Just the Facts:
● The proposed development at 864-872 King Street West in Kitchener involves constructing a 44-storey residential tower with a six-storey podium, providing 455 rental units on a site currently occupied by a vacant office building. Additional development phases are planned for the subject lands which includes more towers.
● The development will include 261 parking spaces, two levels of underground parking, and 455 bicycle parking spaces, with 5,389 square metres of indoor and outdoor amenity space.
● The developers King Pine Kitchener Inc. and co-owner Vive Development are seeking several zoning amendments, including increases in setback allowances, a higher Floor Space Ratio of 7.3, and reduced physical separation requirements for various tower heights, all of which are necessary to accommodate the proposed structure.
KITCHENER — Additional details have been released regarding the proposed development from King Pine Kitchener Inc. and co-owner Vive Development Corporation for the redevelopment of 864-872 King Street West.
The proposal continues to include a 44-storey residential tower, including a six-storey podium, which would add 455 rental units to the local housing market.
The development is planned for a site that currently features a vacant office building and surface parking, situated within a Protected Major Transit Station Area (PMTSA) along the King Street West corridor.
The subject lands, with a gross lot area of 6,329.2 square metres (0.63 hectares), feature 59.4 metres of frontage onto King Street West and 77.9 metres of frontage onto Pine Street.
The proposed building would occupy a site currently zoned as High Intensity Mixed Use Corridor 3 (MU-3) under Zoning By-law 85-1, with an anticipated change to Strategic Growth Area Four (SGA-4) under the City of Kitchener’s recently adopted Growing Together planning framework.
The official plan designates this area as a Mixed-Use Corridor within the KW Hospital Secondary Plan, recently reclassified as a Strategic Growth Area C under the city’s new framework.
The proposed development aims to provide a total of 261 parking spaces, including structured parking within the podium and two levels of underground parking.
Additionally, 455 bicycle parking spaces are planned, with 123 located on the ground level and the remainder integrated within the residential units.
The building will also offer 5,389 square metres of indoor and outdoor amenity space.
To accommodate the proposed development, the developers are seeking several amendments to both Zoning By-law 85-1 and the City’s newer Zoning By-law 2019-051.
The first requested amendment involves increasing the maximum front yard setback to 32.3 metres, a significant change from the current zoning, which permits a maximum setback of 10 metres for structures over 24 metres in height.
The second amendment seeks to increase the maximum side yard setback to 38.5 metres, whereas the current zoning allows for a maximum of 10 metres for structures over 24 metres.
Additionally, the developers are requesting a reduction in the rear yard setback to 1.8 metres, while the current requirement is a minimum of 14 metres.
Further, the developers are seeking to increase the Floor Space Ratio (FSR) to 7.3, which exceeds the maximum allowable 4.0 under the current zoning regulations.
The proposal also includes requests for reduced minimum yard setbacks and physical separations for the tower portions of the building, particularly for storeys 7-12, 13-18, 19-36, and those above 37 storeys.
These proposed reductions range from a minimum of 3.1 metres for the north property line to slightly larger separations, which still fall short of the required minimums that range from 6.0 to 15.0 metres, depending on the building height.
Lastly, the developers are requesting a reduction in the minimum parking aisle width to 7.1 metres, slightly less than the required width of 7.3 metres.
The proposal is also part of a multi-phased project for the site which includes additional towers. In the planning report, a concept plan for the subject lands includes a 55-storey tower with a 28 -storey tower step and a 14 storey tower on the 6-storey parking podium.
The application for zoning amendments will be a critical step in determining whether this ambitious project can move forward, potentially setting a precedent for future high-density developments within the city’s PMTSA and Strategic Growth Areas.
To read more articles on this specific development, click here.
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