Deal lands Huck Glove stronger heritage protection

Developer gets higher density for $120-million condo/office towers project in exchange

KITCHENER — Kitchener council has approved zoning that allows a 25-storey condo tower and a six-storey office tower to rise up beside the heritage Huck Glove building. In exchange for the increased density, the city got much stronger heritage protection for the 1907 former glove factory.

The zone changes clears the way for the $120-million development, known as Garment Street, that’s planned to go up around the three-storey, yellow brick Huck Glove building at 120 Victoria St. S.

The development by Waterloobased Momentum Developments, Kitchener’s Zehr Group and KingSett Capital of Toronto will be built in phases. The first phase will incorporate the Huck Glove building into a modern, six-storey building with 130,000 square feet of office space.

The second phase will erect a 25-storey, 300-unit condo tower behind the office building. Previous zoning didn’t permit highrise residential developments in the Innovation District, but the city and developer came to an agreement that incorporates a number of new planning strategies to achieve city goals, such as intensification.

First, the developer was able to use so-called bonusing provisions to build a much denser highrise development than would normally be allowed.

The previous zoning allowed a total floor area up to four times the size of the lot. The new zoning increases this ratio to seven times, in exchange for community benefits such as the creation of a landscaped, park-like public area of 2,000 square metres (about half an acre), and stronger heritage protections.

Second, the developer got a reduced parking requirement — 233 parking spaces, rather than the 411 spaces that would normally be required. Parking will be shared between this site and 100 Victoria, a big condo development being built next door by Zehr Group and Momentum.

“The site itself is going to function like a campus,” said Juliane vonWesterholt, a senior planner with the city. “What that means is that there will be access to parking in the site adjacent at 100 Victoria.” Fewer parking spaces

also make sense since the development is also very close to the planned regional transit hub at King and Victoria, she said.

Finally, the heritage property on the site will have stronger protection than that of a traditional heritage designation. In exchange for the increased density, the developers agreed to a heritage covenant and easement for the Huck Glove building, which previously had no heritage protection at all. The covenant specifies the heritage aspects of a building, and requires the property owner to maintain them in good condition, and have adequate insurance coverage for quality repairs to heritage features, said Leon Bensason, Kitchener’s co-ordinator of heritage.

The development’s marriage of century-old industrial heritage and sleek modern design benefits the city, Bensason said. “It’s being designed in a very tasteful way,” Bensason said. “The new building is set back from the historic one, to give it some respect and some breathing room.”

The new building is set back from the historic one, to give it some respect and some breathing room. LEON BENSASON Kitchener’s co-ordinator of heritage