Viva Towns (19-41 Mill St) | 4 + 3fl | U/C

[ac3r]

Meh. Looks like a Raddison or Holiday Inn you would find 3 blocks from a big airport.

I would probably go with the first.

Very apt description haha. First one looks the best to me, while the second looks like a mess...everything is kind of clashing, especially the townhouse section. It's hard to tell since these renders are so poorly done.

[westwardloo]

Yeah If I have to choose between the 2 I would go with the 1st one.  Not excited that it is the same developers as Barra, which is one of my least favorite recently completed projects. 

I know height is the big issue, but I feel like this would look a lot nicer if they added the 4 floor to the tower on the right and got rid of the wing behind the townhouses.

[jamincan]

Count me as favouring the 2nd rendering assuming that's brick.

[tomh009]

I know height is the big issue, but I feel like this would look a lot nicer if they added the 4 floor to the tower on the right and got rid of the wing behind the townhouses.

Basically the four-floor podium structure reduces the street wall height. I can't tell whether the podium section contains townhouses, stacked townhouses or conventional single-floor units.

Are you suggesting that they should have only four floors, apart from the tower?

The proposed site plan is here:
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGen...e-Plan.pdf

[panamaniac]

Has there been any significant change in this latest iteration? I thought perhaps the tower at the back on the Mill St side had dropped a couple of storeys, but I’m not sure.

[westwardloo]

I know height is the big issue, but I feel like this would look a lot nicer if they added the 4 floor to the tower on the right and got rid of the wing behind the townhouses.

Basically the four-floor podium structure reduces the street wall height. I can't tell whether the podium section contains townhouses, stacked townhouses or conventional single-floor units.

Are you suggesting that they should have only four floors, apart from the tower?

The proposed site plan is here:
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGen...e-Plan.pdf

Hard to tell, but it looks like there are doorways along mill, so I would assume they are 3 floor townhouses at the front, with condo units behind them in the podium. I would keep the podium, but get rid of the 4th-8th floor on the iron horse trail side and add them to the tower north side. Which would make it a 14 storey tower with a 3 storey podium/ townhouses.

[tomh009]

That would work -- but the current concept is already well higher than what the zoning allows, so it would further increase the level of difficulty for getting approval.

[westwardloo]

Looks like this project is stalled by at least 1 month. Lots of typical concerns from local residents and heritage groups, doesn't "fit" the neighbourhood, too tall, demolition of old (some people consider heritage) houses.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...month.html (Paywall, full article can be read if you have the record app)

[ac3r]

Considering there is a 14 floor building literally across the street, I these complaints will go anywhere. It's basically par for the course for a handful of people to whine, stall things for a while and get a short article in the paper, lose and then said project goes ahead with little if any changes.

Also, you can get around The Record paywall by pasting the URL into Outline.com: https://outline.com/unuvD6

[tomh009]

Looks like this project is stalled by at least 1 month. Lots of typical concerns from local residents and heritage groups, doesn't "fit" the neighbourhood, too tall, demolition of old (some people consider heritage) houses.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...month.html (Paywall, full article can be read if you have the record app)

"Other concerns included demolishing of two large brick century homes, including a house built by Jacob Baetz, a prominent builder and city councillor who was inducted into the region’s Hall of Fame."

If Baetz was a prominent builder, wouldn't there be a number of other houses (built by him) in the city?

The building is tall next to Queen St but much lower along Mill St. And along Mill St, there are only a few neighbours: the project backs onto the IHT, and on the other side of the street are three houses in the process of being donated by the region plus the REEP house, and there are maybe four other houses in the "block" bounded by Mill St, Queen St and the IHT/railway.

Behind the four houses across the street is Schneider Creek, and on the other side of IHT/railway are a commercial property, a large townhouse complex and a park. This is really on the edge of a neighbourhood, not in the middle of it.

[panamaniac]

Looks like this project is stalled by at least 1 month. Lots of typical concerns from local residents and heritage groups, doesn't "fit" the neighbourhood, too tall, demolition of old (some people consider heritage) houses.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...month.html (Paywall, full article can be read if you have the record app)

"Other concerns included demolishing of two large brick century homes, including a house built by Jacob Baetz, a prominent builder and city councillor who was inducted into the region’s Hall of Fame."

If Baetz was a prominent builder, wouldn't there be a number of other houses (built by  him) in the city?

The building is tall next to Queen St but much lower along Mill St. And along Mill St, there are only a few neighbours: the project backs onto the IHT, and on the other side of the street are three houses in the process of being donated by the region plus the REEP house, and there are maybe four other houses in the "block" bounded by Mill St, Queen St and the IHT/railway.

Behind the four houses across the street is Schneider Creek, and on the other side of IHT/railway are a commercial property, a large townhouse complex and a park. This is really on the edge of a neighbourhood, not in the middle of it.

Perhaps, but none of them were his home.  There's cultural heritage to be considered as well ....  Not saying the house should be preserved, but it should go through a rigourous heritage consideration.

[tomh009]

"Other concerns included demolishing of two large brick century homes, including a house built by Jacob Baetz, a prominent builder and city councillor who was inducted into the region’s Hall of Fame."

If Baetz was a prominent builder, wouldn't there be a number of other houses (built by  him) in the city?

Perhaps, but none of them were his home.  There's cultural heritage to be considered as well ....  Not saying the house should be preserved, but it should go through a rigourous heritage consideration.

Was it his home? The article doesn't mention that. In any case, I do believe it has already gone through a heritage assessment and did not make it onto the list of protected properties.

[Acitta]

The article says that the developer has agreed to add 5 units of affordable apartments. I wonder how many affordable apartments are in the buildings slated to be demolished. I bet that it is more than 5.

[westwardloo]

The article says that the developer has agreed to add 5 units of affordable apartments. I wonder how many affordable apartments are in the buildings slated to be demolished. I bet that it is more than 5.

They discussed this on 570 news today. I believe the councilor for this ward mentioned 11 affordable apartments will be demolished. I will agree that I don't think it unreasonable for the developer to provide at minimum the same number of affordable units that are being displaced.

[Acitta]

Kitchener developer shelves 12-storey highrise and proposes townhouses after residents take their concerns to city hall