General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[DK519]

Last building at Duke/Madison is coming down. Still no plan for what will be built here.

I thought Vive was going to be developing this property but apparently they are not?

[ac3r]

No development plan has yet been submitted but they've got it approved to be rezoned to R7 with Special Regulation Provisions to permit a mid-rise development. With the buildings being demolished, I'm guessing a developer will soon submit something:

You can read the community circulation letter here, which elaborates on the Special Regulation Provisions and includes two maps of the area.

[ac3r]

Today is the community meeting for 22 Weber Street. I'm not sure where or how to access the meeting since I can't find anything on the website (it simply says you are to email Jessica.Vieira@kitchener.ca), but I expect it will be full of NIMBYs because they have been coming out in force to oppose this development.

Hopefully their grievances get shot down and this gets approved. It's a perfect place for a much needed residential building. It's a barely used parking lot and we need more homes in this region/country ASAP.

[BruceAshe]

Today is the community meeting for 22 Weber Street. I'm not sure where or how to access the meeting since I can't find anything on the website (it simply says you are to email Jessica.Vieira@kitchener.ca), but I expect it will be full of NIMBYs because they have been coming out in force to oppose this development: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience...3%2Cview_6

Hopefully their grievances get shot down and this gets approved. It's a perfect place for a much needed residential building. It's a barely used parking lot and we need more homes in this region/country ASAP.

I was given this information regarding the meeting for 22 Weber. I did not register for it though. "Please register by 1pm, Tuesday, September 7th to attend.  To register, email Jessica Vieira at Jessica.Vieira@kitchener.ca  Registrants are asked to include their name, email and mailing address with their registration request."

[BruceAshe]

Last building at Duke/Madison is coming down. Still no plan for what will be built here.

I thought Vive was going to be developing this property but apparently they are not?

Last I heard it was supposed to be Vive as well. Have you heard differently? They were part of the rezoning meeting last summer and spoke as the party that was planning to buy the properties once they were rezoned to R7. Although, they were also the ones that planned to renovate the church into 10 units, and that is obviously not what's happening now.

[DK519]

I thought Vive was going to be developing this property but apparently they are not?

Last I heard it was supposed to be Vive as well. Have you heard differently? They were part of the rezoning meeting last summer and spoke as the party that was planning to buy the properties once they were rezoned to R7. Although, they were also the ones that planned to renovate the church into 10 units, and that is obviously not what's happening now.

I e-mailed them the other day and they replied that they were "no longer involved with this project."

[BruceAshe]

Last I heard it was supposed to be Vive as well. Have you heard differently? They were part of the rezoning meeting last summer and spoke as the party that was planning to buy the properties once they were rezoned to R7. Although, they were also the ones that planned to renovate the church into 10 units, and that is obviously not what's happening now.

I e-mailed them the other day and they replied that they were "no longer involved with this project."

Hmmm....Now I'm even more curious. Wonder if the demo crew would know anything?

[BruceAshe]

There might be a better place to ask this question, but all the discussion about Duke and Madison has been here so I'm going to stick with it. Is it normal for plans to be made to tie a now empty lot into the water lines without a site plan having been submitted to the city? I honestly have no idea what the usual process is for this sort of thing, but I was just talking to the guy who is currently spray painting the road and sidewalk trying to mark the water lines for whatever is being developed. Do they need to know this sort of info before making a plan?

[taylortbb]

The Victoria St N property is I believe the strip mall at the corner of Victoria/Duke that currently has The Cake Box in it. I was told to expect 40+ floors there.

I can confirm the plaza at Victoria/Duke was sold to Spear Street Capital. Based on the sale price (similar per acre to 10 Duke and its record-setting price) it will definitely need to be a dense development to be viable.

That said, Spear Street focuses on commercial development, and there's a rumour it was purchased for Google. I'm skeptical of Google being involved, it seems more logical they'd do a Breithaupt Block phase 4 with Perimeter. But it's probably an office project, and Spear Street is a major name.

I believe Spear Street's only previous activity in the region was when BlackBerry sold them their entire real estate portfolio for ~$300M. A 1 acre site is a comparatively small deal, but the fact a commercial developer of international status (based in SF, owns properties across North America and Europe) is interested in DTK is certainly a vote of confidence in the region.

[Spokes]

Definitely intriguing to say the least. It's a great location

[Acitta]

14-unit condo development in the Chicopee area will increase traffic on their quiet cul-de-sac, Kitchener residents say

[neonjoe]

I guess 14 units will increase traffic to about 1400 AADT.... give me a break. Lets say each of those units has two cars and they each take 4 trips per day thats 112 times in and out per day or 224 passes of the residents houses. If we cut that down to a 12 hour period thats one additional car every three minutes. THAT DOES NOT COUNT AS TRAFFIC!

[danbrotherston]

I guess 14 units will increase traffic to about 1400 AADT.... give me a break. Lets say each of those units has two cars and they each take 4 trips per day thats 112 times in and out per day or 224 passes of the residents houses. If we cut that down to a 12 hour period thats one additional car every three minutes. THAT DOES NOT COUNT AS TRAFFIC!

Yes, and it's literally a dozen homes, who won't even have traffic right on their street.

They want the city to spend 1.5MM to build a new access road, and successfully delayed the project to investigate.

It's incredibly frustrating, these selfish people who can't even comprehend the idea of change are the same damn ones who'll complain incessantly about taxes.

[tomh009]

Just because they have lived there MORE THAN TEN YEARS!

[tomh009]

The four houses at 80-96 Sydney St N are in the process of being demolished. Zoned R-7 so it allows a seven-floor mid-rise building (24m max) or a three-floor townhouse complex (10.5m).

Maximum FAR is only 1.0, though, so given the total property size of 0.96 acres (41,800 sqft), that would be a floorplate of only about 5,200 sqft for an eight-storey building. So, if they do go mid-rise, I expect to see a variance request to increase the FAR.

There was a bit of a pause after the demolition was completed, but the permits have been granted (44 units of stacked townhouses in two buildings of 20 and 24 units) and construction is starting. I am going to guess that it's four stories, with the bottom floor partially below grade, but that's just a guess.

Very happy to see this kind of "missing middle" density being built in an existing residential neighbourhood.