Proposed Kitchener development may highlight site’s industrial past
A proposed Kitchener highrise development intends to pay tribute to the site’s past.
A “commemorative component or feature” would be included at the three-tower, 1,076-unit mixed-use development on Victoria Street North if the project is approved by council.
The nearly block-long site between Margaret Avenue and St. Leger Street currently contains a three-storey office building at 236 Victoria St. N. and the former LA Fitness building at 264 Victoria St. N., where indoor climbing business Grand River Rocks/Go Bananas expects to open this summer.
At an information meeting earlier this year, the developer’s representatives said it would likely be several years before construction on the towers, ranging in height from 18 to 40 storeys, would begin.
The existing buildings themselves do not have heritage value and would be demolished, but the lands have an industrial past, with ties to firms including shoe manufacturer Greb Industries and the Bauer Skate company, once a Greb affiliate.
The site sits within the Warehouse District Cultural Heritage Landscape, and stands across Victoria Street from the boundary of the Civic Centre Neighbourhood Heritage Conservation District.
On Tuesday, members of Heritage Kitchener were invited to offer comments on the development.
The proposal is scheduled to go before the city’s planning committee on Monday and could be formally approved by council later that day.
A heritage impact assessment concluded the development would not have any negative impacts on heritage properties in the area.
Heritage Kitchener member Ilona Bodendorfer rejected those findings, in light of the height of the proposed towers, the shadows they’ll cast, and disruptions caused by construction.
“I’m curious to see how they can say that there is no impact, when, given the height of the buildings, there’s definitely an impact to the surrounding area,” she said.
“The impact of the construction on the surrounding properties would be significant.”
In determining whether the project would have negative impacts on existing heritage resources, city heritage planner Jessica Vieira reiterated there are no identified heritage attributes on the development site itself, and it’s not immediately adjacent to heritage properties.
“Everything is buffered by the right of way and the street.”
Vieira added that studies such as vibration monitoring reports can be required at the site plan stage, if necessary, to take a closer look at potential construction impacts.
The heritage assessment recommended that the feature commemorating the site’s history be located in a planned outdoor courtyard accessible to the public along Victoria Street.