Westmount Place (50 Westmount N, 9-15 Dietz N, 192-218 Erb W) | 11-25 fl | U/C

[nms]

I think one of the principal objections was from the Luther Village town houses. The back lots are not very deep and the two buildings closest to them (the 11 storey and 4 storey ones in the renders above) would have presented tall, blank, concrete walls.

[Spokes]

They strongly opposed Barrelyards too if I'm remembering correctly

[jwilliamson]

Tenille Bonogoure just sent an email:

I have received word that Killam REIT is withdrawing its zone change application for Westmount Place and putting the large project planned for that location on hold.

Killam’s overall strategy for the site will be revisited when there is more certainty in the office and commercial market. In the meantime, Killam intends to build one residential building at the corner of Dietz and Erb, within the zoning permissions.

The REIT's representatives tell me that they do intend to include some affordable housing units in that building. More details will be released when available.

[panamaniac]

Not a huge surprise. Good news about the affordable units - that needs to become the norm in K-W residential developments.

[westwardloo]

This is disappointing, yet not surprising. Covid has put a damper on a lot of development that wasn't already at a certain stage. Looks like this one was just too early into conception to continue at its current scale. Hopefully the 1 tower they plan on building is of a quality design and sets the stage for a well thought out addition to uptowns urban fabric.

Fingers crossed we see another building boom in a couple years when Covid is a thing of the past, but I think we might have to be content with the buildings currently being constructed for a few years. I could be wrong though. (I hope I am wrong)

[ac3r]

There's some more details in the New Hamburg Independent: https://www.newhamburgindependent.ca/new...-waterloo/

[mastermind]

I actually am a bit surprised by this one. The projects that I thought we'd start see getting cancelled first are ones by newer and smaller developers. Groups like Killam with extremely deep pockets I would think should be able and willing to ride out the dips in the economy. Things could be back to normal by the time the first or at least the second one is built, and if anything they could probably get a few of their building built cheaper if trades are dying for the work in a year or two.

[tomh009]

Killam is proceeding with 66 Civic so they are not cutting back on everything. They may have decided that the market is not ready for this project yet, especially given that it's not in the downtown area.

[Bjays93]

Given that they're saying they're still going to construct one building here I'm surprised they havent just said they're doing this in phases. Surely they could break this project up in a way that would allow them to wait and see how the market evolves without publicly saying theyre putting this on hold

[tomh009]

They said the initial building is within the existing zoning regulations. That would be a mid-rise, then, would it not?

[nms]

I believe that the building that they are constructing within the limits is to make up for the proposed demolition of one of the buildings. As they are were going to demolish an occupied apartment building they had to make a commitment to replace those units within a certain timeframe. Since the whole project is on hold, this may be what they had to do in order to avoid the fines.

[panamaniac]

I believe that the building that they are constructing within the limits is to make up for the proposed demolition of one of the buildings. As they are were going to demolish an occupied apartment building they had to make a commitment to replace those units within a certain timeframe.  Since the whole project is on hold, this may be what they had to do in order to avoid the fines.

Is that a municipal policy?  I've not heard that before.

[nms]

This Record article first raised the issue in October 2020: Developer trims Waterloo towers, asks to tear down apartment building.

The Waterloo Bylaw in question is Demolition Control Area Bylaw 2013-014 (PDF). 

From the Bylaw:

The intent of demolition control shall be:
a. to prevent the premature loss of housing stock and the creation of vacant parcels of land;
b. to prevent the premature loss of assessment;
c. to retain existing residential units until new uses have been considered and zoning or site plans approved;
d. to prevent block busting within residential neighbourhoods;
e. to prohibit the use of Demolition as a means to reduce maintenance costs; and
f. to prohibit the use of Demolition as a tactic to obtain zoning or other City approvals.

I stand corrected that as of last fall, the building in question that was going to be demolished was vacant at the time of the application. The application was then withdrawn as of November 2.

[ac3r]

Not directly related to this development, but Sun Life will no longer be using their office space here: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ns-3432090

[westwardloo]

Not directly related to this development, but Sun Life will no longer be using their office space here: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ns-3432090

Am I the only one that think companies are skewing to far into the working from home? I get most companies have been able to make it work and continue to preform at similar levels as pre-covid. Seems like a lot of companies are jumping on board with the permanent remote work, but I worry about onboarding/ training the next generation of work force. I know for me I enjoy working from home, but I miss the ability to have a quick conversation with a more senior member of our team and pick their brain about an issue. personally I would like to go back to the office at least 3 days a week, but would have no problem going back full time. 

I also worry that companies taking away the office environment is the first step to outsourcing a lot of these jobs to cheaper labor overseas.