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+--- Thread: Victoria Park Life (588-600 Queen St S) | 11 fl | Proposed (/showthread.php?tid=996)
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 11-28-2020
It was not. And the properties have not been combined yet, either. I don't see either one as a high hurdle, though.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 06-16-2021
Found this on Reddit. I love Žižek but there are so many things wrong with this haha. The umlaut, the fact it's worded as a question and the fact they are implying more housing on what is now a vacant site is somehow gentrification.
![[Image: qGisIRm.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/qGisIRm.jpg)
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 06-16-2021
Yeah. That scribble has been there a rather long time. As you said, wrong on so many levels.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - panamaniac - 06-16-2021
Is that proposal still alive?
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 06-16-2021
(06-16-2021, 01:17 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Is that proposal still alive?
Apparently, it was killed by gentrification.
More seriously, I think the property was for sale some time ago, so it's not likely to happen in its initially proposed form at least. And you can expect the Victoria Park Neighbourhood Association to fight any development tooth and nail.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 06-16-2021
The planning application disappeared from the City of Kitchener website and then the property went up for sale. I have heard no news as to whether or not it was officially cancelled or not, but it's probably safe to say it's not going to happen anymore...especially since that nearby proposal on Mill Street was completely stalled and then cut back thanks to the Victoria Park NIMBYs.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - danbrotherston - 06-21-2021
I just hate my neighbours so much...honestly...shame on them.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - clasher - 06-21-2021
They dug a few shallow holes a couple years ago, maybe that was part of some early work and they found something that made their original plans too expensive?
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - ac3r - 06-21-2021
It's possible, though I don't know what they might have found. This was just an old mill, so there shouldn't be anything contaminating the ground or anything like that...and even if there was, cleanup isn't that expensive to achieve.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - TMKM94 - 05-12-2022
Fencing is now up around the property, Does anyone know if demolition is happening soon?
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 05-12-2022
No demolition permit issued yet. The old in-principle site plan approval is still there, but that was from four years ago, I doubt they will do exactly the same thing now.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - dtkvictim - 05-17-2022
Saw a couple workers on site today, it looked like they were boarding up additional windows. That combined with fencing - a sign of activity, or a sign of squatters like some other properties have seen?
The bottom half of the sign out front was also removed (with the graffiti, as well as ABA architects and Stantecs names), but the top half with the render remains.
RE: 588-600 Queen St S | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 07-31-2022
And this project is alive! It's now Victoria Park Life, and it's going to be a seniors-focused condo building. Developer is Lifewise, the company behind Harbourlife in Hamilton, and they have a few other similar projects in the pipeline.
Still 11 floors, 191 studio and one-bedroom units, ranging from 300 to 550 sqft, with a lot of amenities ("a Bar style entertainment room, craft kitchen, games room, gathering spaces, activity room, women’s and men's lounges, billiard room, gym, yoga room, pharmacy, nurse and station and option for spa and health care and group excursions"). Health screening for all staff and visitors on each entry, wearable health monitors (with a monitoring system), individual ventilation systems in each unit and tablets for family communication.
"80 is the new 60", they say -- well, maybe, but I do think they are targeting an underserved demographic, of seniors who want to live in a nice place with facilities and services, rather than a house or long-term care.
The renders are pretty much what we have seen before, it's the characteristics of the building that have changed.
https://victoriaparklife.ca/
RE: Victoria Park Life (588-600 Queen St S) | 11 fl | Proposed - panamaniac - 07-31-2022
Condo rather than rental surprises me a little bit. There will always be a seniors' market for both, but the amenities seem to be aimed at the "senior senior" who, I might have thought, would be more interested in renting.
RE: Victoria Park Life (588-600 Queen St S) | 11 fl | Proposed - tomh009 - 07-31-2022
I think they are targeting seniors who have money. Most of the recent seniors' buildings are "life lease" buildings, which has all the downsides of condo ownership and not many of the upsides. This is better.
And what you can do now, before you hit that age, is buy a unit, rent it out and then move in once it's time. In a purely rental building, you really have no way to secure a unit in advance.