WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[north 42]

A very nice luxury tower and townhouse proposal for the former Tecumseh Golf Coarse.

http://www.windsorontarionews.com/wi...al-estate.html

https://www.one650manning.com/

[Symz]

Originally Posted by north 42

A very nice luxury tower and townhouse proposal for the former Tecumseh Golf Coarse.

http://www.windsorontarionews.com/wi...al-estate.html

https://www.one650manning.com/

It's a little boomtown out there right now.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Symz

It's a little boomtown out there right now.

It is, and so is Lasalle. So many condo projects proposed and underway, especially around the civic centre on Malden Rd.

[Symz]

I saw The Hive tonight, it's coming along, sorry that I didn't take pics, as I drove by. Although they had cladding up, it looks like it needs a few more floors?

[Symz]

The Hive coming along.



Click the link for the full story, and more pictures.
https://windsorite.ca/2021/03/the-hi...hape-downtown/

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by Symz

I saw The Hive tonight, it's coming along, sorry that I didn't take pics, as I drove by. Although they had cladding up, it looks like it needs a few more floors?

Yeah I think there is at least 1 or 2 more floors that need to go up still, but it's looking great!

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by north 42

It is, and so is Lasalle. So many condo projects proposed and underway, especially around the civic centre on Malden Rd.

Yeah, just took a walk around there yesterday, and it's crazy how many new condos have been built. I still remember when the area behind St Paul's was just fields, now there are 3 condo buildings . And from what I could see Valente already has the field south of Sandwich West Public fenced off for his new development there, plus I saw another sign for another development in the vacant land east of the Home Hardware on Elmdale Ave as well, which looked to be residential as well

[AmateurPlanner]

The Security Building renovation is also coming along nicely as well. This video from CTV Windsor shows a brief shot of the exterior at 0:54 and it looks like they really cleaned it up outside! Can't wait to see what the interior looks like as well

Link to video: https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2168539

[AmateurPlanner]

Not the best way to start the day, but it looks like one of the residents who complained about the Graffiti project back in November (which then caused the modifications that were approved) has filed an appeal with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. Really hope that it's able to get resolved quickly and that this doesn't set the project back too much

Article: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...own-councillor

[north 42]

I really can’t see her having any chance of stopping this project, if her main complaint is that it will block her view of the sunset in her back yard. It’s just so silly that she is even attempting to do so, ugh!

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by north 42

I really can’t see her having any chance of stopping this project, if her main complaint is that it will block her view of the sunset in her back yard. It’s just so silly that she is even attempting to do so, ugh!

LOL agreed, I guess some people have too much time on their hands

[AmateurPlanner]

178-unit apartment/condo building will start construction in the next 2 weeks in LaSalle. This is a great location from a walkability standpoint, being right in the heart of the Malden Road commercial area. This building will be going up in the field off Ellis St (across from Serenity Circle and Sandwich West Public).

There's also an additional condo building going up behind the Shoppers Drug Mart on Malden as well (on Westview Park Blvd). A lot of density getting built up in LaSalle, specifically the north Malden Road corridor. From what I've seen, they all seem to do well (based on seeing very few vacancies in the existing units in the area).

There's also an additional sign up next to the Home Hardware on Elmdale Ave for another development, although that seems to be a separate project which I haven't heard anything about.

Link to article: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...given-go-ahead

[Blitz]

Both Tecumseh and LaSalle should've been annexed a long time ago. The province forced amalgamation of bedroom suburbs in all of its other mid-size to large size cities except Windsor.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Both Tecumseh and LaSalle should've been annexed a long time ago. The province forced amalgamation of bedroom suburbs in all of its other mid-size to large size cities except Windsor.

They didn't properly enforce it here. The townships amalgamated and were condensed to fewer townships. Tecumseh threw a large portion of land south of the airport at Windsor to stave off annexation for another period of years, but basically I agree with Blitz, the process fell apart down here and it still a mess in that regard.


Side note, that apartment building at Lauzon & Edgar is starting up. Same company as The Fairview on Wyandotte.

https://www.suburbanconstruction.ca/theedgar

[AmateurPlanner]

Interesting, I always wondered why Tecumseh was never amalgamated, since the majority of the population is in such a small strip between Lakeshore and Windsor. LaSalle would have made sense as well at the time, since it was much smaller of a community than it is now. I wonder with the current population increases if in the next few years amalgamation talks will come up again?

