unimaginative2
Senior Member
City getting five-star hotel
A developer wants to put condos and stores on the former American Standard property, Mayor Doug Craig says.
October 04, 2007
KEVIN SWAYZE
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE
Years of talk about a convention centre in Cambridge would become reality as part of a five-star hotel, condominium and retail project planned for Preston, Mayor Doug Craig said yesterday.
And in Hespeler, a developer has purchased the vacant American Standard factory, with plans to convert it into condominiums and street-level retail space, Craig said in a state of the city speech.
The hotel project is planned for the former Kress Hotel property at King and Fountain streets and would include a 1,000-seat meeting space.
Faisal Susiwala, a Cambridge realtor who bought the 2.7-hectare (6.8-acre) corner property a year ago, said the project would cost at least $65 million.
He said he is talking with a hotel operator and a construction company that builds condominiums to bring the project to reality in two or three years.
"I'd like to have a firm project ready to go, with site plans, early in 2008," he said.
Susiwala said the building would be about 85,000 square feet and reach up to 18 storeys as it steps back from a three-storey facade. The first few floors would house a hotel with 150 to 180 rooms. Up to 300 condominium units would share common areas such as a pool. An underground parking garage and meeting halls would be at the rear of the development.
The Kress Hotel was torn down in 1990. Susiwala said he is also looking at the empty Preston Springs Hotel across the street as a possible addition to the project. The century-old building has seen three aborted renovation attempts over the past two decades.
Susiwala envisions a skywalk between old an new, returning the once-grand hotel to its former glory and solving the site's parking shortage.
Craig's speech yesterday was a mostly upbeat snapshot of a city that he boasted was debt-free and the third fastest-growing in the province.
"We have done well and we will continue to do very well," he told about 60 people at the noon-hour event hosted by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce at the Future Inn on Hespeler Road.
"The city is going through rapid change."
Some changes, such as recent factory closures, have been difficult.
"I think that for many people in the city, it is the best off times, but for some people it is the worst of times," Craig said.
About 15,000 city residents live in poverty, about 700 people are waiting for affordable housing and 7,000 emergency food hampers were distributed last year, he said.
Craig has organized a meeting of politicians from across the region for November to look for ways to deal with manufacturing job losses. While local governments can't do much alone, they can search for ways to bring the provincial and federal governments to the table to create a local job plan.
In 2009, Craig plans to host a Cambridge "summit," which would bring people together to talk about the city's economy, environment, arts and social challenges "to build policies for the next decade."
Most of his 20-minute talk focused on growth and downtown renewal.
He credits the 2004 opening of the University of Waterloo school of architecture as the catalyst for projects across old Galt.
Now the school is talking about expanding, he said, as a slide show of city developments began behind him. They included:
The new $30-million city office building, which is on time and on budget, and will open Feb. 11.
The "spectacular" Waterscape condominium project underway at the north junction of Water and Ainslie streets. The $120-million project will "change the mindset of who we are as a Cambridge community," Craig said.
The historic post office on Water Street, which is undergoing a $6-million conversion into a restaurant and meeting centre, with an opening date expected in 2009. "It will rival any destination in Ontario," Craig said.
The former Tiger Brand factory, which is being converted by the Lancer Group of Toronto into the Tiger Lofts apartments.
An old factory at Water and Concession streets that local developer Amir Klein of AAK construction plans to convert into upscale condominiums.
The former city-owned Royal Hotel at Main and Wellington streets, which Klein has also purchased and plans to turn into loft condominiums and street-level retail space.
A $6-million theatre, which is planned for downtown near the river, with Drayton Entertainment as the tenant.
It was after the slide show that Craig unveiled plans for the hotel-convention centre and development of the American Standard property.
The hotel project will fill a need for meeting space across the region and create a magnificent building at the site of the former Kress hotel, he said. "We are talking about a regionwide impact."
A developer with experience dealing with heritage buildings bought the American Standard factory last Thursday, Craig said.
The city has been working to bring residential development plans forward since the factory's closure was announced May 24.
The sink and bathtub factory closed Sept. 13, leaving 58 people out of work.
Craig said he worked as matchmaker between the company, the realtor handling the project and a developer.
He refused to identify the new owner or provide any other information. The plans are to be formally made public in a month or so, he said.
The four-storey stone building is a landmark along the Speed River in the heart of old Hespeler. Parts of the 160,000-square-foot factory date from 1858, when Jacob Hespeler founded the village with a factory on the site. In earlier years, the mill complex produced flour, liquor, cotton and wool.
