More Momentum for the Kitchener Core

We had two very positive announcements in Kitchener’s downtown core on Friday. Congratulations to the various driving forces behind these two great projects! This is more fantastic news and additional momentum for the City of Kitchener, core businesses and commerce, the Kitchener Downtown Business Association, and all residents!

The two announcements were covered in detail by the Waterloo Region Record. I’ve included below both the links to the articles, and the full text of the articles themselves.


A new courthouse: Kitchener facility will combine all regional courthouse operations

June 14, 2008
Frances Barrick
RECORD STAFF
WATERLOO REGION

Local politicians, judges and lawyers hailed the choice of downtown Kitchener as the site of a long-awaited new courthouse.

"I think it hits the mark," Justice Pat Flynn of Kitchener Superior Court said after the announcement yesterday by Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy.

The multi-million-dollar courthouse will be built on a 3.3-acre site bounded by Weber, Frederick, Duke and Scott streets.

Except for a few businesses fronting Frederick Street, including a law office, the site is now a parking lot. The new address will be 59 Weber St.

The state-of-the-art courthouse will bring under one roof three existing courthouses -- two in Kitchener and one in Cambridge.

Construction is to begin in 2010, but officials yesterday did not know how long it will take or how much it will cost.

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig was "very disappointed" the province didn't consider his city as a site for a consolidated courthouse. "We are trying to revitalize our core area like everybody else and this will hurt us."

Attempts to keep the courthouse at 99 Main St. open after the new one is built have failed, Craig said.

Court operations will also be moved out of the existing courthouses at 20 Weber St. and 200 Frederick St. in Kitchener.

Milloy announced plans for the consolidated courthouse almost three years ago to the day. People attending his announcement yesterday at Kitchener City Hall criticized the province for dragging its feet on a much-needed project.

"It is very frustrating that this has taken so long," said Flynn, whose Superior Courthouse is so crammed he and another judge have offices in former boiler rooms. "It is about time that politicians in Queen's Park recognize the depth and breadth of this region."

Flynn said the Superior Courthouse was built in 1959 to hold two courtrooms. Six courtrooms are now squeezed into the building, and security is inadequate.

"It is a very, very inadequate place for the operation and administration of justice."

The chosen site for the new courthouse is fitting, he said, since it is the site of the region's first county courthouse.

Kitchener Coun. Kelly Galloway said the project will be "another significant step" in the revitalization of the city's core. "We are extremely pleased."

Regional Chair Ken Seiling said the location fits with regional goals of infilling and developing city cores, although he's hoping for an earlier construction date. "Let's keep the pressure on the province and may be we can get the ball rolling faster."

The region owns the building housing Superior Court, and Seiling said there are plans to renovate it to house regional offices. The province owns the Kitchener courthouse and leases the Cambridge one.

Bill Moore of the Ontario Realty Corp. said the province will consider what to do with the Kitchener building once the court operations move out. He said the province's purchase of the Weber Street site should be completed in a few weeks after all environmental and soil tests are completed.

The next step will be the calling of proposals to build the courthouse from the private sector, Milloy said. The courthouse is part of the province's five-year plan to spend more than $30 billion in Ontario's infrastructure.


Centre Block proposal ready for council

June 14, 2008
Terry Pender
RECORD STAFF
KITCHENER

City council will be asked Monday to spend another $5.5 million on the redevelopment of a moribund block in the core.

After a year of negotiations with Andrin Investments Ltd., staff will ask council to select the Brampton-based developer for the long-awaited rebuilding of Centre Block.

It will be the latest chapter in the city's nine-year effort to assemble the land -- bounded by King, Young, Duke and Ontario streets -- and persuade someone to redevelop it.

"It continues with the huge momentum we have in the downtown core," said Mark Garner, head of the Kitchener Downtown Business Association and a member of the committee that evaluated the Andrin plan.

Included as part of the deal would be a cash infusion of $5.5 million by the city to pay for the cost of building 250 underground-parking spaces for the public, which Kitchener would own.

"There is a need for increased parking in the core," Garner said. "If we are going to get that growth, I think there is a huge need for that."

If councillors approve the deal, a detailed development agreement must be negotiated with Andrin, which could take up to five months. The company must also pre-sell 60 to 70 per cent of the 384 condominiums it plans for the site before construction begins. Work could start next spring.

It would take four years to finish the $90-million project, which includes two condo towers and shorter buildings that would wrap around Duke, Young and King streets. An underground parking garage with 750 spaces and a courtyard are also planned.

A committee of staff and citizens, formed in early 2007, has evaluated the plan and endorsed it.

"I think it is very important to get some high-quality housing in the Kitchener core," said committee member Rick Haldenby, the director of the University of Waterloo school of architecture.

Andrin wants to convert the historic Mayfair building into a boutique hotel and spa. Retail and live-work units are slated for the three-storey buildings fronting Duke, Young and King streets. The renovation of two other historic addresses on King is also part of the plan. "We need a social and cultural mix in the core, and I think this has the potential to draw people to live downtown," Haldenby said.

The city spent $9.1 million to assemble the land and buy out several businesses. The figure includes $7.65 million for the land and businesses and $1.45 million on legal fees, closing costs and consultants.

Under the proposed deal, Andrin will pay the city $3.1 million -- $2.3 million for the vacant land, $100,000 for a strip of land along King Street and $700,000 for the historic buildings at 11 Young St. and at 156-158 King St.

The 250 parking spaces would cost $35,000 each, for a total of $8.75 million, said Dan Chapman, acting city treasurer.

The city has $5.5 million earmarked for the parking from its economic development investment fund. That, coupled with the funds from the sale of land and buildings to Andrin, would be used to pay for the parking spaces.

"So our estimate right now is that we are about $400,000 short in funding, but we are still in negotiations with Andrin," Chapman said.

The city is on the hook to provide 175 parking spaces to Wilfrid Laurier University students and faculty for $20 a month per space. This was part of the deal negotiated to attract the school of social work to the downtown.

Andrin is no stranger to Kitchener. It partnered with Kimshaw Holdings to convert the former Kaufman factory into condominiums. That project cost more than $40 million.

When the city sought proposals for the redevelopment of Centre Block, three companies submitted plans by April 2007 -- Morguard Investments, the Windmill Development Group and Andrin. Within a few weeks Morguard and Windmill withdrew, leaving Andrin as the sole developer to negotiate with the city.