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  #41  
Old Posted May 12, 2014, 10:35 PM
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^ WOAH! That's intense.

Between that, the North Block redevelopment, and all the vacant lots that are being redeveloped all across the city, old Kingston is seeing a huge resurgence. An encouraging sign--Ontario's smaller cities are not being left behind in the urban renaissance.
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  #42  
Old Posted May 12, 2014, 10:38 PM
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There are heritage concerns that will have to be met, though. So far Kingston is doing a very good job of retaining heritage with redevelopment, and I'd like to see that continue.
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  #43  
Old Posted May 13, 2014, 2:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by waterloowarrior View Post
two 10 storey student-oriented condo buildings for Kingston at Princess and University proposed. Teeple is the architect
http://www.brookfieldmultiplex.com/p...nium/details/#
http://www.cityofkingston.ca/documen...c-6bfc60012660
That's just a couple blocks from me - I saw signs along Chatham Street at this site and was intrigued. Thanks for posting more details.

In short, the buildings currently housing Domino's, Rhea's bar, Central City Automotive, and the Federal Credit Union would all be demolished, though I suspect Domino's could end up as one of the commercial tenants in the new development.

This should give John's Deli a nice boost to its business too.

Last edited by manny_santos; May 13, 2014 at 2:42 AM.
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  #44  
Old Posted May 13, 2014, 4:31 AM
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here are the renders




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  #45  
Old Posted May 14, 2014, 12:30 AM
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Weird renders.... I poured over the plans you posted (thank you so much BTW) and this rendering doesn't quite match up to how it's described.

The north building will plug in this streetwall gap:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.23444...JA!2e0!6m1!1e1
The plans show Domino's, Rhea's, and the brick house to the left all being demolished to make way for this tower. The tower will take up the entire street frontage from Sub Mart to Izumo Sushi, creating a continuous streetwall on the whole block. Yet that render shows two towers in isolation...
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  #46  
Old Posted May 14, 2014, 1:11 AM
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It isn't completely continuous, there would be a 9m gap between the tower and the Submart building...It is at least partly due to fire separation distances from having most of the building with windows on the east side looking toward downtown and maybe from windows on the west side of the Submart building (you can see on the east side of the south building the limited window openings allowed typically when built to the lot line). It also is used for private landscaped amenity space, bike parking, and a pathway to the building behind it.
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  #47  
Old Posted May 14, 2014, 1:20 AM
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Originally Posted by waterloowarrior View Post
It isn't completely continuous, there would be a 9m gap between the tower and the Submart building...It is at least partly due to fire separation distances from having most of the building with windows on the east side looking toward downtown and maybe from windows on the west side of the Submart building (you can see on the east side of the south building the limited window openings allowed typically when built to the lot line). It also is used for private landscaped amenity space, bike parking, and a pathway to the building behind it.
... my blueprint reading skills clearly aren't very great.

In any case, it's still going to be a lot more integrated into the street than these renders look... once they're built, you'd have to get a shot from a really selective angle to reproduce that...
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  #48  
Old Posted May 14, 2014, 1:35 AM
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... my blueprint reading skills clearly aren't very great.

In any case, it's still going to be a lot more integrated into the street than these renders look... once they're built, you'd have to get a shot from a really selective angle to reproduce that...
the urban design renders near the end of the document are more accurate on the future potential... fancier (more expensive) renders are usually for illustration/marketing purposes and aren't going to spend much time emphasizing neighbouring buildings (at least they didn't put it in a field or forest )
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  #49  
Old Posted May 23, 2014, 4:42 PM
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The parking in Downtown Kingston is CHEAP!!! My wife and I moved our family here from Ottawa last summer, and I am always pleasantly surprised how cheap the parking is (this includes the garages near the Hotel Dieu and the one closer to the market).

Also, there has been a LOT of development happening here in the last 10 years (I have been coming here off and on for courses for work). There are lots of new subdivisions, commercial and retail buildings along Gardiners north of Princess, and along Midland, the downtown has gotten a lot of new sidewalks, gardens and some of the arterial roads have been repaved in the last 2 years that were badly needed. New highrises now exsist north of the base, as well as more going up near the west end of concession. The downtown has also seen a slew of new businesses and restaurants and cafe's open in the last couple of years that are similar to the Glebe and Old Ottawa South districts of Ottawa. The bus service here, while not stellar, has become a lot more relevant, and I couldn't believe when I saw the Kingston Center had been torn down and replaced by box-type stores (and I'm sure the last corner of that property at Sir John A and Bath will get filled in soon enough.

Kingston has a lot more going for it these days, and the development taking place doesn't seem to be slowing down much either.

Isn't there a proposal somewhere to build a 19-storey condo across the street from the K-Rock center, where the Police HQ building used to be? If it gets built by the right firm, it will likely extend the downtown skyline north some more, and add some serious density to that part of downtown.
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  #50  
Old Posted May 23, 2014, 11:43 PM
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The parking in Downtown Kingston is CHEAP!!! My wife and I moved our family here from Ottawa last summer, and I am always pleasantly surprised how cheap the parking is (this includes the garages near the Hotel Dieu and the one closer to the market).

