News   Apr 15, 2024
An Aerial Tour of Construction at The Residences at Central Park
 975     0 
News   Apr 15, 2024
Proposal Across from St James Park Grows to 65 Storeys
 2.1K     5 
News   Apr 15, 2024
News Roundup for April 15, 2024
 654     0 

Uptown Waterloo grows Up

this building is by a 25 year old former WLU/UW student... he built the penthouse for himself as well :)

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=141182

DSC00310-1.jpg


unfortunately that whole stretch of King from Uni to Columbia has some terrible planning policies (barely any mixed use designations, outdated ZBLs) and brutal stucco developments.

here are a few recent proposals

this is beside the building in urban dreamer's pics 3 & 4

323KingStWaterloo.jpg


this one is a little better (NW corner of King/uni). This is the only building in my post that is mixed use IIRC, despite that they are all on a main street, well served with transit, lots of students and apartments nearby etc

776dcc494bd2b5f30754cecd0852.jpeg


45 degrees on King.... OK design, bad site plan (King Columbia)...

2835032574_4a09efdcce.jpg

site_plan.jpg



pics are all from SSP
 
Last edited:
eek

why oh why
 
22 November 2008 photo update: the "real" uptown waterloo

Includes Bauer Lofts (conservative), the site of the new Waterloo Town Square (blah), and parking lots--the reality of small town Ontario!

1)Plaza Behind the Uptown Waterloo strip...Dana Short Gourmet
DSC00241.jpg


Possibly the nicest modernist building in Uptown now sits abandoned....the old LCBO, where I bought much Vodka.....:)
DSC00234-1.jpg


DSC00235-1.jpg


The only quaint view is in fact a smallish back alley behind King St/Home Hardware. Looks cute, but that's all there is in Waterloo!
DSC00226.jpg


Yuck. This mall needs to be imploded. The stores are suffering here, so it may happen....? The square isn't needed, as Waterloo is one enormous "open space." :p
DSC00205-1.jpg


DSC00203.jpg


DSC00201.jpg


DSC00185-2.jpg


DSC00183.jpg


Bauer Lofts basically destroyed the old building--I think it should be pulled, it's falling down!
DSC00173-2.jpg


DSC00179-1.jpg


DSC00161-2.jpg



Uptown Waterloo compares to Yorkville? LMAO! It's more like Bathurst and Lawrence meets Avenue Rd and Lawrence.
 
Last edited:
lol ...

If you count Kitchener and the nicer stretches of King street it is in many ways like Yonge North of Lawrence + a few more built up buildings (see I'm giving it that much! ;) ).
lol ... really proves how pictures can easily decieve though :) At both extremes.

For anyone curios, just take a drive up/down King street, start at the 401 and make your way to the university of Waterloo. All your questions will be answered.

ps -

urbandreamer, did anything bad happen to you in uptown waterloo? :) You seem to have a lot against it.
 
urbandreamer said:
^Hmm. The WLU girls are hot.:D

However, I have a full 401-to-Conestoga Mall (via King St) photo tour coming soon. Perhaps tomorrow. It will explain everything, I hope....
Click to expand...

Exactly ... I would think that would make the "built form" of Waterloo a non-issue :) Much more important things lol


Ah, more pictures! Great, that should reveal all.
 
Ummm urbandreamer, you seem to hate Waterloo quite a bit.

And how did hte Bauer Lofts DESTROY the Bauer warehouse? They have done everything in their power to raise the building up as an example of the industrial past of the area.
 
Yuck. This mall needs to be imploded. The stores are suffering here, so it may happen....? The square isn't needed, as Waterloo is one enormous "open space."
Click to expand...

I hope that tongue-face was an indication that you were, in fact, being facetious. Every self-respecting city has a main public square, a place where citizens know to gather for any large event. Unfortunately Waterloo lacks a great city hall, but this lot is right in the middle of uptown and even before it is finished it is way better than that crappy parking lot.

I also beg to differ re: the stores suffering. Every time I've been in there the grocery store was quite busy (smallish as it is) and the other stores were reasonably occuppied. Most of them are non-chain small businesses anyway, so they lack the drawing power of larger chains. I will agree that the mall is not the most aesthetically pleasing building and in some ways is in an inappropriate building to face the square.

You can't expect huge things out of a small city, it's not going to happen. Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge-- they will all have similar growing pains to every other Canadian urban centre. To me, we're at the first huge, but painful, step.

p.s.:
I will also agree, for some reason WLU girls are WAY hotter.
 
jswag said:
Anyone have any recent pics of Waterloo Town Square? Usually I'd be in Waterloo but I've been on a work term in Toronto so I haven't seen the progress since it was a sandbox.
Click to expand...

Looking at the first post, there are several of those pics that are of WTS..... pics number (assigning 1 to the first pic and going forward) 1,3,4,11,18,23&39 are of WTS...others may be too but those are for sure.
 
urbandreamer said:
Yuck. This mall needs to be imploded. The stores are suffering here, so it may happen....? The square isn't needed, as Waterloo is one enormous "open space." :p
Click to expand...
I have to disagree with the state of the mall. It was recently done over again, including converting the west side and most of the east side, into outside access only stores. Like already mentioned, most of the stores inside are independent retailers so they're not the "draws" of the mainstream, cookie cutter stores like in the Eaton Centre/STC/Yorkdale, but in my two years here, I've only seen one store actually go out of business in there.

The west side of the mall faces onto a street that the city and developer have been taking steps towards making pedestrian friendly- wide sidewalks, narrow streets, portions of on street parking mixed with midblock places for pedestrians to cross, among others. I'll try to grab some pictures next week that show what I mean.
 
urbandreamer said:
Barf. It's really like a big box centre pretending to be "old school retail." Hint: Look at the huge parking lot available across the (Willis) Way. It just doesn't cut it.
Click to expand...

the area that is currently parking lot along willis way is going to be potentially turned into a Westin Hotel... although it is not certain as the chain/developer wants the City to pay for most of a parking garage
1bcff7124912829fe3a5c75ge4.jpg


here is the waterloo town square site plan from their website
waterlootownsquaresiteplan.jpg
 
Last edited:
As long as the surface parking lot there is at the back of the site!
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top