This one has been in the works for multiple years now. The complicating factor with this one was the lands that Momentum owned were not conducive to a tower. Due to this there were various land swaps required in order to get a floor plate that worked. This now allows for the proposal as shown to be brought forward.
One thing to note is the existing parking lot will be reconfigured and see a net increase in parking spaces even though the tower will be built on the lands, this is possible because the existing building on Erb will be demolished allowing for a more coherent parking configuration than what is currently there.
The podium parking is basically forced because of the flood plain, most towers being proposed in and around Uptown Waterloo are getting the same podium treatment because of the dual zoning of the flood plain, a similar situation occurs in Galt (Cambridge), however that's a different beast to deal with.
The city has also retained the right to buy back the land if the tower doesn't get built.
Another thing to keep in mind is this will be Momentum's largest project if it goes through passing Q Condos which has been stuck in sales for forever, so this will likely be years away. There are also a couple of other projects around Uptown that will rival this tower in height however those are not yet public.
The overall unit breakdown is larger than most proposals in KW, there are 412 units in total, 28 are studios, 83 are 1 bedroom, 165 are 1 bedroom+den, 93 are 2bedroom, 35 are 3bedroom, and 8 are 3bedroom+den. In total 33% of the building will be 2 Bedroom units or larger. These will be served by 4 elevators (1 per 103 units).
In terms of amenity space there will be 320 sqm of indoor space and 594 sqm of outdoor space on top of the podium.
There will be 216 parking spaces (legally they are required 0 given the property is within a MTSA) this is a rate of roughly 0.52 spaces per unit. There will also be 248 Type A bicycle spaces provided which is 0.6 per unit.
These are the two buildings that will be demolished (lands subject to the land swap):
The tower will be positioned roughly straight across from this side street (demolished buildings are to the right):
www.engagewr.ca