(02-08-2016, 04:58 PM)KingandWeber Wrote:(02-08-2016, 03:07 PM)Owen Wrote: I wouldn't under-estimate this - news of actual jobs moving to the downtown is bigger news than a new condo tower. I'm very keen to see what they're doing with the site - primarily whether it's contained within the current building or if it somehow goes up. Huge amount of space on the site - can't imagine it remaining the way it is. Does anyone know if they purchased the land abutting Victoria? (Where the Beaver gas station used to be, that is now parking - at least ~10 years ago, it was not part of the tannery lands)
I'm not underestimating the impact. I think it will be significant for downtown. I am just a little disappointed considering the hype ("Organization with a global brand coming to Downtown Kitchener") seemed to imply a *new* employer coming to the Region. I guess I was expecting something like the Shopify announcement and instead we got a local relocation announcement with the chance of some modest employment expansion.
Fair enough - it could have been something more exciting - but even though it is only modest employment expansion for the region (170 up to 200), the prospect of 200 employees moving to the downtown long term (15 yr lease) from such a stable company gives me a great deal of hope for the feasibility of all the condo development in the works - far more stable than startup employment. A friend of mine works at the current Deloitte location and he has a house in the suburbs off 401 on highway 33 - I'm sure a lot of employees like him will consider moving to the downtown as presently he's going to be in for almost 2x the commute.