[Bjays92]

This is the project that currently owns the title for tallest proposed (approved?) tower in Waterloo Region.

5 tower development built in multiple phases (phase 1 union towers is u/c at 18 and 28 stories) the tallest 44s building will be a mix of office and residential, which is what gives it the bump in height.

Development also includes significant public park space, particularly in proportion to the size of the site.

Massive condo development planned for midtown Kitchener

KITCHENER — A massive condo development with residential towers, retail and office space, as well as a restaurant and an urban square is slated for the midtown area of Kitchener

www.therecord.com

Render of phase 1. Lots more renders easily accessible with a google search.

Current site progress (photo creds go to ac3r over at WRC)

This is probably the development I'm most excited for in the region right now.

Location is excellent, right at the doorstep of downtown, directly on the LRT and across from the future King-Victoria transit hub, as well as directly across from Google's massive Breithaupt Block office development.

Public realm for this project is also very encouraging imo and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this shapes up. The height ranges of the towers is also perfect imo

 

[mdu]

Station Park photos from a bike ride today. Definitely one of the best located developments around. Any other projects planning to get posted? I think maybe DTK deserves a post as the tentative height champ.

 

[Bjays92]

Station Park photos from a bike ride today. Definitely one of the best located developments around. Any other projects planning to get posted? I think maybe DTK deserves a post as the tentative height champ.
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DTK has a thread!

Right now I have done DTK, the Metz, Breithaupt block, the Francis proposal, queen proposal and a couple cambridge proposals.

 

[Bjays92]

Some updated photos of the site. Credit to votemac

 

[emphurent]

Will possibly try updating the Kitchener threads with photos tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a quick little massing diagram I made to illustrate the developments currently happening. (note that the third phase of Station Park as pictured is undersized to prevent blocking what's behind it)

(White = U/C, Pink = Proposed, Red = Future transit hub)

 

[emphurent]

As promised, I got out to take some updated project photos downtown today.

This project will start to rise quick now that it's on the tower floors, I don't have high hopes on the window wall though based on the renderings.

Here's a view from 'central station', which currently doesn't feel that central, that will change soon though as it'll be surrounded by buildings:

Sales centre in front:

The cladding begins:

Kaufman Mansion:

Garment street across the tracks:

 

[emphurent]

This has grown by a few floors since my last update, but along with that we got new materials to check out.

40 Francis will block this view, but as for now it'll stand out:

Window wall is appearing, and let's say this one is across the board on quality, it's very inconsistent... In this photo you can see the variety going on here.

The most visible window wall uses thin mullions that I don't see very often and tall panels. The recessed window wall on the balcony's uses waist height mullions, and grey spandrel akin to Time and Space.

Townhouses also starting to get their glass, this is somehow a *tiny* bit better than the Time and Space townhomes in Toronto.

 

[votemac]

I posted these over on waterlooregionconnected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/showthread.php?tid=38&page=72), but just discovered this thread here!

From 8/26/2021

 

[votemac]

Can anyone fill me in on what the smaller (purple) building is at the corner of Wellington and King? is it part of the Breithaupt block expansion? Is it outside of the space taken up by the McDonalds? I'd love to see that gone and/or redeveloped soon

Will possibly try updating the Kitchener threads with photos tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a quick little massing diagram I made to illustrate the developments currently happening.

(White = U/C, Pink = Proposed, Red = Future transit hub)

View attachment 339200

 

[emphurent]

Can anyone fill me in on what the smaller (purple) building is at the corner of Wellington and King? is it part of the Breithaupt block expansion? Is it outside of the space taken up by the McDonalds? I'd love to see that gone and/or redeveloped soon


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That project has gone through a few minor revisions and has been a slow mover. I'm not sure if these are the latest docs for that one but it's done by a smaller local developer so it may be a little while yet.

It's mainly just the empty fenced off plot of land. Rumor is Allied owns the old McDonald's for a possible Google expansion.

Kitchener really should get a development document portal up and running, as emailing the city for these documents is silly.

 

[votemac]

Thanks! I kinda like it....BUT if anyone is familiar with Albert McCormick in Waterloo, the red detailing is giving me 90's flashbacks

That project has gone through a few minor revisions and has been a slow mover. I'm not sure if these are the latest docs for that one but it's done by a smaller local developer so it may be a little while yet.

It's mainly just the empty fenced off plot of land. Rumor is Allied owns the old McDonald's for a possible Google expansion.

Kitchener really should get a development document portal up and running, as emailing the city for these documents is silly.

View attachment 345047

 

[emphurent]

Tower glass is appearing on the front and back on the tower closest to King. Mixed bag of cladding that's overall different from the renderings in a few ways.

Full height windows seem to be in order over most of the tower which is great and maybe a first for window wall in the region.

The bad news is the spandrel which is about as disappointing as I expected. It's used more than it should be and the reflectivity is inconsistent. Sometimes it looks flat grey and obvious, other times it somewhat tries to blend in, but overall it could've been done better, and I feel that there will be far too much of it.

Ventured out into quite the lightning display an hour ago to take these.

Backside facing Wellington.

Front corner facing King Street.

 

[votemac]

Tower glass is appearing on the front and back on the tower closest to King. Mixed bag of cladding that's overall different from the renderings in a few ways.

Full height windows seem to be in order over most of the tower which is great and maybe a first for window wall in the region.

The bad news is the spandrel which is about as disappointing as I expected. It's used more than it should be and the reflectivity is inconsistent. Sometimes it looks flat grey and obvious, other times it somewhat tries to blend in, but overall it could've been done better, and I feel that there will be far too much of it.

Ventured out into quite the lightning display an hour ago to take these.

Backside facing Wellington.

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Front corner facing King Street.

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Great shots, thanks for sharing!

 

[ac3r]

Just found this thread! Didn't know UrbanToronto had much interest in Waterloo Region.

In regards to this Station Park project, here's some architectural sketches that were presented back in March which give a glimpse of what the other buildings will look like. A member on Waterloo Region Connected screencapped them from the public meeting they had. The entire project has been approved since, including the additional 10 floor office/44 floor building - so in addition to 30 Francis, that will give Waterloo Region two 44 floor buildings, which when compared to 20 years ago, is amazing progress. Here is a thread about the project, though it's quite long as it has been under development for years and the earliest proposals look nothing like the current design the architectural teams went with: https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/showthread.php?tid=38

The 44 floor building is on the left, 38 floor building in the middle and the 32 floor building is not shown. As none of the cities in Waterloo Region have easily accessable document lists for current and proposed projects, you unfortunately need to e-mail the city. The best thing we have - at least for the City of Kitchener - is this this GIS map which shows many things, though not all (for example, the documents for this project aren't available). The City of Waterloo has a list over here and the City of Cambridge has a list of things here.

 

[Bjays92]

Some recent photo updates with cladding starting to rise.

Credit goes to lebronj23 at WRC who I'm fairly certain is @Pinski

I'd say this is looking pretty damn good so far, certainly by kitchener standards.