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Caroline St Private Residences | 22 fl | Complete
#46
(11-23-2015, 03:46 PM)mpd618 Wrote:
(11-23-2015, 02:13 PM)ookpik Wrote: Again, the main barrier to this would be the capital costs of the facility.  Who's going to put up $1M or more to test the concept?

Not sure there's much to test in the idea of a privately-owned parking garage. Sun Life could do it in partnership with a residential developer on even some of their own lands.

I've suggested in the past that Sun Life's block-sized automobile pastureparking lot would be an excellent property to redevelop, possibly in conjunction with GRH. They could put up condo apartments, office space, hospital expansion, parking, etc. by growing up (so to speak.) That might also free up GRH's existing parking garage at King and Green for demolition/redevelopment. And maybe some of the real estate on the other side of King across from Sun and GRH might be redeveloped. I could see more than a few people who work at Sun or GRH ditching their cars and moving to live in the area.
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#47
(11-23-2015, 05:34 PM)Spokes Wrote:
(11-23-2015, 01:51 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I'd expect to see no changes. IIRC, the plans call for the Caroline-facing parking stalls to be assembled and convertible to space to allow for commercial uses to be "carved into" the parking garage. Given the reports of the original developer going hard after 144/155 occupants/purchasers for parking, likely to facilitate the sale to the new developer, there's likely zero chance of a reduction in parking or change in its initial configuration.

I thought there would be no commercial space facing Caroline?

Allowances for future conversion, but as said, nothing in the initial design.
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#48
This one has a website now and it's being advertised on The Record:

http://carolinest.com/

Caroline St. Residences... creative name!
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#49
It 's also ironic that a major selling point on the website is the location "at the Iron Horse trailhead"... that phrase is also under the logo for the project. Funny.
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#50
(12-18-2015, 10:18 AM)insider Wrote: This one has a website now and it's being advertised on The Record:

http://carolinest.com/

Caroline St. Residences... creative name!

Caroline St. Private Residences.  Not sure if that's to distinguish it from nearby public residences, or just because it's in Waterloo.  Wink
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#51
(12-18-2015, 10:34 AM)panamaniac Wrote: Caroline St. Private Residences.  Not sure if that's to distinguish it from nearby public residences, or just because it's in Waterloo.  Wink

That's to distinguish it from places like Victoria Commons, where anyone can take their livestock to graze.
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#52
(12-18-2015, 10:20 AM)insider Wrote: It 's also ironic that a major selling point on the website is the location "at the Iron Horse trailhead"... that phrase is also under the logo for the project. Funny.

Well, now that the trail has been cut in half by City Council’s boneheaded decision, they actually are at the end of the remaining section of the trail!

What I personally find most disappointing about this whole affair is that they had an opportunity to create an interesting pedestrian space between the two halves of the building, a road for pedestrians and cyclists only. This could even have involved a continuous parking garage under the whole site, and perhaps a slight re-routing (maybe a straight diagonal, rather than following the exact path of the old rail line) to work better with the rest of the plan. Instead we get a wholesale detouring of a public transportation route around a single building just so the designers don’t have to be creative with accommodating the existing conditions.
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#53
Advertising about to go up?
   
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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#54
On related note, does anyone know how much of the Bauer parking garage is used by customers for parking (eg how many designated spaces end up being used)? When I stopped in at Vincenzo's last week for my last round of Christmas shopping, cars were back up trying to parking in the short-lived surface lot. Will customers choose to find other quality grocers rather than trying to navigate a parking garage?
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#55
(12-23-2015, 01:19 PM)nms Wrote: Will customers choose to find other quality grocers rather than trying to navigate a parking garage?

Or will they go "the better way" with the LRT stop right at Vincenzo's door stop? Wink
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#56
(12-23-2015, 01:19 PM)nms Wrote: On related note, does anyone know how much of the Bauer parking garage is used by customers for parking (eg how many designated spaces end up being used)?  When I stopped in at Vincenzo's last week for my last round of Christmas shopping, cars were back up trying to parking in the short-lived surface lot. Will customers choose to find other quality grocers rather than trying to navigate a parking garage?

I think it's a good demonstration of the importance of designing parking facilities appropriately. The Bauer surface parking is close and self-evident and obviously free, while the Bauer underground parking's existence is not apparent to most, its entrance is not immediately visible, how to get out of it on foot is a mystery, and whether it costs money is not clear. So it's really not surprising that people try to find the surface parking at Bauer if they can.
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#57
The parking garage is definitely under utilized. Never a problem finding a spot. Stay dry and warmer using the parking garage, there's a stairwell that takes you up right in front of the Bauer Kitchen entrance.
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#58
(12-23-2015, 02:28 PM)Watdot Wrote: The parking garage is definitely under utilized.  Never a problem finding a spot.  Stay dry and warmer using the parking garage, there's a stairwell that takes you up right in front of the Bauer Kitchen entrance.

Is the underground parking a freebie?
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#59
   
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#60
A million bucks eh... that better be one heck of a penthouse... million dollar homes around here are pretty fantastic.
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