General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[KevinL]

I find the Doon situation so frustrating. The college has been there for five decades. Not every student can be expected to commute. They can't just wall themselves off and bury their heads in the sand.

[danbrotherston]

I find the Doon situation so frustrating. The college has been there for five decades. Not every student can be expected to commute. They can't just wall themselves off and bury their heads in the sand.

Facing reality is something a lot of people in our society seem unwilling to do...

Just like forcing people to face reality is something politicians seem unwilling to do (perhaps because legitimately, it will cost them an election).

So we kick the COVID/Climate Change/Housing can down the road just a little bit farther...until we've walked all the way to mordor.

[tomh009]

Contrary to the claims here, I feel the new housing is significantly better than earlier housing. And the city has spent a significant amount of effort to improve the urban design of the area.

I don't know how much "earlier" you mean here, but I think for the student towers, there has been some trend toward improvement, at least looking from outside the buildings. The earliest ones, that row of towers on King St between University Ave and Columbia St is the worst. Some of the recent buildings are more or less OK, and not many of them are atrocious. A low bar, I know ...

[ac3r]

Maybe my standards are just too high for things. Being an architect that has worked for very good firms and in cities from Berlin to Toronto to Paris, when I see this sort of stuff or the decisions our cities/region makes, I can't help but hate it. I suppose if you're not personally involved in this field of work or just lack a knack for art/design, you really don't realize how bad it all is which is why I am always surprised to see comments on this forum from people saying certain things aren't that bad. The bar is super low for this region and to me that's depressing, because cities should be built in the best way possible.

[danbrotherston]

Contrary to the claims here, I feel the new housing is significantly better than earlier housing. And the city has spent a significant amount of effort to improve the urban design of the area.

I don't know how much "earlier" you mean here, but I think for the student towers, there has been some trend toward improvement, at least looking from outside the buildings. The earliest ones, that row of towers on King St between University Ave and Columbia St is the worst. Some of the recent buildings are more or less OK, and not many of them are atrocious. A low bar, I know ...

By earlier, I mean housing built largely on Lester and King when things were opened up say ~10 years ago.

I should have said recent housing, built in the past 4-5 years, I feel is significantly better.

So yes...I agree...more or less.

[CP42]

Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St

[Lebronj23]

Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St

Is that currently the Deloitte office building surrounded by large parking lots?

[CP42]

Wouldn’t be surprised if something happens at 195 Joseph St

Is that currently the Deloitte office building surrounded by large parking lots?

Correct - owned by Allied.

[ac3r]

That was renovated not that long ago, so I don't think they'd do anything with it. It's a very nice building. Even the parking is likely to stay. I think they specifically saved that old smokestack from demolition because it is one of the few remaining old smokestacks downtown.

[CP42]

If a large plot of land is sold to a developer - are these sales made public? If so, where could we see that?

[tomh009]

You can see the land ownership in Kitchener's Open GIS system. It won't show actual transactions.

[Lens]

Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.

In related news, this parcel on Breithaupt has been assembled and I can guarantee Allied would love to own the rest of the side of the block: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/23955...-kitchener

[KevinL]

Looks like that package leaves out 44 Breithaupt, though. It has a modern new porch and balcony, it would be interesting to see it as the only house remaining...

[CP42]

Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.

I’m fairly familiar with the building and there was a group of 5 or 6 people finely dressed getting a rather extensive tour of the property, inside and out. Makes me believe it is being scouted out.

[ac3r]

Allied could easily build over the parking lots there. They love to mix modern buildings with heritage.

I’m fairly familiar with the building and there was a group of 5 or 6 people finely dressed getting a rather extensive tour of the property, inside and out. Makes me believe it is being scouted out.

Hmm I wonder who they were with haha. Today I saw another crew of white hardhats parking at the lot by the Covid-19 test centre, but they went off somewhere in the direction of Queen Street. There's definitely some consulting firms eyeing places around downtown.