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The Region of Niagara has submitted a conceptual redevelopment plan for 68 Church Street in Downtown St Catharines on the site of the former Niagara Regional Police headquarters. Designed by MacDonald Zuberec Ensslen Architects, the mixed-use residential and commercial complex entails a 4-storey low-rise along with a 12-storey mid-rise and a 27-storey tower.
The low-rise former Niagara Regional Police headquarters, built in 1963, was vacated due to structural and environmental issues including a leaking roof and inadequate temperature controls that compromised record keeping.
In the wake of the building's closure, varying proposals were considered for the site. While regional councillors advocated exploring affordable housing options for the redevelopment, the site was deemed suboptimal for such use. The application notes that proceeds from potential sales would be reinvested to fund affordable or attainable housing projects at other locations.
Situated at the southeast corner of Church and Carlisle Streets, the site spans approximately 6,231m². The area houses a mix of institutional uses along Church Street, residential townhouses to the northeast, and residential properties on either side of Academy Street. Commercial, residential, and office spaces line the nearby King Street.
Applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments encompass a 4-storey (16.4m) low-rise stretching northeast along Academy Street, a 12-storey (40.19m) mid-rise at the site’s northwest corner, and a 27-storey (88.96m) high-rise at the southeast corner. The conceptual redevelopment plan, envisaged to be executed by a future third-party developer, has been pre-zoned to allow flexibility in design and usage.
The application proposes 305 residential units in all. Although a conceptual redevelopment, the floor plans include two elevators each in the mid- and high-rises, and none for the low-rise, indicating reasonable wait times for residents in the taller towers.
The Gross Floor Area (GFA) for the entire project is segmented with 3,496m² for the low-rise, 17,064m² for the mid-rise, and 26,156m² for the tallest building. The non-residential GFA of 4,620m² would be located primarily on the first two floors of the tallest building and the first three floors of the mid-rise.
The design includes private amenity spaces situated between the high-rise and mid-rise. Two levels of underground parking are proposed, offering 162 vehicular parking spaces, including eight accessible spots, and 40 bicycle parking spaces.
68 Church Street is positioned just a three-minute walk from the St Catharines Downtown Transit Terminal, providing access to the Niagara Region Transit network.
To the west of the site, another low-rise at 179 Ontario Street is proposed at 3 storeys. To the east, Beard Place Condos and 151 Queenston Street are proposed at 6 and 7 storeys respectively, alongside a redevelopment proposal for the St Catharines General Hospital with 9 buildings reaching up to 16 storeys. Moving south, 229 St Paul Street is proposed at 7 storeys and the 18-storey Carlisle Square is under construction. Additional proposals include 88 James Street at 30 storeys, 14-20 Queen Street at 31 storeys, and further south, 7 St Paul Street West at 37 storeys.
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you'd like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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