+- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com)
+-- Forum: Land Development and Real Estate (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Urban Areas (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Thread: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=8)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 03-15-2022
I find the Doon situation so frustrating. The college has been there for five decades. Not every student can be expected to commute. They can't just wall themselves off and bury their heads in the sand.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - danbrotherston - 03-15-2022
(03-15-2022, 02:36 PM)KevinL Wrote: I find the Doon situation so frustrating. The college has been there for five decades. Not every student can be expected to commute. They can't just wall themselves off and bury their heads in the sand.
Facing reality is something a lot of people in our society seem unwilling to do...
Just like forcing people to face reality is something politicians seem unwilling to do (perhaps because legitimately, it will cost them an election).
So we kick the COVID/Climate Change/Housing can down the road just a little bit farther...until we've walked all the way to mordor.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-15-2022
(03-15-2022, 08:58 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Contrary to the claims here, I feel the new housing is significantly better than earlier housing. And the city has spent a significant amount of effort to improve the urban design of the area.
I don't know how much "earlier" you mean here, but I think for the student towers, there has been some trend toward improvement, at least looking from outside the buildings. The earliest ones, that row of towers on King St between University Ave and Columbia St is the worst. Some of the recent buildings are more or less OK, and not many of them are atrocious. A low bar, I know ...
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 03-15-2022
Maybe my standards are just too high for things. Being an architect that has worked for very good firms and in cities from Berlin to Toronto to Paris, when I see this sort of stuff or the decisions our cities/region makes, I can't help but hate it. I suppose if you're not personally involved in this field of work or just lack a knack for art/design, you really don't realize how bad it all is which is why I am always surprised to see comments on this forum from people saying certain things aren't that bad. The bar is super low for this region and to me that's depressing, because cities should be built in the best way possible.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - danbrotherston - 03-15-2022
(03-15-2022, 03:31 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(03-15-2022, 08:58 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Contrary to the claims here, I feel the new housing is significantly better than earlier housing. And the city has spent a significant amount of effort to improve the urban design of the area.
I don't know how much "earlier" you mean here, but I think for the student towers, there has been some trend toward improvement, at least looking from outside the buildings. The earliest ones, that row of towers on King St between University Ave and Columbia St is the worst. Some of the recent buildings are more or less OK, and not many of them are atrocious. A low bar, I know ...
By earlier, I mean housing built largely on Lester and King when things were opened up say ~10 years ago.
I should have said recent housing, built in the past 4-5 years, I feel is significantly better.
So yes...I agree...more or less.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - CP42 - 03-16-2022
Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Lebronj23 - 03-16-2022
(03-16-2022, 03:13 PM)CP42 Wrote: Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St
Is that currently the Deloitte office building surrounded by large parking lots?
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - CP42 - 03-16-2022
(03-16-2022, 03:44 PM)Lebronj23 Wrote:(03-16-2022, 03:13 PM)CP42 Wrote: Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St
Is that currently the Deloitte office building surrounded by large parking lots?
Correct - owned by Allied.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 03-16-2022
That was renovated not that long ago, so I don't think they'd do anything with it. It's a very nice building. Even the parking is likely to stay. I think they specifically saved that old smokestack from demolition because it is one of the few remaining old smokestacks downtown.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - CP42 - 03-16-2022
If a large plot of land is sold to a developer - are these sales made public? If so, where could we see that?
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-17-2022
You can see the land ownership in Kitchener's Open GIS system. It won't show actual transactions.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Lens - 03-17-2022
Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.
In related news, this parcel on Breithaupt has been assembled and I can guarantee Allied would love to own the rest of the side of the block: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/23955019/48-breithaupt-street-kitchener
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 03-17-2022
Looks like that package leaves out 44 Breithaupt, though. It has a modern new porch and balcony, it would be interesting to see it as the only house remaining...
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - CP42 - 03-17-2022
(03-17-2022, 05:32 PM)Lens Wrote: Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.
I’m fairly familiar with the building and there was a group of 5 or 6 people finely dressed getting a rather extensive tour of the property, inside and out. Makes me believe it is being scouted out.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ac3r - 03-17-2022
(03-17-2022, 08:35 PM)CP42 Wrote:(03-17-2022, 05:32 PM)Lens Wrote: Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.
I’m fairly familiar with the building and there was a group of 5 or 6 people finely dressed getting a rather extensive tour of the property, inside and out. Makes me believe it is being scouted out.
Hmm I wonder who they were with haha. Today I saw another crew of white hardhats parking at the lot by the Covid-19 test centre, but they went off somewhere in the direction of Queen Street. There's definitely some consulting firms eyeing places around downtown.