332 Charles Street East | 17 fl | Proposed

[ZEBuilder]

Public meeting for 332 Charles st Easy

The City of Kitchener has received applications for an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment to facilitate the development of a 17 storey multiple dwelling residential building with a Floor Space Ratio of 8.8. A total of 163 residential units, 65 vehicle parking spaces and 170 bicycle parking spaces are proposed for the development.

https://calendar.kitchener.ca/default/De...nt-332-Cha

So the plans are up and this shouldn't be suprising to anyone but this is another Vive project. Architect is Neo which seems to be Vive's go to. The renders aren't that interesting, it's just your basic black/grey/white building.

[westwardloo]

Public meeting for 332 Charles st Easy

The City of Kitchener has received applications for an Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment to facilitate the development of a 17 storey multiple dwelling residential building with a Floor Space Ratio of 8.8. A total of 163 residential units, 65 vehicle parking spaces and 170 bicycle parking spaces are proposed for the development.

https://calendar.kitchener.ca/default/De...nt-332-Cha

So the plans are up and this shouldn't be suprising to anyone but this is another Vive project. Architect is Neo which seems to be Vive's go to. The renders aren't that interesting, it's just your basic black/grey/white building.

It is a pretty forgettable building. Hopefully it is not too offensive. I the Neo does decent work. Overall a Nice infill project. I do think it would look a lot better if instead of grey panels they used red or yellow "brick" patterned precast. Give the historic use of yellow brick in this region, I am surprised it is not incorporated more into the design of some of our newer developments. "The scott" is a perfect example of how it can be incorporated into designs. I guess Architects are still stuck on the Grey, White and Black trend.

[ac3r]

They are proposing a 17 floor mixed use project. 163 rental units are proposed, being a mixture of 1 and 2 bedrooms. 4 commercial units are proposed fronting Charles Street for a total of 180 square meters. 66 parking spaces are proposed, contained in 1 underground level and 2 levels within the podium.

[ac3r]

It's very Vive. The building looks as generic as possibly can be, since Vive works with Neo a lot. No thought or soul to be found in the appearance. But I guess it'll be able to have homes which is what matters. I can't see commercial space being that successful on this part of Charles.

But the question remains whether Vive will actually build this. They have probably 2 dozen proposed projects at this point, ranging from small midrise buildings to some of the tallest skyscrapers outside of the GTA. But they've only managed to actually accomplish in the last couple years were renovate a handful of existing properties and finish 7 extremely basic midrises. None of their grand visions for 30 to 50 floor skyscrapers to rejuvenate the south-east end of downtown have come to fruition. Plus they ended up selling a few properties they own anyway.

[ZEBuilder]

It's very Vive. The building looks as generic as possibly can be, since Vive works with Neo a lot. No thought or soul to be found in the appearance. But I guess it'll be able to have homes which is what matters. I can't see commercial space being that successful on this part of Charles.

But the question remains whether Vive will actually build this. They have probably 2 dozen proposed projects at this point, ranging from small midrise buildings to some of the tallest skyscrapers outside of the GTA. But they've only managed to actually accomplish in the last couple years were renovate a handful of existing properties and finish 7 extremely basic midrises. None of their grand visions for 30 to 50 floor skyscrapers to rejuvenate the south-east end of downtown have come to fruition. Plus they ended up selling a few properties they own anyway.

Obviously Vive isn't going to build every project they propose but some of them definitely have some life, 926 King had soil remediation complete in the last few weeks, Margaret and Victoria is topped out and cladding is starting, Woodside phase 2 is wrapping up, the 3 large towers down on King by River Rd has shoring/excavation work occuring, then other projects like Lower Kitchener, 550 Lancaster have only just gotten OPA/ZBA approval so now they need to get site plan before they can think about permits. Litt also doesn't seem like someone who is trying to rush things, it was either in a OPA/ZBA meeting or in the newspaper but there was something mentioned about future projects and things like 1668 King weren't expecting to start until 2024 so it seems to be more of a strategic move than anything.

