1253 King Street East | 24 & 8 fl | Proposed

[ac3r]

Vive Development is proposing a mixed use rental project at 1253 King Street East.

Consisting of two buildings at 24 and 8 floors, the taller building will have mixed usage including 484.3 m² of commercial space utilizing 2 floors fronting King Street which will obscure the parking structure in the podium. The 8 floor building will be strictly residential. 372 residential units in total are proposed. 5 two floor townhouse units are proposed to front Charles Street (these would be contained within the 8 floor building). An outdoor amenity area would sit at ground level on top of the podium as a courtyard between the two towers. 178 parking spaces are proposed, contained within with the podium of the taller building and underground with access off of Sheldon Avenue. Secure bicycle parking would be included within the podium.

[ac3r]

I'm not a fan of the building massing as I don't like rectangular building footprints, but as Vive Development primarily develops rental properties I'll be happy to see this get built if it is approved. They seem to really be attracted to the south-east end of downtown (although this sits slightly outside of it, but it's close enough I'll consider it downtown). While I'm sure a big reason is due to the fact the properties being sold cost less, they also seem to be sincerely interested in reviving and redeveloping this area of the city. They even have their office located in an old historical building at 1020 King.

The materials are going to be a mixed bag but have a lot of emphasis on glass, so it might look okay as long as it doesn't look like a monochromatic monolith like their Lower Kitchener project (hopefully not as they do seem to go with a variety of building styles). 2 floors of commercial space is an interesting feature and more commercial space is always nice to see - especially in this area - as are 2 floor townhouse units. The open courtyard style amenity space could be nice as well...I don't believe there are any projects in the region that have it in the middle of two buildings like this is proposing, at least not newer ones. The parking space to unit ratio is decent as well as it's a shame when developers build parking spaces at a near 1:1 ratio.

Also, the architect(s) used a great idea we often use when building a multi-building project like this which was to put the shorter building nearer the single family homes which will cast fewer shadows and have less of an imposing presence for those living next door. The taller building - which would still cast shadows on single family homes - would at least cause fewer problems as most of the closest buildings are low rise commercial buildings. That should hopefully make it easier to be approved.

[panamaniac]

Hard to tell from that "render" how ugly the podium would be, but I have to wonder why all the parking couldn't be underground.

[dtkvictim]

What does secure bicycle parking actually look like in new developments? Every comment I've seen online regarding apartment/condo bike parking suggests it will be stolen and to just keep your bikes in your unit. Is it just feel good marketing/checking off boxes, or are new developments actually more secure?

[ac3r]

What does secure bicycle parking actually look like in new developments? Every comment I've seen online regarding apartment/condo bike parking suggests it will be stolen and to just keep your bikes in your unit. Is it just feel good marketing/checking off boxes, or are new developments actually more secure?

Well there's really no such thing as secure, so it's likely just marketing haha. Nobody really owns anything because if someone wants it then it's theirs.

As for what it looks like? Anything from individual little pods or racks contained within a cage, then usually within a room with controlled access. But yeah, not too hard to get into something like that especially for someone who does it regularly.

[tomh009]

That's it. An access-controlled room will reduce the opportunity. We have only had one break-in into our locked bike room in the last six years. In the garage (also access-controlled but far easier to sneak into) there have been a few more. But many buildings have no control at all ...

People with expensive bikes, carbon frames etc, generally store them in their units anyway.

[ac3r]

This was approved: https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...hener.html