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Vive Development has proposed a 44-storey rental apartment building on the northeast corner of King Street West and Pine Street in the KW Hospital area of central Kitchener, near the Waterloo city limits. The proposal places a residential tower above a 6-storey parking podium, bringing 455 residential units along a corridor where further high-rise intensification is anticipated.
Precisely, the site is located at 864 King Street West in the corridor between Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo, a mixed corridor of residential, commercial, and institutional uses in low-, mid-, and high-rise forms. The corridor has seen significant development in recent years, primarily as a result of the recently opened ION LRT. The 0.63 hectares site is a corner lot currently occupied by a vacant 2-storey office building and a large swath of associated surface parking.
For this site, Reinders + Law have designed a 38-storey tower atop a 6-storey podium, the first phase of a multi-phase, mixed-use redevelopment of the site. It is positioned at the northeastern portion of the site to enable a second tower at the corner of King Street West and Pine Street in a future phase, design and massing details of which of future phases will be determined through subsequent applications. Above the podium, the design transitions to a point tower with a 856m² floor plate, stepped back from the podium façade and situated roughly in its centre.
A Block Plan, illustrated below, was prepared to evaluate the proposed development’s impact on the development potential of the remaining lands on the site as well as on the surrounding parcels. Significant intensification is anticipated on the surrounding lands as a result of their location within a Major Transit Station Area and the Region's designation of it as a Strategic Growth Area. The site is within walking distance of several public transit routes, including the Grand River Hospital ION stop next to the site and additional local Grand River Transit routes along King Street West, Union Street, and Glasgow Street that provide convenient access to Uptown Waterloo, Downtown Kitchener, and surrounding regional destinations.
The ground floor of the podium would house the residential lobby, indoor amenity space, and some bicycle parking, while upper podium floors are dedicated to vehicle and bicycle parking. No retail space is proposed. The driveway entrance off Pine Street provides access to the two levels of underground parking and 7 levels of podium parking (for a total 261 vehicle spaces), accessed via an internal ramp system. Cycling is encouraged through the inclusion of 461 bicycle parking spaces.
Cladding-wise, the ground floor is proposed to be articulated with concrete panels finished in horizontal textured paint, complemented by light concrete panels with a brick masonry finish. The remainder of the podium is clad with concrete panels in a dual-tone finish, and 13% façade openings across the podium facades, a proportion reminiscent of modern incarceration facilities. The tower’s material palette features different coloured concrete panels, consistent with the podium, and projecting pre-cast balconies with frosted tempered glass. The architects have sought to create a distinct top through differing contrasting panels, and minimal balcony projections. The proposed mechanical penthouse is screened with high parapet walls that continue the design and materiality of the top portion.
The tower would accommodate 455 units in a mix of 304 one-bedroom units (67%) and 151 two-bedroom units (33%), supported by four elevators, indicating longer wait times than preferable. Residents would have access to a total of 5,389m² of indoor and outdoor amenity space located adjacent to the lobby at grade and on the podium rooftop.
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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