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Drewlo Waterloo (née Waterloo Motor Inn) | 8x 16-28 fl | proposed
#16
Can someone do a calculation of how much can be built within the existing zoning, without asking for variances? Setbacks should not be an issue on a site this big, but the density or parking might be. And if they ask for variances, it's an opportunity to try to influence the direction of the development.
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#17
Maybe someone can forward some of these designs to Mr. Drew Lo, let him know a world exists outside of his one design
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co...-1.3228251
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#18
I keep hearing that the King side is commercial zoning, and the Weber side is light industrial zoning. Maybe this means that *any* residential will require approval, perhaps giving council some leverage? (then again, OMB)

The London site is more what I'd expect to see. It's not a vibrant area, and there's no reputation on the buyer's part for setting the standard, seems more like they'll only be dragged kicking and screaming to the lowest acceptable form of the standard. I would hazard a guess that they will want to make it like London's setup, getting themselves their own traffic signal so that they can funnel surface lots onto 85 for the workday.
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#19
Drewlo Holdings is new owner of Waterloo Inn property 
Quote:London-based Drewlo Holdings has purchased the Waterloo Inn property but the company says it has no immediate plans for the site.

Jerry Drennan, Drewlo controller, said in an interview with The Record that the company plans highrise residential with some commercial component, but exact details of the project aren't set.

"It'll be far in the future," he said. "Nothing's imminent with respect to the size and height and all that other stuff.

"We have to work with the city as well."...

Drennan said the company is "assessing all possibilities" for the unique 19-acre site at Weber and King streets.

Whether the hotel will be operated in the meantime is also undecided.

"Really, honestly (I) don't know, don't know," Drennan said. "It's not our forte, it's not our business so we're seeing what's out there … and it may be as a hotel, maybe not.

"We've just purchased it. We have no immediate plans for it. We're just seeing what we can do with it."

[sarcasm]
It must be nice to have a large wad of spare cash in your back pocket with which to blindly speculate in real estate.
[/sarcasm]
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#20
(12-21-2015, 09:35 AM)tomh009 Wrote:
(12-21-2015, 12:06 AM)ibuildstuff Wrote: Word on the street is Drewlo bought it.

Yet more rental units in Waterloo?  Or would Drewlo go out of form and build something different?

P.S. Welcome to WRC, ibuildstuff!

One can only hope right?

Given that all of their buildings are pretty much the same, I can't imagine we'll see something different here.

At least it sounds like there could be some commercial there.
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#21
This whole transaction is weird. The hotel closes rather unexpectedly, without having sold the property and Drewlo seems to step in all of a sudden, without a proper plan for development. Sounds like the Waterloo Inn people needed cash pronto and decided to close their hotel on short notice. I also have to suspect that their business had turn south with the opening of the Delta.
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#22
With all the indecisive talk in that interview, I wonder just how long they'll let the inn just sit empty before something happens.
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#23
Yeah ... it seems they weren't planning on it, but they got an offer they couldn't refuse, and now they need to figure out what to do with it.

The upside of that is that they don't (at least not yet) have a plan of replicating their existing properties on this one.
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#24
The Inn of Waterloo open for business

The Inn of Waterloo held its grand opening Friday, showing off a brighter, updated look.

The property formerly known as the Waterloo Inn is under new management and opening its doors as The Inn of Waterloo.

Since taking over the property, the new owners have given the hotel a facelift.  Management partnered with Home Hardware in the endeavor.  Everything from paint, flooring, furniture, bedding and towels was sourced from the St. Jacobs company.  Most common areas of the hotel have been updated and the rooms have been modernized.

All food services are being fulfilled by a catering service so the hotel will have fewer employees. Currently they have 15 people on staff.


Sharon Hales, with ABB Hotel Management Group, says here will be additional positions available in the coming months. “We’ll probably get up to 40 people during our busiest time and we’ll have to do that before September.”


The Waterloo Inn operated at the King Street North location for 43 years.  The hotel with the 19-acre property was sold to London-based Drewlo Holdings in December.  The company said shortly after the purchase that it planned to build a “high-rise residential development” on the site, while maintaining some of the land for commercial uses.
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#25
Anyone hear anything new with what might be happening at this site yet?
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#26
Drewlo is proposing a large development at 475 King Street North (currently the site of The Waterloo Inn).

Comprised of 11 buildings, it is proposed to be a mixed use development. Phase 1 contains 2 office buildings, both 6 floors with underground parking. Phase 2 is two 16 floor residential building (with underground parking; all buildings except those in Phase 6 will contain underground and podium parking). Phase 3 is a single 22 floor residential building. Phase 4 contains both a 28 and 24 floor residential building. Phase 5 contains both a 25 and 21 floor residential building. Phase 6 contains a 16 floor residential building along with a 4 floor commercial/office building, a 2 floor commercial building and a 1 floor commercial building. Some of the residential units will be townhouses, specifically those located in/along the podiums with the exception of 11 units which stand alone around the 22 floor building. An assortment of amenity space is included, from rooftop pools, gardens, parkettes, walking paths and a community room.

In total, the project contains 3556 residential units (a mixture of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units) that are a mixture of both condos and rental units - 1778 apartment rentals and 1682 condo units respectively. There are 12'000 square meters of office space and 4000 square meters of retail space. There will be a total of 2500 parking spaces (the majority underground or in the podiums, with some surface spots for retail, townhouse and business use) and 1100 bicycle parking spaces.

[Image: ZCo9sUa.png]
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#27
The first informal public meeting takes place January 16th, 2023.

It's in a decent location for new high density development, though I am sure there will be pushback from the public...because there is always pushback from the public. And since this is Drewlo, I can bet this will take 30+ years to get anywhere near complete.
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#28
It's a big project, and will provide new rental stock in Waterloo for years to come, after the Barrel Yards development winds (finally) winds up.

A big commitment to the region by Drewlo.
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#29
Ok that's properly ambitious, and they haven't gone the MZO route to do it?
local cambridge weirdo
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#30
Nope, no MZO it seems. They're aiming to rezone the area to RMU-81. A Specific Provision Area application is also being used in order to attempt to get granted the ability to build up to 28 floors. I imagine that due to its location - next to a partial cloverleaf interchange - and due to the fact it is only neighboured by industrial and commercial properties, they are probably expecting to get approval. Though, considering how strict the City of Waterloo is regarding building height, it'll remain to be seen whether they can go up to 28 floors. But as said, this is not in an area that is that close to any sort of single family home neighbourhoods so any heights should hopefully be non-problematic.

Ambitious indeed. It's a shame it's Drewlo because they work notoriously slow and their architectural standards are bottom of the barrel, but another 3556 residential units (and new commercial and office) is fine by me.
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