General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[mastermind]

ChatGPT wrote it

[Chris]

When did King and Wellington get annexed by Waterloo?

[neonjoe]

I'm afraid that even then it won't be enough, judging from other urban examples. We are going from 0 buildings to 1 (Kaufman) to 3 (Kaufman+One Victoria+City Centre) so while the increase sounds like a lot, density is still extremely low in that area as far as downtown urban districts are concerned. We will need the other City Centre tower as well as the two towers in One Hundred Victoria before we start seeing critical mass. The transit hub will help a lot as the fact that a trip to downtown will be a breeze away when the LRT is in place. Then we'll see a clear pickup.

This brings up my biggest issue with the LRT - "a trip downtown is a breeze away when the LRT is in place"  ... for who??  Maybe a few folks who happen to live around the line, but not for most residents of the city (and by most I mean everyone in Wards 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8).  I understand the planning rationale for creating a corridor that induces development (and a long-term shift in population from the suburbs to condos along that corridor), but I really wish the LRT as more useful for more existing residents - meaning it had lines that extended out into the existing suburbs to the east and west and made it easy for people to come downtown as a destination.  I get it - that was way out of the budget - but presently I have a hard time seeing how the LRT would help me get anywhere I want to go (have you ever found yourself on King street saying "gee, I really wish I could hope on a train and get to uptown waterloo?")  ... most of the city's residents (again, everyone in Ward 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8) live outside walking distance from the LRT, which means they will have to keep driving everywhere they want to go.   

Since the province is now providing 100% funding for this sort of thing we should be lobbying for a Phase II LRT that adds loops from the outer areas into the core to augment the main line!

When did King and Wellington get annexed by Waterloo?

The developer buddy may have got inside information from the Ford Government about upcoming forced amalgamations.

[Lebronj23]

This looks like a great spot for a Flatiron style tower. 

   

[ijmorlan]

I Really Do Not Understand Why Realtors Feel That They Will Be More Successful By Capitalizing Every Single Word In Their Property Descriptions. 😡

At least they didn’t YELL THE ENTIRE THING!

[Chris]

When did King and Wellington get annexed by Waterloo?

The developer buddy may have got inside information from the Ford Government about upcoming forced amalgamations.

You might be onto something here...

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...egion.html

https://archive.ph/8ml9V

Premier Doug Ford says reforming local government still on his radar in Waterloo Region
Ontario still plans to appoint a facilitator to review local government in this region.

[jeffster]

When did King and Wellington get annexed by Waterloo?

King and Wellington are now Waterloo. King and William are now Kitchener. It was called "The KW Swap" -- try to keep up, young man.

[jeffster]

This looks like a great spot for a Flatiron style tower. 

Where is this? Why am I not keeping on top of things?

[cherrypark]

This looks like a great spot for a Flatiron style tower. 

Where is this? Why am I not keeping on top of things?

King and Wellington. Not an actual proposal, they were just posting an example.

[ZEBuilder]

I don't remember where exactly it was said but Vive was proposing a 8 storey building at the corner of King and Stirling on the property that had a fire a few years ago (744 King St E). They have now been granted approval by the committee of adjustment meaning they can go ahead with the project. Notably the project has no parking spaces, 1 commercial unit as well as 37 units 7 of which will be for affordable housing.

[Lebronj23]

The CTV property across from the hospital is up for sale. 864-872 King St W. This is being advertised with a high density transit oriented development opportunity. A conceptual 37 storey tower is included in the advertisement. The owner is taking bids included with a site plan concept in order for the sale. More details in the link below.


https://www.cbre.ca/-/media/cbre/country...g-st-w.pdf

[KaiserWilhelmsBust]

The CTV property across from the hospital is up for sale. 864-872 King St W. This is being advertised with a high density transit oriented development opportunity. A conceptual 37 storey tower is included in the advertisement. The owner is taking bids included with a site plan concept in order for the sale. More details in the link below.


https://www.cbre.ca/-/media/cbre/country...g-st-w.pdf

Unless they're making another attempt, this was from last summer. I didn't hear much, so they either didn't take any bids or someone backed out

Edit: this is new but same marketing as the last attempt - same as above though, either no accepted bids or someone backed out

[nms]

One other notable tenant on the CKCO property is a pair of peregrine falcons that annually nest in the broadcast tower. I wonder what new digs they might find to their liking?

[panamaniac]

Where is CKCO going?

[cherrypark]

Where is CKCO going?

Sportsworld area if I recall correctly.