Waterloo Region Connected

Some work is being done near the Sun Life building, couldn't find any building permits issued.

August 25, 2014







Also to make way for Sun Life's new parking lot 556, 548, 544, 538, 532, 530, 528 Park st and 46, 42, and 38 Mt. Hope st paid the ultimate price.

Before







August 25, 2014







I hope someday that a nice mixed use development will find it's way to this area.

I really hope SunLife decides to sell this block at some point. Especially with the houses now gone, it's completely empty (it is right?) which would be appealing for a developer.

On Courtland Ave. near Cedar, two vacant houses are being demolished today.

These two homes were listed on MLS a while back with signs promoting them as a development site. I'm not sure if the two lots were actually sold but now that the houses are gone, there's a better chance for a new development.

These lots are pretty deep. The two lots together are probably 100'x175'

Street view

Two semi's next to these lots are also up for sale. I believe these are currently occupied; one is a triplex and the other is a duplex.

I saw that yesterday and was a bit surprised to see demolition taking place so quickly. Nice change from the drama on David St! Now to hope that it doesn't sit as an undeveloped lot for years to come....

Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home at Benton and Church Sts is closing, with its operations merged with the recently expanded Westmount Funeral Home. That could give rise to interesting development opportunities on both corners of Church St, although I would hope that the original house will be saved, whatever the future holds.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/480 ... -to-close/

panamaniac Wrote:Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home at Benton and Church Sts is closing, with its operations merged with the recently expanded Westmount Funeral Home. That could give rise to interesting development opportunities on both corners of Church St, although I would hope that the original house will be saved, whatever the future holds.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/480 ... -to-close/

Anyone know if there's any sort of heritage designation in play here?

I could see Revel Development make a play here. I know they've bought a number of properties along Church Street with redevelopment in mind.

panamaniac Wrote:I saw that yesterday and was a bit surprised to see demolition taking place so quickly. Nice change from the drama on David St! Now to hope that it doesn't sit as an undeveloped lot for years to come....

Just looked up the building permits taken out on 122 and 126 Courtland Ave:

"PERMIT IS FOR A NEW 27 UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING, INCLUDES SITE SERVICING. ALSO SEE DEMOLITION PERMIT No. 12 187258 & 12 187260."

rangersfan Wrote:

panamaniac Wrote:I saw that yesterday and was a bit surprised to see demolition taking place so quickly. Nice change from the drama on David St! Now to hope that it doesn't sit as an undeveloped lot for years to come....

Just looked up the building permits taken out on 122 and 126 Courtland Ave:

"PERMIT IS FOR A NEW 27 UNIT APARTMENT BUILDING, INCLUDES SITE SERVICING. ALSO SEE DEMOLITION PERMIT No. 12 187258 & 12 187260."

Probably a 3-4 storey building which will be in line with a few other apartment buildings on that stretch of Courtland. A positive step for the neighbourhood.
I hope they move right to construction. There's still plenty of time to dig.

Spokes Wrote:

panamaniac Wrote:Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home at Benton and Church Sts is closing, with its operations merged with the recently expanded Westmount Funeral Home. That could give rise to interesting development opportunities on both corners of Church St, although I would hope that the original house will be saved, whatever the future holds.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/480 ... -to-close/

Anyone know if there's any sort of heritage designation in play here?

I could see Revel Development make a play here. I know they've bought a number of properties along Church Street with redevelopment in mind.

Protected or not, the home has some heritage value. However, I would still prefer to see a high density building to go up on that corner with perhaps a couple of small retail units on the main floor.

I'd have to go by and look, but I think there's room for something taller behind the original house, not to mention the parking lot across the street. On the other hand, the current structure has, among other things, a chapel that seats 200 people, which makes me wonder about other possible uses for the existing building. Would a restaurant in the original house be creepy? How about a churcth or a cultural venue of some sort?

panamaniac Wrote:Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home at Benton and Church Sts is closing, with its operations merged with the recently expanded Westmount Funeral Home. That could give rise to interesting development opportunities on both corners of Church St, although I would hope that the original house will be saved, whatever the future holds.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/480 ... -to-close/

I wonder if it has any ghosts. Not sure if a funeral home would be an easy sell to anyone. Maybe a nice upscale restaurant. It would already have refrigeration equipment.

rickhd, I like your sense of humour a lot! The article does say it has a rather large banquet hall and chapel and so on. So you may not be too far off.

I passed by Schreiter-Sandrock today and, indeed, there would be lots of room behind the original house for re-development. Their parking lot across Church St, together with the two deteriorating houses to the west, would make (another) nice Downtown location for a mid-rise condo along the lines of Red.

I noticed today that the renovation work in what was former The Hive (King St E at Scott) is moving forward, but there is no work permit posted that I could see. Isn't that a bit unusual?