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The Metz (Schneiders site redevelopment)
#91
(10-05-2017, 12:29 PM)clasher Wrote: I think Conestoga College would be a better place to put up a soccer stadium. This much land close to the centre of town would be squandered on a sports field or even a conference centre. IMO they don't see that much use beyond the event days and are generally just a sea of parking around a single-use building. Here's a US-centric aritcle the subject

I get that. I also get the idea of it being a destination that people show up at. Toronto FC game days fill the bars in Liberty village. A big part of the rejuvenation in soccer has been moving stadiums back to city cores.

A great example would be the Lansdowne development in Ottawa where TD Place Stadium now sits. It allowed them to put in a stadium and surround it with new retail that might not have survived on it's own without the influx of patrons for game days.
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#92
(10-05-2017, 12:41 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(10-05-2017, 12:29 PM)clasher Wrote: I think Conestoga College would be a better place to put up a soccer stadium. This much land close to the centre of town would be squandered on a sports field or even a conference centre. IMO they don't see that much use beyond the event days and are generally just a sea of parking around a single-use building. Here's a US-centric aritcle the subject

Any reason not to put behind the Aud?  I know precisely nothing about soccer ....

I would love to have it at the Aud. But the city seems to be dragging there? Not sure why. Or something.
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#93
(10-05-2017, 01:10 PM)welltoldtales Wrote:
(10-05-2017, 12:41 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Any reason not to put behind the Aud?  I know precisely nothing about soccer ....

I would love to have it at the Aud. But the city seems to be dragging there? Not sure why. Or something.

The Aud would be great. Already surface parking, right near LRT and transit.  Could become part of the rejuvenation of the King Ottawa area...

If not there, then somewhere closer to DTK.
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#94
From the teams' perspective, I think about the Olympic Stadium in Montreal and how both the Expos and Alouettes could not routinely draw crowds there, despite good transit access. I think the Als play on McGill campus now. They get much bigger crowds downtown.
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#95
(10-05-2017, 12:41 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(10-05-2017, 12:29 PM)clasher Wrote: I think Conestoga College would be a better place to put up a soccer stadium. This much land close to the centre of town would be squandered on a sports field or even a conference centre. IMO they don't see that much use beyond the event days and are generally just a sea of parking around a single-use building. Here's a US-centric aritcle the subject

Any reason not to put behind the Aud?  I know precisely nothing about soccer ....

That's probably a better option.
No reason not to either.
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#96
I'd be floored if a soccer team could even get a thousand people out for a game. The Rangers are drawing over 5000 people on average to their games but I dunno if anyone has measured what kind of economic impact it has on the few local businesses around it. I would imagine if it was a bigger draw there would be more people trying to set up shop near the place, but there's really only the value village plaza that is a close walk to the Aud... I think the economic impacts of sports stadiums generally aren't a good value for spending public monies... even if the sports crowd can sustain a bunch of bars just on game days what are the staff supposed to do the rest of the week?

I think putting up a soccer stadium where the old football one was at the Aud is a good idea.
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#97
there is a soccer team that plays at seagram stadium, I think they draw 100 people. Most people that come to the game eat at the concession at the stadium. It is difficult to imagine that another soccer league would draw even 1000 people in the next 5 years.
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#98
KW United is a PDL team - part of a development league. It's hard to get attached because all the best players sign contracts to move up into a real league at the end of each season.

If we get a CPL side, that means top-tier play with players you can get to know and support year after year. It's a very different kind of experience.

(I should point out that this whole discussion is grossly off-topic, and should probably be moved to the sports thread. Mods?)
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#99
(10-03-2017, 02:06 PM)NotStan Wrote:
(10-03-2017, 12:46 PM)Spokes Wrote: I actually think this is brutal.  Auburn owns a ton of different properties in town and is doing nothing with them.  Look how long Arrow Lofts took to get started.  Barrelyards too.  I worry that this won't start for like 10 years.

As opposed to the current owner doing nothing with it for 10 years?

The current owner is selling it.  My point is that as far as buyers go, they're not the best choice.
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(10-03-2017, 04:26 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(10-03-2017, 12:46 PM)Spokes Wrote: I actually think this is brutal.  Auburn owns a ton of different properties in town and is doing nothing with them.  Look how long Arrow Lofts took to get started.  Barrelyards too.  I worry that this won't start for like 10 years.

I could see a row of towns or stacked towns going up along Borden very quickly - the demand would be strong, I suspect.  But you are right, Auburn seems not to be in a hurry with their projects.

They certainly COULD go up quickly, it's a matter of them not starting quickly
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(10-06-2017, 11:58 AM)Spokes Wrote: My point is that as far as buyers go, they're not the best choice.

Who would have been the best choice, then?  And why didn't they buy the property?  It's been for sale long enough.

No matter who bought it, I believe that we wouldn't be seeing shovels in the ground until late 2019 or early 2020 given the planning and development processes that need to take place.  Now, it certainly could be that Auburn won't start until 2025 or 2035, but we don't know that yet, do we?
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(10-06-2017, 01:20 PM)tomh009 Wrote:
(10-06-2017, 11:58 AM)Spokes Wrote: My point is that as far as buyers go, they're not the best choice.

Who would have been the best choice, then?  And why didn't they buy the property?  It's been for sale long enough.

No matter who bought it, I believe that we wouldn't be seeing shovels in the ground until late 2019 or early 2020 given the planning and development processes that need to take place.  Now, it certainly could be that Auburn won't start until 2025 or 2035, but we don't know that yet, do we?

The best choice?  Anyone else.  My choice...Momentum.

Sure there's a chance they have ground broken in 2019/2020, but given their track record, closer to 2030 is more like it.  How long did it take for Barrelyards to start?  Arrow phase 1? 2?  Alexandria condos?
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(10-07-2017, 07:38 PM)Spokes Wrote:
(10-06-2017, 01:20 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Who would have been the best choice, then?  And why didn't they buy the property?  It's been for sale long enough.

The best choice?  Anyone else.  My choice...Momentum.

But Momentum chose not to buy the property. If Auburn had not purchased it, we have no idea how long it would have sat unsold -- and undeveloped.

(10-07-2017, 07:38 PM)Spokes Wrote: How long did it take for Barrelyards to start?

1998: Canbar asks for rezoning
2003: Land passes an environmental audit
2005: Canbar sells land to Auburn
2007: Zoning approved by council
2008: Project approved by council
2010: Construction starts

Three years (2005-2008) is within range for a complex development like this one.  Construction start was delayed by a year, possibly because of the challenges in securing a hotel tenant.

Arrow 2 and Alexandra have been on the back burner as Auburn has been quite busy on Barrel Yards. Arrow 2 should be under way shortly, don't know about Alexandra.
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I'm okay if they take the time to do something good with the site, it's a pretty big property and there are a lot of choices of what to do with it. There's also all kinds of unknowns in the existing buildings and who knows what is underneath the land.
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(10-07-2017, 09:23 PM)clasher Wrote: I'm okay if they take the time to do something good with the site, it's a pretty big property and there are a lot of choices of what to do with it. There's also all kinds of unknowns in the existing buildings and who knows what is underneath the land.

well I am sure the buyer would have done their do diligence to find out what contamination they were assuming responsibility for. I think Schneiders had it's own sewage treatment facility before the City of Kitchener.
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