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ABS Space Investments Corp has filed plans for a 40-storey mixed-use tower in Cambridge’s Preston area, a scale of development that would rise well above other recent and proposed buildings in the surrounding area. Designed by Reinders + Law, the project would rise adjacent to an iON LRT stop along its Stage 2 extension south from Kitchener into Cambridge.
The proposal would rise on an assembly of 210, 218, and 226 King Street East and 229 Queenston Road, located on the south side of King between Eagle Street and Chopin Drive. The site currently contains a mix of low-rise buildings slated for demolition. The ION extension would cut through the assembly at an angle. The surrounding context includes a mix of commercial and residential uses along King Street East with nearby high-rise buildings and structured parking, transitioning to lower-rise residential areas along Queenston Road.
Patterson Planning Consultants Inc has submitted Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to the City of Cambridge on behalf of the developer. The proposal is organized as a single tower rising from a 6-storey podium, reaching 136.2m. The building would deliver 42,869m² of Gross Floor Area, including 42,718m² dedicated to residential use and 151m² at grade for commercial space oriented along King, with a Floor Space Index of 16.9 times coverage of the 2,530m² assembly. A second, much smaller building facing Queenston Road would be connected via a pedestrian bridge across the ION corridor.
Amenity space would include approximately 166m² of indoor area located on the ground and seventh floors, along with about 85m² of outdoor amenity on the podium roof at the seventh floor. Additional outdoor space is planned through a POPS (Privately-Owned Publicly-accessible Space) on the Queenston Road portion of the site. The Queenston Road lands are also envisioned as a secondary access point and location for outdoor amenities, via the proposed pedestrian bridge spanning the future iON LRT corridor to connect the amenities and POPS to the main building.
A total of 475 residential units are proposed, comprised of 346 bachelor/one-bedroom units and 129 two-bedroom units, with no three-bedroom units indicated. Vertical circulation is currently shown as being handled by only two elevators, resulting in an unheard ratio of one cab per 238 units; this appears to be beyond the ability of high-speed motors to provide acceptable response times, especially if one elevator is down, therefore the plan must simply be premature.
Parking would be provided entirely within the podium, with 182 vehicular spaces accessed via a single driveway from King Street East, while bicycle parking would be accommodated through indoor storage areas within the podium, along with a small number of exterior spaces.
The site is served by Grand River Transit, with routes operating along nearby corridors and stops located at the corners of King Street East and Eagle Street, providing connections to Cambridge Centre station to the south, and Fairway station tp the north where the iON line currently ends. Active transportation infrastructure is also in place, with on-street bicycle lanes along King Street East and Eagle Street North. Looking ahead, while the Stage 2 iON Light Rail Transit extension to Cambridge has been approved by Waterloo Region, funding is neing sought but is not yet secured from the Provincial and Federal governments. Pending its construction, with a stop immediately adjacent, this proposal is within a Major Transit Station Area.
Development activity is found to the west along King Street. At 255 King Street West, construction is underway on a three-tower development rising between 14 and 16 storeys, while the nearby Preston Springs redevelopment would introduce another cluster of three towers ranging from 22 to 26 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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| Related Companies: | MHBC Planning |
