Tallest condo tower in Waterloo Region will be ‘centre ice’ in downtown Kitchener
LIZ MONTEIRO | MAY 05, 2021 | THERECORD.COM
KITCHENER — A proposed condo development at the corner of Charles and Francis streets in Kitchener’s core will be the tallest building erected in Waterloo Region.
The
44-storey tower will feature 532 units, nearly three-quarters of them one-bedroom units and the remaining slated for two-bedrooms. Six floors will be in the base of the building and the remaining floors will be in the highrise tower.
“The building will play an important role in the development of Kitchener’s growing skyline,” said city senior planner Dayna Edwards who is overseeing the project.
“It will be seen from quite a distance,” she said.
Landowner and developer Darryl Firsten, president of Waterloo-based IN8 Developments said the location, which is currently an empty parking lot, is a logical place for a highrise development.
“We are not trying to build a highrise out in the suburbs. It is centre ice, dead centre downtown in a city that is booming,” Firsten said in an interview.
Although it’s the region’s tallest tower proposed yet, Firsten said he isn’t concerned with the height casting shadows because there are no residential homes near the site.
“Whether a building is 32 stories, or 44 or 76 makes no difference to anybody on the ground,” he said.
“It’s literally just a number,” Firsten said.
IN8 Developments is also the developer behind the DTK Condos project at Duke and Frederick streets which will stand at 39 stories with about 500 units. Other projects include condo buildings in the university district in Waterloo.
Firsten said the Francis Street South site, located in the city’s Innovation District, is close to King Street businesses, transit and “there’s a lot of jobs around there.”
“People can walk to work and that’s what we want to see,” he said. “This is a walkable site, a very transit-orientated site.”
Firsten purchased the land — about a half acre in size — last August from Manulife Financial for $10.25 million.
The site was used as parking for workers in nearby tech companies but has been sitting empty during the pandemic as people work from home.
Parking for residents will be above ground in a podium behind the residential units. There is a total of 242 spaces with access off Charles Street and Halls Lane.
“The water table is too high so you can’t go deep enough with parking,” Firsten said.
The project will also offer 141 bicycle spaces, with most of them indoor.
Coun. Debbie Chapman, whose ward includes the proposed development, said she supports increased density in the core.
But is 44 stories too high, wonders Chapman.
The project is at its preliminary stages and she plans to inquire into a shadow and wind study and the floor space ratio which compares the building mass to the actual size of the site. In this case, the size is small for the mass building projected.
A neighbourhood public meeting is set for June 2. If approved by council later this year, construction could begin in March, 2022, Firsten said.
Intensified housing is a priority for planners and Kitchener’s overall strategic plan.
“By focusing growth and density in the downtown or urban growth centre, we can relieve some of the development pressures on nearby low-rise neighbourhoods,” said planner Dayna Edwards.
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