probably see the same fate as the Pizza Hut in the same strip. Buy n' Sell also recently moved to the Toys R Us plaza. It's likely that lot is going to be redeveloped into some fresh commercial space and even more likely that the owners of the adjacent plaza (first capital, I think) are behind the project.

[kwliving]

Apparently the Wendy's on Fairway road is boarded up. It'll probably see the same fate as the Pizza Hut in the same strip. Buy n' Sell also recently moved to the Toys R Us plaza. It's likely that lot is going to be redeveloped into some fresh commercial space and even more likely that the owners of the adjacent plaza (first capital, I think) are behind the project.

TD Bank is apparently opening where the Pizza Hut was according to the sales people at the Stag Shop.

[KevinL]

TD Bank is apparently opening where the Pizza Hut was according to the sales people at the Stag Shop.

Will the Fairview Mall location be moving there, I wonder?

[rangersfan]

Huge subdivision approved in Cambridge.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/616528...s-approved

[GtwoK]

"This has not been replicated anywhere else in the province," Coun. Mike Mann said. "It puts Cambridge on the map again. We become another first."

...what? It's a subdivision. Am I missing what he's referring to, or is he just overzealous?

[MidTowner]

Is he referring to the amount of greenfield that's going to be plowed under? It is a lot, but it doesn't seem record-breaking.

This is intriguing: And a mixed-use main street called Equestrian Way that is being pitched as the city's fourth core area." The name is terrible, obviously, but I'd be interested in the form.