Retail in this stretch definitely seems feasible, put a pizza or shawarma place in their and the kids from Cameron would love it, as well as the future residents of Drewlo and this.

[ac3r]

Yeah they aren't rushing, which is fine. I just hope that they aren't buying up so many properties, spending tens of thousands on each proposal but then not doing anything with them. They've gobbled up a lot of prime real estate downtown (and elsewhere)...like a lot of it. Free market and all that, so that's fine. I'd just wish to see a more diverse range of developers so that one developer isn't owning all this valuable land, but then taking years upon years to do anything with it. More developers = more projects that can happen at the same time.

As for retail...yeah. Food would do okay there. I just feel like all of downtown is food. There's not much downtown Kitchener. I'd love to start seeing other companies take a chance. I actually wrote an article last month in a major Austrian architecture publication that touches on this. Diversity is necessary. Like, have a Zara open and you'd have every 25 and under flocking there to buy shitty fast fashion. The whole first floor of the Young Tower would have been perfect for something like that. Or if Canada Computers relocated somewhere downtown, they could probably do extremely well with all the foot traffic and transit connections. Or I don't know...shoe stores, kitchen supplies, a place to brew beer. Basically, for a lot of things, you still need to go out to suburban areas. Restaurants alone won't create a vibrant downtown, especially with fewer office workers these days and a cost of living so high meaning fewer people are eating out. But it's also in an awkward phase where it's growing, but there isn't enough "proof" for entrepreneurs and business owners that certain things will be a success. There's a lot more risk in opening up, say, an art supply store than there is some restaurant that can sell 49.99 dollar slices of deep dish pizza and IPAs to douchey hipsters so of course the pizza store would be more likely to take the risk. But if you end up with a downtown that is nothing but places to eat and buy weed, then that's a bad downtown.

Oh well, in time, I suppose. Hopefully if this project gets built the commercial space actually gets used. Every new project downtown has been struggling to attract businesses. Some places have been sitting vacant for 10-15+ years now.

[bravado]

Is there something about symmetry that was good for all of human existence but is somehow anathema today in architecture? Am I the crazy one?

[Lens]

Vive isn't the one buying the properties, most of them are owned by their various money partner groups, who use them as the local feet on the ground. Pretty standard practice.

[jeffster]

Is there a valid reason why we can't build something that is unique and cool looking? Does it add that much cost?

I know this is old fashion, but why not add Art Deco if we can't design something better?

[cherrypark]

Or for once could someone order prefab that isn't white, grey, or black. This current greyscale Minecraft era of architecture around here is so far past its expiry.

[tomh009]

Or for once could someone order prefab that isn't white, grey, or black. This current greyscale Minecraft era of architecture around here is so far past its expiry.

The Scott uses yellow precast concrete panels.

[cherrypark]

Or for once could someone order prefab that isn't white, grey, or black. This current greyscale Minecraft era of architecture around here is so far past its expiry.

The Scott uses yellow precast concrete panels.

And it looks great for a simple building and got lots of praise for that. Need more of them!

[neonjoe]

The Scott uses yellow precast concrete panels.

And it looks great for a simple building and got lots of praise for that. Need more of them!

SRM Architects?
https://www.srmarchitects.ca/Portfolio-R...rScott.htm

[ZEBuilder]

And it looks great for a simple building and got lots of praise for that. Need more of them!

SRM Architects?
https://www.srmarchitects.ca/Portfolio-R...rScott.htm

How does SRM design something like that which everyone seems to really love, it really does look nice in person. Then designs the garbage that is the Duke Tower podium, which looks pretty ridiculous with the LED lights and the ugly precast.

[neonjoe]

SRM Architects?
https://www.srmarchitects.ca/Portfolio-R...rScott.htm

How does SRM design something like that which everyone seems to really love, it really does look nice in person. Then designs the garbage that is the Duke Tower podium, which looks pretty ridiculous with the LED lights and the ugly precast.

Maybe it has more to do with the developer's penny-pinching?