In 1913, Stamped Enamel started making sinks there. American Standard bought the company in 1969.
kswayze@therecord.com
A developer wants to put condos and stores on the former American Standard property, Mayor Doug Craig says.
October 04, 2007
KEVIN SWAYZE
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE
Years of talk about a convention centre in Cambridge would become reality as part of a five-star hotel, condominium and retail project planned for Preston, Mayor Doug Craig said yesterday.
And in Hespeler, a developer has purchased the vacant American Standard factory, with plans to convert it into condominiums and street-level retail space, Craig said in a state of the city speech.
The hotel project is planned for the former Kress Hotel property at King and Fountain streets and would include a 1,000-seat meeting space.
Faisal Susiwala, a Cambridge realtor who bought the 2.7-hectare (6.8-acre) corner property a year ago, said the project would cost at least $65 million.
He said he is talking with a hotel operator and a construction company that builds condominiums to bring the project to reality in two or three years.
"I'd like to have a firm project ready to go, with site plans, early in 2008," he said.
Susiwala said the building would be about 85,000 square feet and reach up to 18 storeys as it steps back from a three-storey facade. The first few floors would house a hotel with 150 to 180 rooms. Up to 300 condominium units would share common areas such as a pool. An underground parking garage and meeting halls would be at the rear of the development.
The Kress Hotel was torn down in 1990. Susiwala said he is also looking at the empty Preston Springs Hotel across the street as a possible addition to the project. The century-old building has seen three aborted renovation attempts over the past two decades.
Susiwala envisions a skywalk between old an new, returning the once-grand hotel to its former glory and solving the site's parking shortage.
Craig's speech yesterday was a mostly upbeat snapshot of a city that he boasted was debt-free and the third fastest-growing in the province.
"We have done well and we will continue to do very well," he told about 60 people at the noon-hour event hosted by the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce at the Future Inn on Hespeler Road.
"The city is going through rapid change."
Some changes, such as recent factory closures, have been difficult.
"I think that for many people in the city, it is the best off times, but for some people it is the worst of times," Craig said.
About 15,000 city residents live in poverty, about 700 people are waiting for affordable housing and 7,000 emergency food hampers were distributed last year, he said.
Craig has organized a meeting of politicians from across the region for November to look for ways to deal with manufacturing job losses. While local governments can't do much alone, they can search for ways to bring the provincial and federal governments to the table to create a local job plan.
In 2009, Craig plans to host a Cambridge "summit," which would bring people together to talk about the city's economy, environment, arts and social challenges "to build policies for the next decade."
Most of his 20-minute talk focused on growth and downtown renewal.
He credits the 2004 opening of the University of Waterloo school of architecture as the catalyst for projects across old Galt.
Now the school is talking about expanding, he said, as a slide show of city developments began behind him. They included:
The new $30-million city office building, which is on time and on budget, and will open Feb. 11.
The "spectacular" Waterscape condominium project underway at the north junction of Water and Ainslie streets. The $120-million project will "change the mindset of who we are as a Cambridge community," Craig said.
The historic post office on Water Street, which is undergoing a $6-million conversion into a restaurant and meeting centre, with an opening date expected in 2009. "It will rival any destination in Ontario," Craig said.
The former Tiger Brand factory, which is being converted by the Lancer Group of Toronto into the Tiger Lofts apartments.
An old factory at Water and Concession streets that local developer Amir Klein of AAK construction plans to convert into upscale condominiums.
The former city-owned Royal Hotel at Main and Wellington streets, which Klein has also purchased and plans to turn into loft condominiums and street-level retail space.
A $6-million theatre, which is planned for downtown near the river, with Drayton Entertainment as the tenant.
It was after the slide show that Craig unveiled plans for the hotel-convention centre and development of the American Standard property.
The hotel project will fill a need for meeting space across the region and create a magnificent building at the site of the former Kress hotel, he said. "We are talking about a regionwide impact."
A developer with experience dealing with heritage buildings bought the American Standard factory last Thursday, Craig said.
The city has been working to bring residential development plans forward since the factory's closure was announced May 24.
The sink and bathtub factory closed Sept. 13, leaving 58 people out of work.
Craig said he worked as matchmaker between the company, the realtor handling the project and a developer.
He refused to identify the new owner or provide any other information. The plans are to be formally made public in a month or so, he said.
The four-storey stone building is a landmark along the Speed River in the heart of old Hespeler. Parts of the 160,000-square-foot factory date from 1858, when Jacob Hespeler founded the village with a factory on the site. In earlier years, the mill complex produced flour, liquor, cotton and wool.
In 1913, Stamped Enamel started making sinks there. American Standard bought the company in 1969.
kswayze@therecord.com
