General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[kevinchoi519]

Maybe each tower at SIXO and 100 Victoria is being counted separately? Also the Nougat / garage condo project beside the Iron Horse Trail should be in the list. Barra Castle is not a high-rise but otherwise fits with the premise of Etherington's article.

The latest in today's Record reports:

The Manulife application is among 10 active site plan applications for downtown projects under review by the city. The applicants want to secure approvals and take out building permits before the end of February 2018. 

SIXO is still looking for financial partners so that project is probably not included.  And if they started Arrow Lofts 2 that wouldn't be under review anymore.  It will be very interesting to see what is submitted for review by the end of February.

The article is wrong...the DC exemption expire February 28th 2019....so still 15 months away folks

[Elmira Guy]

I don't know how long the Dutch Boy grocery store was in downtown Kitchener. I presume for quite awhile. Assuming they made a go of it, they did so when there were a lot fewer people living downtown, and at a time when the car ruled at least as much (though arguably more so) than it does today.

[KevinL]

It had to relocate when they built City Hall (it was still operating right up to then). They initially opened a 'small format' Dutch Boy (in what is now the Rhapsody Barrel Bar location), but within about a year it was rebranded as a Dutch Girl (their convenience chain), which lasted a couple more years, as I recall.

[panamaniac]

I don't know how long the Dutch Boy grocery store was in downtown Kitchener. I presume for quite awhile. Assuming they made a go of it, they did so when there were a lot fewer people living downtown, and at a time when the car ruled at least as much (though arguably more so) than it does today.

I recall that back in the 1960s and 1970s they did considerable delivery business for people who did not own cars.  That was when people still went downtown to shop.

[rangersfan]

CBC article on the Manulife project. The article lists 114 Victoria St (100 Condominiums?), 345 King St, and Charlie West ( listed as a 24 storey) as some of the ten projects currently under site plan review.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/kitch...-1.4422912

[urbd]

CBC article on the Manulife project. The article lists 114 Victoria St (100 Condominiums?), 345 King St, and Charlie West ( listed as a 24 storey) as some of the ten projects currently under site plan review.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/kitch...-1.4422912

Can we make a thread for this project? has anyone seen the plans?

[panamaniac]

The latest in today's Record reports:


SIXO is still looking for financial partners so that project is probably not included.  And if they started Arrow Lofts 2 that wouldn't be under review anymore.  It will be very interesting to see what is submitted for review by the end of February.

The article is wrong...the DC exemption expire February 28th 2019....so still 15 months away folks

The project needs to be under construction (completed?) by then to qualify for the exemption, no?

[tomh009]

The article is wrong...the DC exemption expire February 28th 2019....so still 15 months away folks

The project needs to be under construction (completed?) by then to qualify for the exemption, no?

The building permit needs to be issued by 2019-02-28.

[taylortbb]

Does anyone know how long it's permissible to sit on the building permit? Might we see companies get the permits issued then wait a couple years?

[tomh009]

Does anyone know how long it's permissible to sit on the building permit? Might we see companies get the permits issued then wait a couple years?

I don't think there is a limit.  The Arrow 2 building permit was issued in 2014.

[panamaniac]

That's actually a good thing - the number of units likely to be proposed in order to avail of the exemption probably exceeds the capacity of the market to absorb them. Whether they are going to be rental or freehold apartments, that could generate serious problems for the developers if they were obliged to build faster than the market dictates.

[GtwoK]

I'm curious if Manulife is planning something for their existing building. I work across form it and everyday I see them doing odd bits of work that don't seem to amount to anything. For the past few months they'd be removing random bricks near the roof line, and replace them the next day. On the chamfered corner of the building next to the future Charlie West development, they've had things hanging over the roof line for a while and had a large frame adorning the full height of the wall. I see surveyors wandering around on top of the building frequently. I'm not sure what all of this adds up to, but I can't see these different tests as not being connected.

[Viewfromthe42]

They've definitely redone a bunch of the layout on the King frontage, both street interfacing as well as a seeming office rework, which might have been to move people for the upper floor work, which has involved punching sunlight windows in a lot of the exterior walls.

[Square]

CBC article on the Manulife project. The article lists 114 Victoria St (100 Condominiums?), 345 King St, and Charlie West ( listed as a 24 storey) as some of the ten projects currently under site plan review.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/kitch...-1.4422912

This has been changed to 31 stories.

[rangersfan]

Yes I was trying to highlight the fact that the article's information was not the most up to date.