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A project is being assembled for 859, 867 Frederick St and 39 Avon Rd in Kitchener for a mixed use 12 story building. According to the article the city is already receiving lots of opposition from the locals.
Developer: Milan and Dean Kovacevic
The article :
http://m.therecord.com/news-story/582610...t-building
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Interestingly, 31 and 35 Avon are recently-built 2 1/2 -storey multiple units, and would form a pocket in the assembled property under discussion.
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Depending on what "some commercial" means, the city should grant the variance. Maybe 12 floors is a bit tall, but I am shocked that these guys would propose mixed-usage for this location, and it would be a great thing. Reduced parking sounds good- hey, it's only a block from express bus service on the 204.
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NIMBYs aside, this is the kind of project the city should be promoting, at least based on the small amount of information that's available so far.
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An interesting development out on Frederick St
A 10 storey apartment building with 113 units is proposed for the corner of Frederick and Avon.
The Record just had an article about the opposition to the project from the nearby single-family-home neighbourhood:
Plan to replace homes with highrise in Kitchener draws capacity crowd
Quote:KITCHENER — More than 100 residents came out to a public meeting to make it clear they still aren't happy with a proposal to build a highrise apartment on a parcel of land now occupied by three single-family homes.
The proposal by Milan and Dean Kovacevic would demolish the existing homes on three large lots at 859 and 867 Frederick St. and 39 Avon Rd. and replace them with a 10-storey, 113-unit apartment building.
The original plan, presented to the city in June 2015, called for an even taller building, at 12 storeys, with 16 more units than the latest proposal. The new plan also moves the main access road into the development to Frederick Street from quieter Avon Road.
But residents of the Rosemount neighbourhood filled a meeting room at Lyle Hallman Pool on Thursday night to tell city planners they still had major concerns about the proposal, even after the changes.
Two of the three lots in the 0.5-hectare (1.24-acre) parcel are currently zoned medium-rise residential, which permits buildings up to eight storeys, while the third lot is zoned low-rise residential, which allows buildings of up to three storeys.
Personally, I think it's a pretty good location for density in the suburbs. There are very few direct low-rise neighbours, Frederick is zoned for 8 storeys anyway, there's a lot of services within walking distance across Victoria St, and there's 2 bus routes nearby that offer quite a lot of mobility across east Kitchener.
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I'm pretty sure we talked about this a bit a year or so ago.
I agree that this is a good spot to add some density. There are a fair few amenities very close and, as you say, this specific site doesn't impact very many neighbours.
It's good to see them asking for less parking. And why not? There's an iXpress stop right nearby.
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Good spot, good density. I think 10 stories fits well here. I wonder if they'll compromise at 9?
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Is the correct address 589 Frederick (as in the thread title) or 859 Frederick (as in the Record piece)?
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Google Maps says 859. 589 should be around Frederick/Bruce.
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Looks like the building has a bit of a podium which makes it a little more interesting than most apartments that have gone up outside the core.
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I'm fascinated that there would be such vocal opposition to a project like this, given that right next door is a pair of ~6-storey apartment blocks.
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The location is at the fringe of the Rosemont neighbourhood, on a corner parcel, close to Victoria on Frederick, which is where an increase to the 8 storey zoning maximum should be permitted. If it were much deeper into the neighbourhood, or on a collector or local road, the residents' opposition might be more on point.
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Yeah, that whole stretch of Frederick is also walk-up apartments. I don't really see an issue with it.
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(01-15-2017, 02:43 PM)Canard Wrote: I'm fascinated that there would be such vocal opposition to a project like this, given that right next door is a pair of ~6-storey apartment blocks.
I love that the one woman essentially said, why would you even ask for more than the zoning? Ummm happens every day?
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(01-16-2017, 12:13 AM)Spokes Wrote: I love that the one woman essentially said, why would you even ask for more than the zoning? Ummm happens every day?
Most people don't understand why, though. The story of zoning is that There Are Rules That Are Good, and "greedy developers" asking for relief from rules feels wrong to people. Of course, city planners view zoning relief as a negotiating tool in order to get the kind of planning outcomes they want.
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