Burlington Bridgewater (Burlington) | ?m | 22s

I wouldn’t call it complete, there is still a construction elevator on the tower. There are a lot of occupancies and the hotel is done though and open. Not sure why the elevator is still there tbh.
 
The Bridgewater Hotel & Apartment building has been complete and some parts of the sidewalk not pour a concrete yet.
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This project turned out to be a mixed bag. The facade is well detailed and interesting. It frames the public realm nicely, and the massing is visually appealing. The hotel is attractive and has a lot of windows into its common spaces, which adds interest to the street.

There's an interesting plaza between the two buildings of the project that's lined with narrow storefronts. It has a vista of the lake, and you can walk through it to landscaped area with a water feature and then a small waterfront park. One can imagine vibrant restaurants with patios in the space and other destination retail here. But save for a streetwear store and a post office, the retail spaces remain empty.

Despite downtown Burlington's vitality and large amount of foot traffic, nothing appears to have been done to bring those destination retailers here. It's as those managing the building aren't interested in it. The building also feels sterile and lifeless along the main street, Lakeshore, due to a long stretch without retail or patios in front of the hotel as well as little landscaping (and no trees). The sterility is also off putting to anyone who might be inclined to walk towards the plaza.

The new waterfront public space in front of the building continues an older mixed-use path from the west, but the design feels uninspired. It's nothing but an oversized cast-in-place concrete walkway and armour stone. Finally, too much space is dedicated to cars to the west of the building. Elizabeth Street feels too wide for what's essentially a driveway to the hotel and the parking lot to the west, especially at the cul-de-sac at the end.
 
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