Also, there has been a LOT of development happening here in the last 10 years (I have been coming here off and on for courses for work). There are lots of new subdivisions, commercial and retail buildings along Gardiners north of Princess, and along Midland, the downtown has gotten a lot of new sidewalks, gardens and some of the arterial roads have been repaved in the last 2 years that were badly needed. New highrises now exsist north of the base, as well as more going up near the west end of concession. The downtown has also seen a slew of new businesses and restaurants and cafe's open in the last couple of years that are similar to the Glebe and Old Ottawa South districts of Ottawa. The bus service here, while not stellar, has become a lot more relevant, and I couldn't believe when I saw the Kingston Center had been torn down and replaced by box-type stores (and I'm sure the last corner of that property at Sir John A and Bath will get filled in soon enough.

Kingston has a lot more going for it these days, and the development taking place doesn't seem to be slowing down much either.

Isn't there a proposal somewhere to build a 19-storey condo across the street from the K-Rock center, where the Police HQ building used to be? If it gets built by the right firm, it will likely extend the downtown skyline north some more, and add some serious density to that part of downtown.
Yep, its incredible how much energy and change there is Kingston considering how low-growth it is (both economically & population-wise). I mean, in the past five years Kingston's population has probably grown by only about 4% or so, yet we've gotten so many new things.

The lot across from K-Rock, known as Block 4 in city plans, doesn't have any formal developer proposals I believe. I think the city's still going through the rezoning process. I did hear that they proposed to zone for 19 stories, although I don't know what become of that (waterloowarrior! You're knowledge is needed!). I think the city has gotten a few informal proposals from the private sector for things like office & hotel, but I don't think there's been any residential (although that's quite possibly a desirable use). KEDCO wanted a new convention centre there, though I believe they were shot down.

The entire North Block is going to be a big intensification zone. Sooner or later we're going to see every single parking in the area sold off. One of the big reasons why the City is aggressively expanding transit so much is to reduce parking demand to enable that sell off. On the topic of transit, next year we're getting TWO new express routes!!! One roughly following the #2 and the #12, another following the #9.

Another area of big change will be midtown Princess, between Division & Sir John A. Utility upgrades are underway to enable growth, and already intensification is being pushed there. There's those new townhouse developments by Varsity around the intersections with Albert & Frontenac, the giant new 663 Princess apartment complex, not to mention those 10 story towers mentioned above.
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  #51  
Old Posted May 24, 2014, 12:53 AM
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  #52  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2014, 4:12 AM
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The City held an open house on the second phase of the Express Bus system today. The launch of the Express bus last fall lead to a 14% increase in ridership, with monthly pass holders in particular increasing by 25%.

The city is moving full speed ahead with expanding the express bus system, adding two more express routes.

New Express 2:


Express 2 is also being complemented with a realignment of Route 12. The #12 will now provide much more efficient service between the military base and the Gore Rd area, plus eliminate the need for separating the #12 and #12A at peak.


New Express 3, this route replaces local route #9.


Full map of the new Express system:


This takes effect in May 2015.

I spoke to the head planners of Kingston Transit, and I must say, I'm damn impressed with how knowledgable they are. They know practically every single damn thing about the system, right down to the busyness & reliability of each and every bus route, right off the top of their heads. And they REALLY know what they're doing. I was blown away by how good they are....
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  #53  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2014, 8:14 PM
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I think that the increase in bus service is amazing, and the best part is, unless things have changed, it is fluid and if demand for the express routes is in different areas they will possibly realign them to increase ridership. Very much being run now like a business looking a profit and customer satisfaction. Cant wait to see what transit is like by 2020!

As for the development of parking lots, it dont think it would be that big of an issue as most new developments, such as the Sheraton (Still new in my head at least) have alot of underground parking that is available to the public and the economic benefits of the underground parking coupled with housing/offices/retail is miles better than just a parking lot. But therein is the issue, if people cannot see the front door of their destination from the parking area... there is clearly not enough parking and it is too expensive. Does not matter if the front door is 10 metres away, if you cannot see it, boom, too far.
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  #54  
Old Posted Dec 23, 2014, 10:01 PM
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Downtown is doing really well lately. Lots of empty storefronts are now getting filled up with new shops. Vacancy rate is probably the lowest in a decade.

The north tower of the 10-story pair of condo towers at Princess @ University is now completely sold out.
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  #55  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2015, 4:59 PM
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City Council is having its budget meetings next week. Among the things they have to do is approve capital projects for the new council's term from 2015 to 2018.

