3241-3247 King St E and 108 Cameo Dr | 24, 23, & 19 fl | U/C

[SF22]

Drove past this site yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, there's ANOTHER new gas station popping up right across the street! Esso has got a canopy up already, I believe in the empty space beside the car detailing shop. My pet theory is that they've getting ready for the eventual River Road connection to the highway, although all the new residents that will move into these towers are likely a draw, too.

To be honest, when I was driving by that skeleton build, I thought it looked like a fast (DC) charging station. I thought it was part of the initiative that Joe Biden has for EV charging in the US and Canada.

It was definitely branded Esso on the canopy, but they could be getting into that game! Gas stations are definitely going to need to pivot eventually, I would not be surprised if they end up swapping out gas pumps in existing stations for chargers, at some point.

[tomh009]

Drove past this site yesterday, and wouldn't you know it, there's ANOTHER new gas station popping up right across the street! Esso has got a canopy up already, I believe in the empty space beside the car detailing shop. My pet theory is that they've getting ready for the eventual River Road connection to the highway, although all the new residents that will move into these towers are likely a draw, too.

To be honest, when I was driving by that skeleton build, I thought it looked like a fast (DC) charging station. I thought it was part of the initiative that Joe Biden has for EV charging in the US and Canada.

Esso is installing Flo EV chargers at (many?) new gas stations. I don't know whether this is the case here.

[KevinL]

It certainly will be a gas station, my bus went by this morning slow enough that I could see the caps on the underground tanks.

There may be chargers going in as well, of course.

[ZEBuilder]

Based upon Zehr Groups Instagram (Project Manager for the project) the tower crane base for the first building was poured yesterday. Looking at the permits in the system Vive doesn't have any of the foundation permits yet but it appears these might be even taller then the 24, 23, 19 that was original proposed as one of the permits in application status is stating 28 floors for tower A instead of 24 that was originally approved.

[Bjays93]

Crane was going up here today

[ac3r]

I always forget this project is already ongoing until I'm visiting family nearby. Was in the area yesterday and it took me a while to realize what the crane I could see was for.

[ac3r]

This project has a new name: SYLK

Construction is underway for this new, three phase project, bringing 1000+ new rental units to Kitchener! With occupancy set for early 2025, Sylk Towers will bring 304 new affordable rental units at 90% of Market Rent as designed by CMHC. This project exceeds building code requirements for efficiency and GHG emissions by over 40% and is designed as an electric building.

https://vivedevelopment.com/project/sylk-towers/

[westwardloo]

I know we like to poke fun of Vive sometimes, but I feel like the might be one of the most consistent developers in our Region. They are slow, but much faster the Auburn or Drewlo. They use similar materials, but they seems to know/ hire architects that know how to use precast panels in a way that is not offensive. The Carmine is one of my favorite mid-rises built in the last few years. It's simple (White and Grey) but it just works. 

This project is nothing special, but it is much nicer looking than the Vertikl development (it will probably finish earlier too).

[tomh009]

Notably, this building has $115M in debt financing from the federal government. In order to qualify, Vive has committed to affordability criteria. Construction scheduled to complete in March 2025.

In return for the RCFi loan, the Vive must keep all rents at least 10 per cent below market rates. And 67 of the units must meet Ottawa’s definition of affordable rents — that is rents do not exceed 30 per cent of a tenant’s gross income.

And 47 apartments are completely accessible for people who need wheelchairs.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...f3eba.html

[Vojnik_Vahaj]

With this kind of density coming at this node it almost seems like iON Phase two should have included a River Rd stop. (Just a shame that the LRT will be on the other side of highway 8 rather than on the old rail parallel to king)
With a pedestrian path through Hofstetter to the proposed River Road Extension the intersection of the iON and River Rd  380-400m away from this development via a Hofstetter ped path and bridge across highway 8. The bridge across the highway would be large barrier///

Yea what the heck? Why would the city not use the existing rail right of way? Are they stupid?(probably, yea)

[ac3r]

They appear to be working on the 10th floor of this project. It's going up fairly quickly with the use of precast panels. But yikes the building has a horrible rectangular footprint that is beginning to look ridiculously prominent from all angles. Viewed from King Street it looks like a giant wall. All the other towers that neighbour it are at least oriented in a way that you don't notice how long they are.

[ZEBuilder]

We somehow have no photos of this project but the first phase is almost topped out, I wasn't close enough to count the floors but it looks like there's about 2 floors left, it should easily be topped out by the end of the year, wouldn't be surprising if it is topped out by the end of the month. The first precast arrived on site in late December of 2023 so regardless it will be about 10 months from a complete raft slab to a structurally complete building (roughly 26 floors when including the 2 floors of underground parking).

Here's a photo from Zehr's Instagram from July 3rd:
   

Here's a photo that was taken October 6th from Fairway, the quality isn't good but it certainly changes the view.
   

[ac3r]

I go by fairly often to walk along the river. If I can remember, I'll take some photographs. There's not much to see though...it's a generic slab apartment with a grab bag of precast and EIFS materials. Looks as wacky as any Vive project, but at least it's more rentals.

[cherrypark]

That big white wall on the back side facing south is quite the shining beacon coming in Highway 7/8 over the river now that its nearing full height.

[jeffster]

That big white wall on the back side facing south is quite the shining beacon coming in Highway 7/8 over the river now that its nearing full height.

I dunno. The term "ugly" was my first thought. But beacon is accurate as well.

It really looks like some sort of communistic governmental design.

Ok, that was mean, but, truth isn't always nice.