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General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Printable Version

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RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-23-2017

I go to an actual hardware store well less than once a month; personally, I really don't think that's critical for downtown.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Markster - 03-23-2017

(03-23-2017, 01:19 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: This is a bit out of downtown, but there is a Home Hardware on Park near Victoria. I would imagine these types of stores require more land, and a larger population base than most grocery stores.  They're also a less frequent trip for most.  This happens to be across the street for me, which is very convenient for me, but I wonder if there's any feasibility of one operating closer to DT while this one is open.
The distance from the Uptown HH to the Weber/University one is about 1.7km on roads
The distance from the Park HH to King/Queen is about 1.7km on roads

So there's precedent for proximity.

However, the bigger problem is that no one seems to be opening up new, urban format hardware stores. It's a format, more than any other, that has taken well to the big box warehouse.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - timio - 03-23-2017

Edit - wrong thread.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-24-2017

(03-23-2017, 12:20 PM)tomh009 Wrote: DTK now has J&P, SDM food section, New City, Legacy Greens, the market, and several bakeries.  Definitely getting better.  Whether we can eliminate some of our weekly trips out to the supermarkets remains to be seen.  (Will visit J&P today for the first time to see how much it'll help in that direction.)

Visited J&P last night.  It's quite nice as an environment, but the space is not big in the first place, and even that space is not full of shelves, so the product selection is fairly limited.  They do tend to premium and specialty products but do have some basics such as breakfast cereals.  But only organic milk at $7/litre?  Come on, now!  However, I am optimistic that the selection will improve as the get feedback and review sales data.

In any case, it's very much a welcome addition to the downtown food shopping scene.  (In addition to the stores mentioned above, we do also have the Hasty Market, and no fewer than three Latino grocery stores, and a West Indian grocery store.)


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - LesPio - 03-25-2017

(03-09-2017, 01:08 PM)LesPio Wrote:
(03-07-2017, 09:07 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Demolition permits applied for (almost two months ago!) but not yet issued.

43 Wellington St N is now torn down.



RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 03-26-2017

Both houses are utterly gone - just bare fill remains.

[Image: hhWMNyq.jpg]


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - rangersfan - 03-27-2017

152 Shanley St is finally being listed for sale, I didn't realize that there are so many rules around a tax sale.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/7209621-long-delayed-tax-sale-of-former-electrohome-site-moving-ahead


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - EdM - 03-28-2017

What happened to the old Charles / Gaukel discussion? Looks like there's finally some news here.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - rangersfan - 03-28-2017

EdM can you elaborate?


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - ijmorlan - 03-28-2017

(03-27-2017, 05:49 AM)rangersfan Wrote: 152 Shanley St is finally being listed for sale, I didn't realize that there are so many rules around a tax sale.

http://m.therecord.com/news-story/7209621-long-delayed-tax-sale-of-former-electrohome-site-moving-ahead

Crazy. So if the property isn’t worth the outstanding taxes the city can never foreclose?

I mean, there should be some rules, as there should be rules governing every government function, but this is silly.

Also, the idea that buyers can’t have access to the property is ridiculous. I’m not sure exactly how it should work with a potentially hazardous property, but some access is required to evaluate a property properly. That’s just as true for commercial developers as for residential homebuyers. Although I suppose potential buyers could just break in the same as anybody else who is curious about the property.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 03-29-2017

It's not that uncommon for a property being sold as-is to have restricted access to buyers, or only to be viewed from the outside. If there are contamination or structural issues, that's often the case.

I imagine this is a unique situation in regards to the restriction that the property be sold for more than the taxes owing. It would take a long time to rack up a tax bill equal to the value of a property, in most cases. A million dollars would probably not be an unreasonable price to pay for this property. It's the remediation requirements that change the economics of it.

It would be nice to be surprised and to see this purchased by someone with deep pockets who wants to restore it and sell condos (or whatever). I doubt it. I think the municipality should be proactively zoning this for something denser, and doing the work ahead of time to clear up any heritage issues that might arise. Four story residential will not justify the clean-up costs, and especially if somehow someone is made to keep part of the building (which is right now not structurally sound).


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-29-2017

Four-story residential is only the starting point, though: there is always the option of applying for a zoning variance. Arrow Lofts has an additional four stories on top of the original factory structure, for example, and Bread & Roses has a taller building next to the original factory.

In this case, though, the property might not big enough to significantly expand the current building, even with the current single-storey extension torn down. Buying up some neighbouring lots would address that, though.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - Viewfromthe42 - 03-29-2017

Noticed lights on last night at the former Caesaria location. Could see the (old?) roughings for a bar on the left side, and many, many bags for either cement or tile grout. Paused for a few minutes but didn't see anyone actually in the unit.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 03-29-2017

tomh009: There is always the option of applying for a variance, true enough. But that uncertainty needs to be subtracted from the purchase price- if that means a reasonable purchase price is less than what the municipality needs to proceed with the sale, then nothing happens. That's why I say that Kitchener should proactively move to zone this parcel for more density, to incite a sale. It's in everyone's interests.

You're right that the property probably isn't big enough for a significant expansion even with the west-side addition torn down. I wonder how easily that would be addressed by buying out the neighbours. a potential buyer could only increase the parcel by 50% by buying towards Stahl. That's another unknown that impedes a sale.


RE: General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-29-2017

Yes, I agree, MidTowner. It would have been better to change the zoning first to attract stronger offers.