General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[urbd]

What is happening with the plaza beside Northern Thai (91 Queen)? It appears to be dying a slow death. It seems like a great opportunity beside the LRT stop to create new storefront density, up to the sidewalk - made of brick, like nearby buildings, at 3-5 stories.

The plaza has been struggling for years, nay, decades. But Beesan Halal Market is a relatively new tenant (just over a year) and is occupying a decent chunk, and bringing in some much needed customer traffic now.

The future will surely be a taller redevelopment, there is not much value in tearing it down and rebuilding it next to the street with the same two-storey height. With residential bonusing, they could easily build a 10-12 storey mixed-use building, literally next door to an LRT stop (and only a block away from the westbound stop). But I don't expect to see this in the next five years. Maybe ten, though.

Nope, I'm sure it will be another 25+ storey tower. If they consolidate a few properties they can assemble land a bit larger than Charlie West. It's perfect, with 3 street frontages! And yes, I know about the church at the corner of Church and Queen... not sure if its designated heritage or not.