Youth shelter may be going to new home
Oneroof in talks with developer to sell site and allow for new apartments
KITCHENER — Oneroof Youth Services is in negotiations with a developer to sell its location on Queen Street South to allow for the construction of a new eight-storey rental apartment near downtown Kitchener.
The youth shelter, at 242 Queen St. S., is the last of three properties Vive Development Corp. needs to buy in order to complete a proposed 125-unit rental apartment at 242-262 Queen St. S. — but it says the shelter is under no obligation to move until it’s ready.
“There’s no gun to our heads . ... I’m feeling pretty good about continuing to negotiate,” Sandy Dietrich-Bell, CEO of Oneroof, said during an informal public meeting at the Downtown Community Centre on Tuesday evening.
“Roof holds the cards,” added city planner Garett Stevenson. “Roof will have to determine what they need in order to move. That’s not something the city is involved with, but we have an interest in seeing them relocate.”
Stephen Litt, vice-president of development with Vive, said “nothing is set in stone” and the company is working with Oneroof to find a new location.
The apartments would range in size
from 500 to 700 square feet, and be aimed at young professionals or downsizers. About two-thirds of the apartments in the proposed development would be one-bedroom units, and the remainder would be twobedroom units. The project has not yet been approved by city council.
“(Vive) have been great in terms of talking to us, but we want what’s best for our young people,” Dietrich-Bell said. Oneroof serves those aged 12 to 25 years old, and the chief executive has been talking with youth over the past year to ask what they would like to see if they did move from the current location, which was built in 2007.
“The majority of our youth are saying, ‘We don’t want to be downtown anymore because that’s where our triggers are, our dealers are, the things that get us into trouble are,’” she said, adding the news was a bit shocking since it’s the complete opposite of what she heard more than 10 years ago.
The shelter currently has 17 beds and is full most nights, but Dietrich-Bell said she doesn’t want to see that number grow if the facility moves to another location.
“Shelter should be for emergencies only,” she said.
Ideally, Oneroof would move into a larger space to accommodate the multitude of services needed by youth, and part of Oneroof’s negotiation with Vive is to get at least some affordable housing units into the development, Dietrich-Bell said.
Tuesday’s meeting, attended by about 50 people, was the first opportunity for many in the community to see the proposed design for the structure and to ask questions. Many of their concerns centred on the heritage aspects of the other two buildings slated for demolition, at 254 and 262 Queen St. S.
The houses, located within the Victoria Park Area Heritage Conservation District, were built in the late 19th century. According to the heritage impact assessment completed by MHBC Planning on behalf of the developer, the buildings have been “altered over time and retain some, but not all, of their attributes.” Both were originally single-family homes but have since been converted into businesses.
The proposed development would maintain a similar setback from the road, and is within the height and density rules laid out by the city for that area.
“It seems to me this (development) is compromising the aim and goal of the heritage conservation district,” said Marg Rowell, president of the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
Dan Currie, project manager for the heritage impact assessment by MHBC, said the two homes have some modest design and contextual heritage value, but “in terms of the district overall, these are otherwise available in the district” and the heritage impact of demolition is “relatively minor, all things considered.”
Pierre Chauvin of MHBC Planning said the Queen Street South corridor is targeted for intensification, and the site is already surrounded by other highrise structures, such as Victoria Place, Victoria Park Towers and the York Tower.
“It’s somewhat isolated from the lowdensity area closer to the park,” he said.
Some in the crowd wondered why the developer was focusing on rental apartments for young professionals or downsizers, rather than building affordable housing units.
“The biggest demand right now is affordable housing,” Peter Eglin said. “Why isn’t this affordable?”
Heather Campbell, chief operating officer for Vive Development, said the company agrees there is a need for more affordable housing in the city.
But its aim, she said, is to fill another need: the young professional who can’t afford to buy a home.
She called it “attainable housing,” noting the aim is to keep rents within 30 per cent of gross annual income for the median household in Kitchener. According to the Region of Waterloo, the median income for Kitchener was approximately $71,000 in 2015.
“It’s not a high-end rental building or affordable housing, but something young professionals graduating with debt, or that downsizers looking to move, can reasonably attain,” Campbell said.
The city’s heritage committee is slated to review the proposal and it’s expected to go to council in September, with groundbreaking anticipated for next year, Litt said.