Downtown Brampton Update - April 30

[TOareaFan]

George Street Condos. (Renaissance)

This project by Alterra is well underway. It is, obviously, addressing the need for higher density housing in the downtown.

The project web page shows what it is going to look like.

http://alterra.com/renaissance/index.html

My pics, show you what it looks like now with the second last one being a look back towards Queen and Main from the site (the site is just north of Queen on George which is the next street west from Main).

There will now be a slight pause in the postings from my walkabout as my wife has just informed me that it is time to leave for a family dinner....ah well!

 

[TOareaFan]

On the Way to the GO Station.

After leaving the Renaissance, I started heading up George Street to update the earlier pictures of the GO Train Station work.

It struck me that this picture, looking north towards George & Nelson Streets was an interesting look into the past. Contained in this picture are 3 significant buildings.

The dark brown office building to the left is one of the older office buildings in downtown.....it is a very dour building that perenially has had vacancy issues....to the right side of the building is the building built in the 80's that is also prone to vacancy. These buildings (IMO) are one of the reasons that no significant office projects have been proposed or built in the area....there is no evidence that tenants can be attracted. Given their proximity to the GO Station (the building to the right actually houses the bus terminal) two-way all day service actually makes these attractive locations for suburban office use.....lower cost than Mississauga/Toronto but with good access dynamics for workers.

The building in the middle of the pic was planned as a condo building in the late '80s by a developer who I believe is no longer with us. I think their name was Anaheim and they were western Canadian based. They built some towns and 3 storey walk-ups in the Hurontario/Bristol area of Mississauga and this hi-rise in downtown brampton. It did not sell well and before the building was finished it had been converted to a subsidized housing project. This building likely left a bad taste in the mouths of developers and might explain why it has taken so long for the condo craze to reach Brampton.

Anyway, nothing new in this pic just thought it was an interesting historical perspective.

 

[TOareaFan]

The GO

Just thought I would update the earlier pics of the GO station improvements.

Work is moving ahead on the second platform and the western improvements.

The first pic is of the bus terminal adjacent to the train station and the earlier mentioned office building.

I think the first post in this thread included the old Dominion Skate building and the proposed condo there....I didn't bother taking a pic of that because, frankly, I think that has been proposed for redevelopment for about 20 years and nothing ever happens. If it does, I will take a picture of it!

 

[TOareaFan]

The Landmarq

Nothing has changed here except that some tenants have moved in, pretty sure it is not full yet but there is life in it and a couple of the main floor retail tenants are in.

Like the previous poster said, this is a hard building to hate. What I like about it is that it is a rental building newly constructed (we just don't do enough of these in Ontario any more), it is downtown Brampton (adressing that need for permanent residents I talked about earlier) and it is a residential building directly across the street from a GO station.....if I could I would automatically change the zoning on all lands within a walking distance of GO stations to multi-unit residential!

Anyway, here are some fresh pics of this project that I quite like.

 

[TOareaFan]

Views from Main & Nelson

I had promised my daughter that this boring tour of downtown would end with some pics of the Rose Theatre and the surrounding public areas.

On the way to the Rose from the Landmarq I had a pause at Main and Nelson to take pics of a site (on the northeast corner) of a proposed 17 storey project and views looking south on Main (one from each side of the railway tracks)

 

[TOareaFan]

Rose Theatre and surrounding public places.

The biggest investment made in dowtown so far is in this theatre to give people an entertainment attraction downtown.

Inside it is a very nice theatre but it is the outside improvement that is most noticable. Built above an underground parking lot it has improved a large area and led to the imrpovement of some other adjacent buldings.

It is public area ideal for big displays (outdoor concerts and plays) or small (an ice cream from Julie's or a game of chess at Chess Park).

Anyway...here it is (including an update to the Dominion Building improvements which have seen some tenants moving in....still searching for a main floor restaraunt tenant).

Edit: just wanted to add.....the third pic in (assuming the order is the same for everyone) is sort of the example of what I think small downtowns should be striving for......that Live/Work/Play all in a short distance........the picture shows the Rose on the left....the Belvedere condo in the centre and Inzola's rehabbed (if you could only see what that building used to look like!) BDC office building......all within about 50 yards of each other......what you can't see in that pic is that Brampton's downtown Y (great facility that I should have pictured) is directly behind that Belvedere building and the GO station is about a 3 minute walk from where this picture was taken.......that is the sort of combination that can make a small downtown really click over (IMHO).


