KITCHENER — A development proposal requesting zoning and Official Plan amendments at 83-87 Weber Street East has been approved, with an additional amendment to allow extra units, submitted at a special council meeting on October 16, 2023.
Vive Developments, the developer for the project, has many projects in Waterloo Region. Two examples include 270 Spadina Road Road East, Kitchener, a 90-unit rental development, and 242 Queen Street South, Kitchener, a 10-storey rental development.
The original development proposal from Vive of 25 storeys (an 18-storey tower on top of a 7-storey podium) with no affordable rental units has changed to a 32-storey building, including 26 affordable rental units.
Vive offers 26 affordable units at no more than 80% of the current market rent for at least 20 years.
The original proposal offered a mix of unit sizes, ranging from 1 to 3 bedrooms per unit, totalling up to 336 units, while the new application provides up to 440 units. Also, Vive will provide three ground-floor commercial units.
The existing buildings on the subject lands include a 2-storey mixed-use building with one residential unit and two ground-floor commercial units at 83 Weber Street East. Also, 87 Weber Street East has a 2-storey multiple-dwelling residential building with three units. Vive would demolish both of these buildings to allow for the development.
City planners raised concerns at the council meeting regarding the city’s tall building guidelines. Still, ultimately, the idea for more units, especially affordable ones, won most of the city’s ward councillors over.
The subject lands are located within the Urban Growth Centre and were previously designated as the ‘Market District.’ At a Special Council meeting on October 30, 2023, the properties were approved for re-designation to ‘Market District with Specific Policy Area 9’. Re-designating the subject lands permits the 32-storey mixed-use development with three ground-floor commercial units.
The subject lands were also previously zoned ‘Commercial Residential Zone (D-5)’ and have been approved to be re-zoned as ‘Commercial Residential Zone (D-5) with Special Regulation Provision 805R’.
The added provision allows for an increase in floor space ratio (FSR) from the permitted 4.5 to 18. In the original proposal, the FSR request was 14, but since then, the new proposed storeys require an increase in FSR, bringing it up to the now approved 18.
Vive previously requested rear and side yard setbacks below the minimum required. The rear and side yards must be a minimum of 3.0m. Zero metres and 2.4m were requested in the original proposal but were changed to exceed the minimum requirements.
The development proposed 14 internal parking spots for the whole development when 297 parking spaces were required. The special provision allows for a decrease in parking from the required 1.0 per dwelling unit to zero parking spaces per unit. The approved parking spaces provide less than 5% of what is required.
Along with parking, Vive will provide 414 bicycle spaces for the entire development.
On October 30, 2023, at the Special Council meeting, all applications for amendments were approved by city staff.
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