Barra on Queen | 7 fl | Complete

[panamaniac]

Has the Serbian convenience store at Courtland and Benton gotten around to opening their sandwich bar yet?  They renovated the place last year and it's been quiet since.

[mpd618]

I asked city planners about the absence of street interaction, and they explained that the setback is due to protected vistas of an adjacent heritage property.

[MidTowner]

I asked city planners about the absence of street interaction, and they explained that the setback is due to protected vistas of an adjacent heritage property.

Ugh. Which one? If I don't know, I probably don't care (in this instance- I'm sure that there are many examples of "protected vistas" that really do deserve protection).

On a street like Queen, proper interaction with the street should be a major requirement. And mixed-use should be prioritized.

Thanks for calling and finding out the reason for us.

[nms]

I asked city planners about the absence of street interaction, and they explained that the setback is due to protected vistas of an adjacent heritage property.

Ugh. Which one? If I don't know, I probably don't care (in this instance- I'm sure that there are many examples of "protected vistas" that really do deserve protection).

On a street like Queen, proper interaction with the street should be a major requirement. And mixed-use should be prioritized.

Thanks for calling and finding out the reason for us.

My guess would be the large red house two lots east on Queen that is also owned by Polocorp.

I think the Barra Castle property is too far away from Schneider House to affect the vistas.

[panamaniac]

Ugh. Which one? If I don't know, I probably don't care (in this instance- I'm sure that there are many examples of "protected vistas" that really do deserve protection).

On a street like Queen, proper interaction with the street should be a major requirement. And mixed-use should be prioritized.

Thanks for calling and finding out the reason for us.

My guess would be the large red house two lots east on Queen that is also owned by Polocorp.

I think the Barra Castle property is too far away from Schneider House to affect the vistas.

That would be the one.  If I'm not mistaken, one of the oldest Mennonite graves in the Region is located toward the back of that property (neither here nor there, I know, but interesting).

[mpd618]

Ugh. Which one? ... On a street like Queen, proper interaction with the street should be a major requirement. And mixed-use should be prioritized.

379 Queen St. S. (Buena Vista house). I found this out quite a while ago, so I may not remember exactly right.

For the record, Queen Street South is a mixed-use corridor that otherwise has zoning that emphasizes interaction with the street.

[nms]

This house was formerly the home of the owner of Schreiter's Furniture 90 years ago. Toronto also has a few heritage homes in the downtown core where most of the former property remains green space.

[519]

Some movement on this. I got a notice from the city for a zoning change neighborhood information meeting on Feb 1st.

The revised plan now includes a seven storey building with 107 units facing Queen and 8 three storey townhouses in the back on Benton. Most of the parking will only be accessible from Queen (102 of 134).

They added the density and another floor or two from the original design after acquiring 176 & 180 Benton. I'm not sure if the design will stay the same but it got a lot of negative feedbacks from the neighbourhood.

[clasher]

I hope they build the island out in Queen street and make that garage right-in and right-out instead of allowing lefts like the road is set up now. Traffic is kind of snarled (by KW standards) at Courtland/Queen right now.

[Pheidippides]

Did anyone attend the "neighbourhood" meeting that happened on 01-Feb-2016 about this project? Are there details posted online about the meeting? I only ever saw a sign posted on the site last weekend.

[Pheidippides]

Managed to find the information about the 01-February-2016 meeting:
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/insidecityha...Letter.pdf
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/insidecityha...inutes.pdf
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/insidecityha...Slides.pdf

"The Owner is requesting a revision to their zone change application to permit one 7 storey residential building (6 storeys at the rear) with 107 dwelling units, as well as 8 three storey townhouse/semi-detached units along Benton Street, for a total of 115 residential units.  There are 134 parking spaces proposed, allocated as follows; 96 underground and 6 above ground with
access to Queen Street South; 16 above ground with access to Benton Street; and 8 spaces located within the townhouse/semi-detached garages; and 8 located on townhouse/semi-detached driveways, with access to Benton Street.


New application includes 2 additional houses on Benton (4 total).
Construction may start in spring of 2017.



I hope the proposed townhouses on Benton end up having more interaction with the street; they seem very vacant and disconnected for such a narrow and porch lined neighbourhood.

[tomh009]

I hope the proposed townhouses on Benton end up having more interaction with the street; they seem very vacant and disconnected for such a narrow and porch lined neighbourhood.

What kind of interaction would you want to see?  Garage + front door will probably take up most of the width of each unit.

[Spokes]

Looking at those images, I couldn't be more disappointed. Great opportunity here and totally wasted.

[Pheidippides]

I hope the proposed townhouses on Benton end up having more interaction with the street; they seem very vacant and disconnected for such a narrow and porch lined neighbourhood.

What kind of interaction would you want to see?  Garage + front door will probably take up most of the width of each unit.

Some sort of porch or balcony would be a good start. Perhaps windows that did not look fake and univiting. The height seems too tall for 3-3.5 stories given the surrounding homes. This part of Benton and the surrounding streets are really narrow and give the neighbourhood a intimate feel; this design feels insular, cold, and out of character. The render is misleading as well because it leaves the impression of a big green space across the street in the foreground which of course is not the case.

[tomh009]

What kind of interaction would you want to see?  Garage + front door will probably take up most of the width of each unit.

Some sort of porch or balcony would be a good start. Perhaps windows that did not look fake and univiting. The height seems too tall for 3-3.5 stories given the surrounding homes. This part of Benton and the surrounding streets are really narrow and give the neighbourhood a intimate feel; this design feels insular, cold, and out of character. The render is misleading as well because it leaves the impression of a big green space across the street in the foreground which of course is not the case.

Porch or balcony would be nice, to be sure.  But how wide are the townhouses?  The driveway/garage will need about 2.5m, and the walkway/front door probably at least another 1m, leaving little space for a usable porch.

They are planning fake windows?