General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[Rainrider22]

Perfect location for tent city 2.0

[Acitta]

Perfect location for tent city 2.0

It is not publicly owned, so probably not. A tall building full of rent geared to income apartments would be nice, though.

[ZEBuilder]

Perfect location for tent city 2.0

Consultants are currently doing design work on that site for the city, who intend for construction starting in 2026/2027. It will be home to a new fire station and affordable housing development.

Here's the thread: https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/...p?tid=1924

[mastermind]

There's a "road permanently closed" sign at Nyberg between Borden and Ottawa, and the buildings along that whole stretch are fenced in with Romeo Demolition fences (Sherwood Music etc.). Also from Ottawa to Sydney the building across the creek from Nyberg are fenced in with Romeo Demolition fences.

Maybe they're doing the creek re-naturalization thing here, similar to what they've done in other areas of town?

[ZEBuilder]

There's a "road permanently closed" sign at Nyberg between Borden and Ottawa, and the buildings along that whole stretch are fenced in with Romeo Demolition fences (Sherwood Music etc.).  Also from Ottawa to Sydney the building across the creek from Nyberg are fenced in with Romeo Demolition fences. 

Maybe they're doing the creek re-naturalization thing here, similar to what they've done in other areas of town?

Yes, it's part of phase 1 (Kent to Sydney) as part of the larger Schneider Creek project from Stirling to Sydney. The city still needs 1 property in that phase 1 section from my understanding and then they have all the property they need.

Phase 2 is further down the road but also has less of an impact on surrounding land, especially when considering future redevelopment.

Long term the city hasn't made it public what they're planning to do with the land that isn't directly needed for the creek project, very likely it's new parkland. The city could sell the land for redevelopment, however there are some critical utilities running under some of the closed streets meaning if the city were to use existing closed streets as part of new land parcels there would be some significant prep work making parkland way more likely.

We do have a thread somewhere on here for the larger Schneiders Creek project.

[tomh009]

There should be some room for meandering paths and playgrounds, at least, akin to the one on Schumacher, err, Shoemaker Creek. Especially between Ottawa and Sydney there is quite a lot of space.

That area does have a lot of green space but most of that is heavily populated by small white dimpled balls.

[ZEBuilder]

There should be some room for meandering paths and playgrounds, at least, akin to the one on Schumacher, err, Shoemaker Creek. Especially between Ottawa and Sydney there is quite a lot of space.

That area does have a lot of green space but most of that is heavily populated by small white dimpled balls.

The City's total land holdings in the area are far greater than just the properties along Nyberg and Sydney that are being demolished. In total the City has about 15.47 acres of land, including the creek, within the phase 1 area. There is a singular property that they still haven't purchased which is 2.2 acres, that property allows them to include another street which adds another 0.5 acres roughly. With all of the land holdings the city owns and will likely own you get 18.08 acres which is just under half the size of Victoria Park.

The preferred design had 3 amenity areas (playground type structures, seating areas), located at Kent and the Creek, Borden and the Creek and Ottawa and the Creek, however the city has purchased more than just the project bounds within the EA, hence the idea that this will likely turn into a larger park for the east side of DTK. It would also not be surprising if the city required parkland dedication requirements for new developments (property instead of cash) to be within this area, there are other areas of DTK that are in a more dire need for parkland (Grand River Hospital MTSA for example), so this would likely only be true for projects around Borden and Mill.

Regardless here is what the city currently owns. The property they don't own is fairly obvious, likewise if the city were to continue to expand their holdings for a larger park there are some pretty obvious routes to do it along Kent and then the Borden and Courtland corner. Whenever the MTD lands redevelop (not anytime soon, will also be complicated) the city and GRCA (Lake Erie RCA) would likely require parkland along the creek so there are multiple future expansions to this should the city want to keep all their holdings as parkland.

   

[Square]

Can't find the thread but the houses on Lancaster near Bridgeport are torn down. Is this vive's next project?

[ZEBuilder]

Can't find the thread but the houses on Lancaster near Bridgeport are torn down. Is this vive's next project?

It's this project: https://waterlooregionconnected.com/show...&pid=94174

Vive is in a joint venture with Corley on that one, it's moving as per Corley's timeline. Vive has their hands full with 1001 King (Eureka), 3241 King (SYLK), and the old CTV site.

The next site you will likely see Vive move on is 332 Charles and Phase 3 of SYLK.

[ac3r]

The windows have kept melting it seems. They've got a crew working on it again.

[Square]

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...51d94.html

Guess no new developments this year?

[Momo26]

Expecting another downward year for condo pricing

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/202...in-canada/

[tomh009]

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...51d94.html

Guess no new developments this year?

Please check the water thread for lots more detail.

[Momo26]

I'm not really comparing Kitchener to Berlin, I'm just saying that downtown Kitchener doesn't really feel like a place most want to be because it just has a very cold, uninviting, dirty vibe.

But there's also nothing to really do on a day to day basis. I don't even mean stuff like a new sports stadium or whatever that can offer one-off events, but what is the draw for anyone who doesn't already live downtown to want to go downtown? There's more natural environment, more to do and less schizo drug addicts in any of the most generic suburban neighbourhoods. Downtown - for those not living there - is at best a place you go for the occasional dinner date, maybe see some random band, work or study and pass through on transit or driving. Condos that are already falling apart such as Duke Tower sure haven't done anything to improve it either.

It's objectively just a boring, yucky place with no real direction or coherent goal.

I also wish there was far more of a 'pull' to downtown. More things to just do for hanging out. Social scene.

[tomh009]

I also wish there was far more of a 'pull' to downtown. More things to just do for hanging out. Social scene.

Step by step, there are more things to do and more places to hang out downtown. It's not going to happen overnight. But, in addition to many different types of cafes, there are a bunch of newish bars: Tamasha, Rangeela (with live music at times!), Don Julio's, Grand Trunk (yes, moved from Ontario St), Volume Lounge, Republik and Roshmoh. Ice cream, cakes and bubble tea: Four All, Kinoko and Chatime. And there are places for games: AOK and Adventurers' Guild.

The direction is right, and it seems that DTK still has momentum, in spite of the condo market downturn and the persistence of hybrid/WfH work.