This will conclude today's pics/tour.....I will try to get to the other projects underway soon (these would include the Inzola condo project, Mattamy at Kennedy and Queen, the new Peel building by the Bramalea City Centre and the new hospital and some development happening near it).

 

[arnold]

hey TOareaFan... really nice update. thanks for all of the work you put into it.

looks like there's some decent stuff going on around DT brampton. the laneway around the rose theatre is looking really good.

and while its great to see progress at the Renaissance site, that crane is looking pretty short. is it a temporary one while they work on the garage or has there been a height change?

 

[TOareaFan]

hey TOareaFan... really nice update. thanks for all of the work you put into it.

Welcome....it is the least I could do considering I promised to do this in April. Really is not much work...it is a good excuse for me to go to Coffee Culture (my favourite Coffee shop in Brampton.....maybe the whole GTA) and wander around town with a camera......DT Brampton is fairly compact so the pictures you have seen to-date took a total of about 1/2 hour to walk to and snap.....the three projects I took today (and which will be posted later today) took a bit more time cause you really have to drive between them.

ooks like there's some decent stuff going on around DT brampton. the laneway around the rose theatre is looking really good.

agree on both counts......when that laneway/square around the Rose has people in it it really comes to life and gets a bit of a buzz....as much as everyone here loves buildings...in the end it is people that bring life to an urban setting....buildings are really just one of the attractions that brings people.

and while its great to see progress at the Renaissance site, that crane is looking pretty short. is it a temporary one while they work on the garage or has there been a height change?

Can't say if it is temporary.....I know of no height change. This crane might be just for the podium and then a taller one might come in for the tower? Someone more versed in cranes might be able to help.

Anyway.....look for pics of Inzola's Park Place, Mattamy's Rythm and the new Peel Region building later this evening (all accompanied by my boring local commentary).

 

[TOareaFan]

Park Place

Not much to see yet...but this is a pretty important development at James and Queen that stretches the development eastward out of downtown and should (along with Rythm) finally spark the city's hoped for redevelopment of Queen between downtown and the Bramalea City Centre area.

 

[TOareaFan]

Rythm by Mattamy

Further east along Queen....again, stretching the development envelope to the east is this very exciting project by Mattamy.

Again, not a ton of stuff to look at yet but, at least, it is underway and this is one of those developments that really will reshape an entire neighbourhood.

 

[TOareaFan]

Peel Region H.O.

So this was not in the original posting and is not actually in Downtown Brampton (yet).

As mentioned above, the City of Brampton has had a vision for Queen Street being redeveloped between the BCC and Downtown Brampton.

The redevelopment has been slow to take off and the area between (essentially) where Park Place is to the BCC area is a bit of a wasteland of low rise commercial/retail, car lots and empty lots that used to be car lots....at least thati is what it is like as far east as, say, the 410 highway.

The current Peel Region building at 10 Peel Centre Drive is being added to with a new building that is connected to it and will house additional office space along with a new police station. This development, along with the Bramalea City Centre and the Holiday Inn will become the eastern edge of that hoped for higher density commercial corridor. With the good work that Mattamy and Inzola are doing along with the Acceleride plans, perhpas the big ugly gap of Queen will eventually start to fill up.

Pretty nice looking building here. I have tried to show the new building, the old building and a view westward towards what is currently the downtown.

 

[awasim]

TOareaFan, Keep up the good work, i am one of the to be owners in mattamy rhythm in queen and Kennedy, since we are out of country briefly, you regular posting helps us monitor the progress in the construction.. any idea on the proposed date of completion..
thanks a lot once again toareafan please continue your services....

 

[TOareaFan]

TOareaFan, Keep up the good work, i am one of the to be owners in mattamy rhythm in queen and Kennedy, since we are out of country briefly, you regular posting helps us monitor the progress in the construction.. any idea on the proposed date of completion..
thanks a lot once again toareafan please continue your services....

I have no idea on occupancy.....if I am ever by there when the sales office is open I will inquire.....I have to guess, though, it will not be before well into 2010.....they are not at grade yet so there is much work to be done!!! Hope you were not looking to move in next week

 

[Stassia]

Occupancy for Rhythm is expected for October 2009.

 

[awasim]

mattamy !!

Thanks a lot toareafan and stassia, for your update !! of course i am not expecting it be up there over night.. the later is better for me !!

but periodic updates would be highly appreciated..