General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[neonjoe]

It's probably more likely that they do not want the cars left outside. Neither MB or BMW leave any of their 'Exclusive' vehicles outside on their lots. Everything Porsche makes except for the SUVs would be in a similar class of vehicle.

[tomh009]

It's really not unusual now: parking space is often at a premium, and underground parking is more easily secured, too.

Parking space is at a premium? In sprawling edge of city developments?

Sorry, I was not specific enough. On-property parking space is often at a premium at car dealerships as they need to deal with sales customer parking, service parking, used car inventory and, most of all, new car inventory (which often arrives in large batches).

Generic public parking, no, I agree it's not at a premium.

[danbrotherston]

Parking space is at a premium? In sprawling edge of city developments?

Sorry, I was not specific enough. On-property parking space is often at a premium at car dealerships as they need to deal with sales customer parking, service parking, used car inventory and, most of all, new car inventory (which often arrives in large batches).

Generic public parking, no, I agree it's not at a premium.

It's a fair point...car dealers are about the only land use where parking actually is at a premium...because it's actually used for warehousing.

I really have no idea, but I'm willing to bet some money that car dealers base their parking on some kind of land use minimum parking requirements rather than...you know...like any business, figuring out it's actual warehousing needs.

Of course, any business which is using it's warehouse space to temporarily store clients vehicles, is likely going to just fill up their warehouse and not really leave enough room for clients, that's just how businesses prioritize things.

That being said, I think the point remains, surface parking is still cheaper and land is not really limited, I don't think they'd build a parking garage just for more parking, I think I buy the "we need indoor space for special cars" argument a bit more.

[tomh009]

That being said, I think the point remains, surface parking is still cheaper and land is not really limited, I don't think they'd build a parking garage just for more parking, I think I buy the "we need indoor space for special cars" argument a bit more.

It really depends. The land is not expensive -- but the available land, where you want to locate the dealership, and the zoning permits such, might not be as big as you would want for your inventory requirements (car warehousing, as you correctly describe it). Adding underground parking improves security and provides additional capacity.

[cherrypark]

It's most likely a combination of high-value new vehicle storage (no one is yarding a $300k car that is getting VIP delivery) as well as winter/long-term storage for clients.

E.g. - https://dealer.porsche.com/ca/oakville/e...le-Storage

[Lens]

Any info on this render for College and Weber?

[KaiserWilhelmsBust]

Any info on this render for College and Weber?

The design was done just as a density visualization to aid the sale of the property. An offer was accepted a few weeks ago, but the buyer will likely bring in their own design team and rework it. I would imagine the height/density is close to what will be proposed

[clasher]

That's a heritage parking lot!

[Joedelay Highhoe]

Not entirely a heritage parking lot... there are two old houses on those lots as well. Formerly owned by a law firm (GGFI) that moved out to Bridge St. near the river.

[ac3r]

Zero chance that gets built.

[panamaniac]

Zero chance that gets built.

Assuming the current zoning permits it, why not?

[ac3r]

Zero chance that gets built.

Assuming the current zoning permits it, why not?

I just assume it would have similar opposition as the nearby project on Weber the NIMBYs and heritage people were angry about, regardless whether it fell into the correct zoning or not. That project is only 19 floors yet they've been campaigning against it for months.

[KaiserWilhelmsBust]

Zero chance that gets built.

Assuming the current zoning permits it, why not?

They also got no bids on the sale of the property, which also means developers are probably worried about the local market

[tomh009]

Assuming the current zoning permits it, why not?

I just assume it would have similar opposition as the nearby project on Weber the NIMBYs and heritage people were angry about, regardless whether it fell into the correct zoning or not. That project is only 19 floors yet they've been campaigning against it for months.

If the zoning permits it, the developer can get a building permit without any additional approvals from the council or others, which really means that any NIMBY opposition becp,es irrelevant.

Projects such as Park/Victoria require significant zoning variances and that's why they are vulnerable to neighbourhood opposition.

[Lebronj23]

That’s correct, also the two new IN8 towers and 10 Duke west wont go before council - just city planning staff since it is within existing zoning and doesn’t require a ZBA