Among the biggies that staff are recommending be given funding:
-Widening Counter to 4 lanes from Princess to Sir John A, including grade separation of the VIA tracks
-Widening Highway 15 to 4 lanes south of Gore Road
-Continuation of Princess Street reconstruction with Bagot-Barrie (another four blocks)

Just over a million dollars has been allocated for new buses for this year. A big jump in the transit budget to pay for the new express routes.
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  #56  
Old Posted Jan 16, 2015, 7:12 PM
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City Council is having its budget meetings next week. Among the things they have to do is approve capital projects for the new council's term from 2015 to 2018.

Among the biggies that staff are recommending be given funding:
-Widening Counter to 4 lanes from Princess to Sir John A, including grade separation of the VIA tracks
-Widening Highway 15 to 4 lanes south of Gore Road
-Continuation of Princess Street reconstruction with Bagot-Barrie (another four blocks)

Just over a million dollars has been allocated for new buses for this year. A big jump in the transit budget to pay for the new express routes.
Those all look like quite necessary items. Hope they happen relativly quickly.
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  #57  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2015, 3:53 PM
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Transportation master plan update & OP update now before council. Some interesting tidbits from it:

-Kingston expects its population to grow slowly over the next 20 years, then start declining around 2035. The prediction is that the city will not attract enough newcomers (both domestic & international) to offset the deaths of the local baby boomers
-No new land is added to the urban growth boundary until at least 2031
-The new official plan opens up the former Collins Bay Penitentiary Prison Farm lands to development, with about 10,000 residents accommodated there
-Transit mode share to be increased from 5% to 9%, total non-auto mode share to be increased to 26%, by 2034.
-Transportation master plan proposes improving frequency on express routes to 7.5 minutes at peak, 15 minutes off peak, and increasing evening/Sunday frequencies to match that of Saturday & midday service
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  #58  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2015, 5:12 PM
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Originally Posted by 1overcosc View Post
Transportation master plan update & OP update now before council. Some interesting tidbits from it:

-Kingston expects its population to grow slowly over the next 20 years, then start declining around 2035. The prediction is that the city will not attract enough newcomers (both domestic & international) to offset the deaths of the local baby boomers
-No new land is added to the urban growth boundary until at least 2031
-The new official plan opens up the former Collins Bay Penitentiary Prison Farm lands to development, with about 10,000 residents accommodated there
-Transit mode share to be increased from 5% to 9%, total non-auto mode share to be increased to 26%, by 2034.
-Transportation master plan proposes improving frequency on express routes to 7.5 minutes at peak, 15 minutes off peak, and increasing evening/Sunday frequencies to match that of Saturday & midday service
-Well at least they're realistic in their population projections, albeit unfortunate, only so many people want to retire there.
-Now new land is a good thing, especially considering the issues with current services within city limits, it would only get worse with an expansion.
-Only 10000 in the pen lands? I was hoping there would be at least double (well preferably none and the lands revert back to farm land but too late for that), but I think there would be the issue of perceived security based on the minimum/medium security pens there, which would make the houses dirt cheap... and hard pressed for occupants.
-Transit share shouldn't be too difficult so long as the user growth stays the way it was last year.
-7.5 minute peak and 15 off? That's pretty amazing considering the size of the city in comparison to other jurisdictions. Kinda proud of that.
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  #59  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2015, 5:40 PM
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-Well at least they're realistic in their population projections, albeit unfortunate, only so many people want to retire there.
-Now new land is a good thing, especially considering the issues with current services within city limits, it would only get worse with an expansion.
-Only 10000 in the pen lands? I was hoping there would be at least double (well preferably none and the lands revert back to farm land but too late for that), but I think there would be the issue of perceived security based on the minimum/medium security pens there, which would make the houses dirt cheap... and hard pressed for occupants.
-Transit share shouldn't be too difficult so long as the user growth stays the way it was last year.
-7.5 minute peak and 15 off? That's pretty amazing considering the size of the city in comparison to other jurisdictions. Kinda proud of that.
Only about a quarter of the lands (in the Southwest by Days & Front) are open for development. The federal government is retaining the entire northern half, and the SE sector by SLC is protected as part of the Cataraqui Creek conservation area.
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  #60  
Old Posted Mar 20, 2015, 10:19 PM
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Only about a quarter of the lands (in the Southwest by Days & Front) are open for development. The federal government is retaining the entire northern half, and the SE sector by SLC is protected as part of the Cataraqui Creek conservation area.
That'll be not a bad place to live - you've got Lake Ontario nearby, the Centre 70 Arena and Royal Kingston Curling Club (my Sunday hangout a few times this winter), and not too far from the shopping around Bath and Gardiners.

If the population around there increases though, I think it would be wise to extend Gardiners Road south onto Days Road to eliminate the jog at Bath Road.

Pretty unfortunate that the city is predicted to start losing population in only 20 years, but such is the reality for mid-size Canadian cities that don't attract immigrants. As long as Kingston has Queen's, RMC and SLC, and the military base, the city should do alright compared to cities like, say, Belleville and Brockville.
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