General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[danbrotherston]

I'm not saying that this isn't necessarily a good thing, but it is worth noticing that it is yet another incentive to do more greenfield development and less infill.

How?

Umm, there aren’t tenants living in the forests or farm fields that a developer would pave over to build a greenfield development, hence they don’t incur any costs to this bill. But infill developments that redevelop existing housing low income tenants will incur the cost of accommodating those tenants.

You make infill more expensive, it incentivizes greenfield development in preference to infill.

[tomh009]

The new B&T is not quite open yet, but the old location is already boarded up and has demolition fencing around it. There are no building permits showing in the GIS system. Does anyone know what the plans are for this property?

[jeffster]

New Kitchener bylaw would assist tenants, replace some rental housing lost to redevelopment
Kitchener councillors say a proposed rental replacement bylaw isn’t perfect, but is still an important tool that will assist some of the city’s most vulnerable tenants.

I'm not saying that this isn't necessarily a good thing, but it is worth noticing that it is yet another incentive to do more greenfield development and less infill.

You're not wrong.

There really aren't a lot of good solutions. I, however, don't believe it's always up to private companies to do the work that the government should be doing. It's just more read tape, and less incentive to make better use of existing already been used land.

[panamaniac]

The new B&T is not quite open yet, but the old location is already boarded up and has demolition fencing around it. There are no building permits showing in the GIS system. Does anyone know what the plans are for this property?

I haven't had my development magic wand out for the longest time.   The City has missed an opportunity by not acquiring the site, and its neighbours, as the first stage of a new park/square in DTK.

[SF22]

The new B&T is not quite open yet, but the old location is already boarded up and has demolition fencing around it. There are no building permits showing in the GIS system. Does anyone know what the plans are for this property?

I haven't had my development magic wand out for the longest time.   The City has missed an opportunity by not acquiring the site, and its neighbours, as the first stage of a new park/square in DTK.

Right across from the new Drewlo buildings would be a GREAT spot for a new park. Having a sizeable park along King St really would be a nice feature, especially if they could pick up another property that would let them link it through to connect mid-block on Madison or Cameron, creating an off-street pedestrian connection.

[Acitta]

Company closing Kitchener factory, blames cost of development and government overregulation

A modular construction company has decided to close up shop in Kitchener.
Z Modular, a division of Zekelman Industries, announced Tuesday it would be closing its factory on Manitou Drive.

A news release from the company reads, in part: “Public sector inefficiency in the permitting and entitlement process reduces the inventory of land available for housing development and renders land costs too expensive for the development of affordable housing.

[ac3r]

That's a shame, but not a surprise. From the federal level to the local level, our governments are utterly incompetent. 2025 is most certainly going to be a slam dunk for the Conservatives.

[bravado]

Just gotta point out that modular has been failing in North America because of the 1000s of unique local codes for a lot longer than the Liberals have been in office

(And also this is a provincial matter)

[ijmorlan]

That's a shame, but not a surprise. From the federal level to the local level, our governments are utterly incompetent. 2025 is most certainly going to be a slam dunk for the Conservatives.

Sadly, that won’t fix many of our problems, and will probably make many of them worse.

But I agree it’s looking that way and I’m not surprised at the lack of enthusiasm for the Liberals.

[panamaniac]

That's a shame, but not a surprise. From the federal level to the local level, our governments are utterly incompetent. 2025 is most certainly going to be a slam dunk for the Conservatives.

Governments incompetent or industry incompetent at dealing with governments?

[jeffster]

Company closing Kitchener factory, blames cost of development and government overregulation

A modular construction company has decided to close up shop in Kitchener.
Z Modular, a division of Zekelman Industries, announced Tuesday it would be closing its factory on Manitou Drive.

A news release from the company reads, in part: “Public sector inefficiency in the permitting and entitlement process reduces the inventory of land available for housing development and renders land costs too expensive for the development of affordable housing.

