The Metz (Schneiders site redevelopment)

[Acitta]

Some activity today near between Palmer and Stirling. A bulldozer was flattening out all the mounds of dirt at that end. Also, there was a dump truck which I suppose was dumping something.     

[ac3r]

Looks like they have some tower crane segments there as well...though they also look a bit too small. Hard to tell. Might be something else as I don't see Auburn leasing a crane yet when nothing is even excavated.

[clasher]

There's been crane sections stored there in the past.

[Acitta]

Planning & Strategic Initiatives Committee Agenda
Monday, June 19, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Council Chambers - Hybrid
City of Kitchener
200 King Street W, Kitchener, ON N2G 4G7
The meeting live-stream and archived videos are available at www.kitchener.ca/watchnow.
2
There are updated documents available at the link above.

   

[Lebronj23]

Has this gone through another redesign?

[westwardloo]

Close to 5 years and not a single shovel in the ground. Not surprising considering the glacial pace of Auburn. Honestly I kind of hope this proposal just dies out and Auburn sells the land.  They are a suburban developer who for some reason tries to bring the suburbs to urban context.  Barrel Yards is a bland beige mess of a development, makes me sad everytime I drive down Bridgeport or Erb thinking of what a little variety would have done for that site.  

With the current economic climate I would not be surprised if we are looking at the same site in 10 years.

[neonjoe]

Well with the current state of the site, I wouldn't be surprised if the former office building will have been razed by a fire within 10 years.

[ac3r]

I had a strong feeling this project would turn out like this: stagnated and then it would remain an urban void for years if not a decade or two due to having a horrible developer. Many such cases.

It would be nice if a developer knew they were going to sit on a plot of land like this (especially of this size) that they should be obligated by a bylaw to landscape it and make it look nice. Some grass, pathways, shrubs and so on. It's offensive to the surrounding neighbours to have to stare at piles of rubble, dirt, mud and blowing trash for many years.

[westwardloo]

It would have been nice if the city had the power to subdivide the land prior to the sale of the property, then zone each plot of land and sell to individual developers. This site is too big for 1 developer. Easy for a "Concord" type developer in toronto or Vancouver, but not Kitchener.

[tomh009]

It would have been nice if the city had the power to subdivide the land prior to the sale of the property, then zone each plot of land and sell to individual developers. This site is too big for 1 developer. Easy for a "Concord" type developer in toronto or Vancouver, but not Kitchener.

If the city had owned (or bought) the land, sure, but that kind of thing is super unlikely to happen to a privately-owned property.

[Acitta]

The draft plan for this project received unanimous acceptance by the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee. The developer wants to start work this summer.

[Lebronj23]

I saw on Reddit council asked the developer if they could increase the amount of units they approved and that a revised submission will come in this week, this will increase the heights of some of the towers. It also says construction could start in July for the first phase if approved

[ZEBuilder]

I saw on Reddit council asked the developer if they could increase the amount of units they approved and that a revised submission will come in this week, this will increase the heights of some of the towers. It also says construction could start in July for the first phase if approved

From the reddit thread it says 640 additional units, more than all of TEK tower, and some changes to where affordable housing is going such that alot of it is front loaded in the first building. July for construction seems extremely optimistic since I'd assume this still needs to get site plan approval and then permits. The only way I could see construction occuring is if they start getting the road infrastructure in place since they'd only need subdivision approval.

[tomh009]

Or an excavation permit.

[Acitta]

City council approved this project at last night's meeting. Changes include an increase of 640 units in the 4 towers at the rear of the site. This results in the combined 85 stories being increased to 125 stories across the 4 towers (40 stories increase). There is an increase n in affordable housing units from 135 to 145, (a reduction from 160 originally proposed). However, the number of affordable units in block 2 will increase from 21 to 53. Block 2 will be the first block to be developed starting this July. Also, the cash contribution to the Working Centre for the 97 Victoria project will increase from $850 thousand to one million.