General Rating for this project

  • Great

    Votes: 2 3.2%

  • Very Good

    Votes: 4 6.3%

  • Good

    Votes: 28 44.4%

  • So So

    Votes: 7 11.1%

  • Not Very Good

    Votes: 10 15.9%

  • Terrible

    Votes: 12 19.0%
  • Total voters
    63
Man, this sure is some pretty harsh commentary on a structure that barely has any exposed exterior finish let alone any current photos. I drive by 5-6 days a week and it’s tough to know whether or not this will be a winner or loser.
 
It’s pretty clear that it’s going to be bad. The only question is how bad it will be, not if it will be bad.
 
It won't be great, but I tend to agree with @CBBarnett, suburban residential towers tend to be unremarkable. It's likely more mediocre buildings will be built in that cluster and together as a group they'll be good.
 
It's not yet clad. I have hopes this won't be so bad once completed as far as student residences go I still haven't changed my opinion. It was a mistake to the aesthetic sight lines to go this tall on a student residence right here. The existing examples of student tower clusters across Canada also makes my eyes bleed.

The property could have supported something like the Quad at York.
 
University City is my benchmark for a lower end student focused residential project. There is nothing at all special about those buildings, but they don't scream cheap either.
 
All alone

DSC_0110 - Copy.jpg
 
Oh my. Neither distance nor cladding is going to fix this dumpster fire, I fear. ? I will wait until it’s done but...it’s not looking good.
 
Well, since we only starting to allow minor intensification of Banff Trail along 24Ave NW and struggle to intensify pretty much anything else in the SFH neighbourhoods around U of C we force high density to where it can go, regardless of whether it makes sense, has coherrent connectivity or contributes to the area (and all the design and height challenges that come with upgraded a motel along a two highways as it's the only place available for serious density). The demand for student rental is real and permanent, it's just our choices and policies preventing it from being useful (for vibrancy, efficient locations, transit supportive) or attractive (design, integration into public realm and community).

So instead of this in Kitchener a block away from University of Waterloo here:

2009 v. 2019:
1591372812183.png
1591372873111.png


You get this a block away from U of C here.
2007 v. 2015:
1591373183785.png
1591373218820.png
 
Yeah. With a significant investment and vision, the street network should be redone, and a large area upzoned, with a new connecting street between Foothills and main campus being the long term goal (lower polygon), with a medium term goal of creating a better active transportation route (upper polygon).
1591377726425.png


I'd guess could buy everything in this parcel (about 18-20 acres) for around $100 million with quite a bit of premium above market value:
1591378020338.png
 
darwink said:
Yeah. With a significant investment and vision, the street network should be redone, and a large area upzoned, with a new connecting street between Foothills and main campus being the long term goal (lower polygon), with a medium term goal of creating a better active transportation route (upper polygon).
View attachment 249727

I'd guess could buy everything in this parcel (about 18 acres including existing roads) for around $100 million with quite a bit of premium above market value:
View attachment 249731
Click to expand...

Good idea. For a slightly cheaper and single land-owner alternative that could start today (if this big bureaucratic, risk-adverse land-owner wasn't those things), compress the cross-section of over-built University Drive and over-built 24 Ave so they aren't a weird 1970s arterial and add good sidewalks. Take the random green space between the houses and the arterials and rezone for mid-rise/high-rise apartments. Kensington offers a local example of what you can do in similar cross-sections. Add a few hundred apartments *actually* walking distance to the university. Boom, we switched a commuter school into an actual university district, and puts some density on actually liveable streets rather than at highway interchanges.

When the pitchforks come out, as they do with any reasonable idea, have everyone zoom out of University Heights map and claim that the green space lost limits their access to green space (even fairly unusable green space like this parcel). Also convenient, this plan is on the right side of astro-mechanics so little shading issues on houses no matter what you build.

University Drive (2018 traffic count: 15,000 vehicles / day)
1591378620142.png


10th Street NW @ 2nd Ave (2018 traffic count: 12,000 vehicles / day)
1591378733217.png
 
When I went by yesterday I noticed that a good section of the wrap was coming off the north and west sides. Didn't look as bad as I was expecting. Not that it is anything near good, but I was expecting worse. Those elevations do have more windows though, which helps.
 
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