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+--- Thread: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=8)
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RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 11-12-2014
(11-12-2014, 12:16 AM)519 Wrote:(11-11-2014, 11:58 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Out of curiousity, what was the rationale for leaving Downtown and moving to (north end?) Waterloo.Northfield.
Aside from staying put, there was no viable option in downtown that would meet our parking requirement.
We're not a tech company with the live/work in downtown culture.
Which I think speaks to the lack of "non-tech" type of high end office space. Especially if it's true that DREAM hasn't been maintaining things all that well.
Size could have been a factor too.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Markster - 11-12-2014
It seems there still isn't enough business advantage to downtown to overcome a lot of the latent expectation of plentiful free parking for businesses. I know that was a challenge for The Tannery, which culminated in the demolition of several buildings.
I must admit, that I'm surprised that the garage attached to Market Square is insufficient. Perhaps it was simply insufficiently free.
Really, a company's location is something that has to be driven from the employees up, if one is to overcome the temptation of cheap land on the edge of town.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 11-12-2014
(11-12-2014, 11:42 AM)Markster Wrote: I must admit, that I'm surprised that the garage attached to Market Square is insufficient. Perhaps it was simply insufficiently free.
Bingo. I have worked at the Galleria, and it was a very common complaint that parking was widely unavailable in the building, and too expensive when it was. Many people parked at the Market Square garage, and complained about the distance (yup...) and the cost. I always got the impression that any cost would have been considered an excessive cost.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 11-12-2014
That's part of the Waterloo Region culture though. People want to be able to park right in front of their destination. This is slowly changing though
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 11-12-2014
Changing VERY slowly, I'd say. It suggests to me that Downtown's progress will continue to be a process of "two steps forward, one step back" for some time yet, especially for Downtown east of Queen Street.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 11-12-2014
(11-12-2014, 12:16 AM)519 Wrote:(11-11-2014, 11:58 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Out of curiousity, what was the rationale for leaving Downtown and moving to (north end?) Waterloo.Northfield.
Aside from staying put, there was no viable option in downtown that would meet our parking requirement.
We're not a tech company with the live/work in downtown culture.
We're in Barbarella Towers Canada Trust Tower downtown, also a DREAM property for the few years. Maintenance has been OK, but underground parking is limited, and I believe everyone in our office drives today. However, we can use the new Benton/Charles garage for parking, and that's pretty good for us. At around $30/employee/month it's also not that expensive in the larger scheme of things.
In the future ... well, I hope not to be driving any more, but unfortunately that's the only viable solution for me personally at this point.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 11-13-2014
(11-12-2014, 05:38 PM)panamaniac Wrote: Changing VERY slowly, I'd say. It suggests to me that Downtown's progress will continue to be a process of "two steps forward, one step back" for some time yet, especially for Downtown east of Queen Street.
Definitely this. Maybe even east of City Hall. Other than Centre Block, all of the action is happening West.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 11-13-2014
(11-12-2014, 10:39 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(11-12-2014, 12:16 AM)519 Wrote: Northfield.
Aside from staying put, there was no viable option in downtown that would meet our parking requirement.
We're not a tech company with the live/work in downtown culture.
We're in Barbarella Towers Canada Trust Tower downtown, also a DREAM property for the few years. Maintenance has been OK, but underground parking is limited, and I believe everyone in our office drives today. However, we can use the new Benton/Charles garage for parking, and that's pretty good for us. At around $30/employee/month it's also not that expensive in the larger scheme of things.
In the future ... well, I hope not to be driving any more, but unfortunately that's the only viable solution for me personally at this point.
Wow, that's an amazing price. Do you know who's subsidizing it?
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 11-13-2014
I have some experience with smaller rentals near downtown, and parking is one of the things where attitudes vary widely depending on people. Some believe that it is their God-given right to an off-street parking space big enough to manoeuvre into without turning one’s brain on (preferably covered); others use their car more infrequently and don’t care where it might happen to hang out when it’s not being used.
I’ve experimented with charging “extra” rent for including a parking spot (more like a discount for not needing one), and a surprising number of people are downright offended by this. I love my neighbourhood, and people who will actually walk around in it add value to it, so that’s my rationale. I’ve had some people suggest that charging for parking is somehow discriminatory. Yes, these people are invariably not already living in built-up areas of the Region.
Anyway, I’m only trying to speak to an attitude about parking that regards it as a necessity instead of the rather wasteful use of land that it is. I can’t see this changing very quickly at all, and it will be a big headwind for downtown in a lot of ways.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - DHLawrence - 11-13-2014
I just want an underground spot I can drive out of comfortably. I lived in Port Credit for a year and scraped both front corners of my car trying to get out of my spot, that's how tight it was. Didn't help that I was one away from the wall and had a concrete pillar next to my spot.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - TMKM94 - 11-14-2014
Does anyone know when the old beer store is being demolished? Just wondering since I like watching most buildings be demolished.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 11-14-2014
The fence was up when I passed by yesterday so soon, I should think.
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Smore - 11-16-2014
I thought I saw something earlier about TWB Brewpub coming downtown. Maybe someone suggested that there was an old building they could move into...post office? Bell building? Not sure. Regardless, they've initiated a kickstarter for a Fermenter, and they've posted a nice video which profiles downtown. For that alone, I've donated. Beer is just a bonus!!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1411593000/the-peoples-fermenter?ref=nav_search
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - neonjoe - 11-16-2014
(11-16-2014, 03:23 PM)Smore Wrote: I thought I saw something earlier about TWB Brewpub coming downtown. Maybe someone suggested that there was an old building they could move into...post office? Bell building? Not sure. Regardless, they've initiated a kickstarter for a Fermenter, and they've posted a nice video which profiles downtown. For that alone, I've donated. Beer is just a bonus!!I donated as well. Downtown needs a business like this + I like beer.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1411593000/the-peoples-fermenter?ref=nav_search
RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 11-16-2014
The Public Utilities Building would be a great location, but I keep hearing that it's slated to become a restaurant. I wonder how many sq ft a brew pub would require?