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In the west of the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, a 29-storey mixed-use development has been proposed to the west of the Grand River in central Cambridge at 32 through 38 Grand Avenue South. Designed by Neo Architecture for Kiah Group, operating as Grand Avenue Developments, the tower would rise in Cambridge's Galt City Centre area within the Protected Major Transit Station Area (PMTSA) of the proposed Ainslie Street Terminal, planned as the southern terminus of the Region of Waterloo’s Stage 2 ION LRT, which if built, will improve connectivity to Kitchener and Waterloo in the mid-2030s.
The site spans 32, 36, and 38 Grand Avenue South in West Galt, forming a corner lot at Grand and Hood Street, separated by one property from St Andrews Street to the south. Currently home to low-rise commercial buildings, one with a residential component, 38 Grand Avenue dates back to circa 1850. All existing structures are slated for demolition. The immediate area is predominantly low-rise residential, institutional, and commercial. To the north are mixed residential and commercial properties, while Grand River lies to the east. South of the site are the dual 20-storey towers of the Gaslight District, with low-rise commercial buildings and mid-rise residential further west. While a heritage evaluation concluded that none of the three onsite buildings merit individual designation, as the site is within the Dickson Hill Heritage Conservation District, a Heritage Impact Assessment would still be required due to the area’s heritage protections.
Patterson Planning Consultants has submitted an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application to the City of Cambridge on behalf of the developer. The proposal calls for the 29-storey mixed-use building to reach 88m, with a total of 328 residential units and 454m² of ground-floor commercial space fronting Grand Avenue South. The Gross Floor Area would total 27,590m², translating to a Floor Space Index of 13.49 times coverage of the 2,045m² parcel.
The building would rise from a six-storey podium containing retail and building services at ground level. Programming has yet to be finalized, though indoor amenities would be located on the ground floor, complementing an 830m² rooftop space atop the podium and a 775m² outdoor amenity area crowning the tower. Only two elevators are proposed, or one for every 164 units, which would require unusually high-speed motors to ensure reasonable wait times and service efficiency when both elevators are operating.
Parking for 150 vehicles is proposed to be hidden within the podium and accessed from Hood Street. An additional 16 spaces would be secured through an off-site agreement with 44 Grand Avenue South. Bicycle storage is also planned, with 83 long-term and 6 short-term spaces. Painted bike lanes run along Grand Avenue South and St Andrews Street.
The site is just 360m, or roughly a five-minute walk, from the existing Ainslie Terminal, served by multiple Grand River Transit bus routes, from where the routes fan out across Cambridge and to neighbouring cities. Transit access could improve once Stage 2 of the ION LRT is built. It would extend light rail service from Ainslie Terminal to Kitchener and beyond. While planning continues, construction on the line extension is not anticipated to begin until 2028.
The proposal joins high-rise development activity in Cambridge’s surrounding urban core. Across the Grand River to the east, 61–69 Ainslie Street South is proposed with towers rising 15 and 20 storeys. Further northeast, 55 Kerr Street is set to bring a pair of 18-storey buildings, while the Cambridge Mill Hotel & Residences further north would reach 28 and 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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