Speaking of LaSalle, just saw this as well, not sure if it was mentioned here before https://www.iheartradio.ca/am800/new...lle-1.14994510
"The 58-acre project will see 93 detached homes, 44 semi-detached bungalows, and four condominium towers with 236 units off Laurier Parkway near Huron Church Line Road." I would have expected this kind of development closer to the Vollmer Complex and the new school that is being built there.



The Edgar looks nice, glad to see it's starting up!

[inter777]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Both Tecumseh and LaSalle should've been annexed a long time ago. The province forced amalgamation of bedroom suburbs in all of its other mid-size to large size cities except Windsor.

Agreed. They been bleeding the city for too long!

[Nil]

Originally Posted by inter777

Agreed. They been bleeding the city for too long!

Playing devil's advocate here, I think it's better that we didn't amalgamate Tecumseh and Lasalle. Sure it would artificially inflate our population just like London did, but it's nice to stay small and easier to manage. Each city will develop and cater to a different audience. Some of the nicest cities in the world have a tiny footprint and unique suburbs. I used to be pro amalgamation before I moved to the Bay Area. Windsor should stay the way it is and develop independently of Lasalle and Tecumseh.

[ScreamingViking]

There are pros and cons. Benefits may include more coordinated planning, service efficiencies if they're spread across a broader area, the perception of having more "clout"... but that can all happen without amalgamating too.

I think the major downside is political. Here in Hamilton, the councillors of the former "suburban" municipalities won't always play ball nicely with those of the original city (especially the older lower city), and sometimes that happens vice versa. It's held the city back in a number of ways. And I think the loss of local town councils in the former suburbs was a negative too -- residents lost representation.

The change was a bit different for Hamilton since there was a regional government for Hamilton-Wentworth and not a county government like Essex. So some functions were always done across all the constituent municipalities (like the Official Plans, transit, policing) and those local councils were able to weigh in; when the region was amalgamated those things carried on much as before... though there had to be an effort to coordinate things like zoning and other policies.

Today, more than 20 years (20!!! ) after amalgamation, some of the same political butthurts for opponents of the forced marriage are still an issue and city councillors tend to operate as if their wards are their own little kingdoms. It can be very frustrating when debating something like a transit proposal, which may only directly benefit a portion of the city but would have broader benefits to the whole.

[Blitz]

The amalgamation in Hamilton resulted in a city that's just way too big in area and incorporates too much rural land. We don't need it at that kind of scale here.

In Windsor's case, annexation needs to happen to stop the bleeding. People are attracted to Tecumseh and LaSalle because of the lower property tax rates but because Windsor is an actual city with old infrastructure, a police department that deals with the social problems of dense urban neighbourhoods, a real fire department and on and on, there is no way we can compete on the tax front. Plus, the majority of people living in those towns work in Windsor and use our roads every day (i.e. the expressway) but they contribute nothing in taxes to help maintain them.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Blitz

The amalgamation in Hamilton resulted in a city that's just way too big in area and incorporates too much rural land. We don't need it at that kind of scale here.

In Windsor's case, annexation needs to happen to stop the bleeding. People are attracted to Tecumseh and LaSalle because of the lower property tax rates but because Windsor is an actual city with old infrastructure, a police department that deals with the social problems of dense urban neighbourhoods, a real fire department and on and on, there is no way we can compete on the tax front. Plus, the majority of people living in those towns work in Windsor and use our roads every day (i.e. the expressway) but they contribute nothing in taxes to help maintain them.

I agree about Hamilton. Same issue occurred in Ottawa, and probably other amalgamated cities.

They could have combined the urban parts of the region with a fringe of rural/developable land surrounding that, and made the rest into one or two single tier municipalities. That may have led to some financial issues for rural "Wentworth" being able to support itself without much of a tax base, but it would probably have been run in a manner similar to other largely rural counties in Ontario. London & Middlesex probably exemplify that situation best, though I know little about their political relationship and how Middlesex is managed.

Windsor's relationship with Tecumseh and LaSalle is more similar to what Hamilton's was with Stoney Creek, Dundas, Ancaster, and Waterdown. Most of the new development was happening in the surrounding municipalities. People that live in those areas still believe they're subsidizing the old city.

But the reality is, while their growth resulted in short-term revenue from development charges and new property tax, over the longer term it's the entire city that has to foot the bill for services and infrastructure replacements and upgrades. And that isn't cheap, especially as the urban area expands. The older parts of the city are seeing much more investment and growth these days though so the subsidy argument holds even less water than it did.