Here is the top people I blame for this:

1) Federal Government - This is easy, as they already said it. The issue with the Liberals is that they need to protect their own investments, along with the NDP's, so any competition is bad competition.
2) Berry Vrbanovic - he has strong mayor powers - use them to get things done!
3) City of Kitchener - Red tape and more red tape. Debbie Chapman approves of the red tape.
4) Region of Waterloo - Get on board, we need affordable housing.
5) Province: They should have worked closely with this company to unsure its success.

Biggest problem is Trudeau though.

[danbrotherston]

Company closing Kitchener factory, blames cost of development and government overregulation

A modular construction company has decided to close up shop in Kitchener.
Z Modular, a division of Zekelman Industries, announced Tuesday it would be closing its factory on Manitou Drive.

A news release from the company reads, in part: “Public sector inefficiency in the permitting and entitlement process reduces the inventory of land available for housing development and renders land costs too expensive for the development of affordable housing.

Here is the top people I blame for this:

1) Federal Government - This is easy, as they already said it. The issue with the Liberals is that they need to protect their own investments, along with the NDP's, so any competition is bad competition.
2) Berry Vrbanovic - he has strong mayor powers - use them to get things done!
3) City of Kitchener - Red tape and more red tape. Debbie Chapman approves of the red tape.
4) Region of Waterloo - Get on board, we need affordable housing.
5) Province: They should have worked closely with this company to unsure its success.

Biggest problem is Trudeau though.

"Inflationary overspending"...yes, totally Trudeau...Canada is such a powerful nation our PM caused worldwide inflation....*rolls eyes*...

What "investments" do the liberals need to "protect"...IMO the "investments" the government routinely "protects" are "NIMBY property owners". Yeah, absolutely the Liberals do this, but lets not pretend this is about corruption or big business.

[IronDev]

Company closing Kitchener factory, blames cost of development and government overregulation

A modular construction company has decided to close up shop in Kitchener.
Z Modular, a division of Zekelman Industries, announced Tuesday it would be closing its factory on Manitou Drive.

A news release from the company reads, in part: “Public sector inefficiency in the permitting and entitlement process reduces the inventory of land available for housing development and renders land costs too expensive for the development of affordable housing.

Here is the top people I blame for this:

1) Federal Government - This is easy, as they already said it. The issue with the Liberals is that they need to protect their own investments, along with the NDP's, so any competition is bad competition.
2) Berry Vrbanovic - he has strong mayor powers - use them to get things done!
3) City of Kitchener - Red tape and more red tape. Debbie Chapman approves of the red tape.
4) Region of Waterloo - Get on board, we need affordable housing.
5) Province: They should have worked closely with this company to unsure its success.

Biggest problem is Trudeau though.

I think some people involved in the early stages at Z are starting another factory housing company locally, so there's some hope there!

[bravado]

Permits and zoning and building codes are fully controlled by each province... Some people let Trudeau have a lot of real estate in their minds these days. The fact that modular homes never take off in 50 states + 10 provinces should let you know that it's more than just a local failure of a random strong mayor. Starting a modular construction business today requires large scale, lots of capital, and lots of markets ready to go. I can't think of a single North American city with permissive building codes - they're all restrictive. Don't blame the Liberals for a business model that doesn't work in the current market...

Cities are now designed to stop, delay, and add costs to anything new and different by default - this shouldn't be news to anyone on this forum...

[tomh009]

Permits and zoning and building codes are fully controlled by each province... Some people let Trudeau have a lot of real estate in their minds these days. The fact that modular homes never take off in 50 states + 10 provinces should let you know that it's more than just a local failure of a random strong mayor. Starting a modular construction business today requires large scale, lots of capital, and lots of markets ready to go. I can't think of a single North American city with permissive building codes - they're all restrictive. Don't blame the Liberals for a business model that doesn't work in the current market...

Cities are now designed to stop, delay, and add costs to anything new and different by default - this shouldn't be news to anyone on this forum...

100% correct. This is not a local problem, nor is it solvable at the federal level. Provincial/state governments are key to addressing this.