General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours

[sevenman]

Cambridge heritage committee rejects Blair MZO project

Nearly two dozen residents shared their concerns, ranging from truck traffic to the visual impact of a massive warehouse in their heritage village

Just more NIMBYism.  They'll get used to it.

[bravado]

Cambridge heritage committee rejects Blair MZO project

Nearly two dozen residents shared their concerns, ranging from truck traffic to the visual impact of a massive warehouse in their heritage village

Once again, I don’t understand how a warehouse ruins the “heritage character” of Blair more than the 1990s houses or the giant 6 lane highway that already exists.

I really assume that the heritage committee has no interest in more jobs for the class of people that already deliver their food and packages every day.

[tomh009]

Cambridge heritage committee rejects Blair MZO project

Nearly two dozen residents shared their concerns, ranging from truck traffic to the visual impact of a massive warehouse in their heritage village

However, as the linked article says ...

Even though the city’s heritage committee refused to endorse Broccolini’s requests, the final decision remains with council. Cambridge council also has to approve a traffic impact study before Broccolini’s project can put shovels in the ground.

[KevinL]

Cambridge heritage committee rejects Blair MZO project

Nearly two dozen residents shared their concerns, ranging from truck traffic to the visual impact of a massive warehouse in their heritage village

'In' the village is a stretch. Everything heritage is well east of Dickie Settlement Rd, this would be west of it (and along the 401).

[Chris]

Has there been any info on this shipping container housing project in Cambridge shared on here? I don't recall anything and I love shipping container architecture so I'd love to learn more about this and see actual photos instead of the renderings in the article and the video.

Six seniors move March 1 into their new Cambridge apartments made from steel shipping containers

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...iners.html

[bravado]

https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news...22-5117535

Very happy to see this continue this year and hopefully permanent.

[bravado]

This one is going to cause a major stink.

https://www.therecord.com/local-cambridg...ridge.html

The latest proposal would see a point and mid-rise tower, ground floor commercial uses, direct access to Fountain Street, heritage gardens to the north with pedestrian connections to Abraham Street, podium parking and amenities, and the “centrepiece to the development,” an outdoor piazza dubbed Preston Square.

[panamaniac]

What is meant by “a point”?

[taylortbb]

What is meant by “a point”?

The article says "a point and mid-rise tower" meaning two towers. A point tower would be like Charlie West, whereas 1 Victoria would be a slab tower.

[nms]

How about a swap of the forgiven City fees (quoted here as $300,000) for some guaranteed onsite affordable housing units in the towers? If the City is going to subsidize the developer making a profit, than I don't think that it is too much of stretch to ask that the developer provide some onsite affordable housing units.

[robd]

With nearly 600 units proposed across the road plus commercial the area will become extremely congested, assuming it all goes ahead. The ION should help alleviate some of this but the MUP and sidewalk aren't wide enough, and the MUP is a convoluted mess because we most maintain lanes to nowhere. The whole area would need a redesign, discouraging car traffic encouraging transit and activity transportation, but I fear it is just too close to the highway to work.

Given the impact the city shouldn't be subsidising the developer on this one.

[bravado]

https://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news-story...cambridge/

A development application, currently at the preconsultation stage, has been submitted for a proposed condominium building on neighbouring properties at 986 and 1030 King St. E.

• The building will be proposed at 10 storeys with about 259 units. None of the units will be considered for affordable housing.
Property owners recently told council they had been looking into the contaminated site since July 2021.
• At 986 King St. E., there was a demolition permit completed in 1996 for the removal of a gas station.
• At 1030 King St. E., there was a demolition permit completed in 2010 for the removal of a 7-11 convenience store, with gas pumps.
• Property owners came to council April 19 looking for development charges to be waived for the project, with the exemption of development charges in the core areas to end April 20. Charges were not waived for the project.

A double-demolished gas station site being turned into a 10 storey tower in Preston? This one is going to have significant resistance, even though the location is an extreme dump.

Also no affordable units and they asked for the charges to be waived? Bold move...

No artwork or details yet online, so I haven't made a new thread until those exist.

[ac3r]

Well there's an 8 floor building across the street, but yeah...being Cambridge, I expect this to face a lot of opposition that will drag the process out for many months and may not ever get built (or may be seriously reduced in size) even if it is a barren lot with no low rise residential properties directly neighbouring it.

[bravado]

Well there's an 8 floor building across the street, but yeah...being Cambridge, I expect this to face a lot of opposition that will drag the process out for many months and may not ever get built (or may be seriously reduced in size) even if it is a barren lot with no low rise residential properties directly neighbouring it.

It might cast a shadow on the burnt out husk of the hotel across the street, which is heritage that I want to protect.

Honestly I assume most people will have complaints about traffic - but since Preston so violently fought against the LRT Phase 2, I'm not very inclined to care.

[Bytor]

It might cast a shadow on the burnt out husk of the hotel across the street, which is heritage that I want to protect.

Heritage strip club designation? ;-)

Honestly I assume most people will have complaints about traffic - but since Preston so violently fought against the LRT Phase 2, I'm not very inclined to care.

Some of Preston. If you looked through the news articles and Facebook comments by that supposed group, you'll find a very, very tiny number of names that keep cropping up, and not in the way that you get when somebody is a spokesperson for an actual grassroots organisation.