KITCHENER — The Schneider Creek/Cedar Hill neighbourhoods can expect a new re-development in the area if the City of Kitchener approves it.
The development location is 93-99 Benton Street and 39-43 St. George Street, and the developer and owner of the land is Ideal Capital.
Ideal Capital is a real estate development firm based in Mississauga, Ontario. Most of their completed projects are throughout the United States of America, with a few in Ontario, such as 251 Mount Pleasant, Brantford, and their other Ontario project, which is still in the planning process, 264 Erie Avenue, Brantford.
The surrounding areas of the subject lands are a mix of zones, ranging from low to high commercial residential. The current zoning the properties fall into is commercial-residential two-zoning (CR-2).
Ideal Capital proposes a 12-storey residential and commercial highrise with 77 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom units. Commercial space would be approximately 578 square feet, with hopes of increasing the floor space ratio up to 5.0 from the allowed amount of 2.0
The subject lands are also within one of downtown Kitchener’s Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA). With the Queen stop at Charles Street E., the ION stop is within 300m of the properties, and public transit stops are within 5-minute walking distance. The properties are also within a 10-minute walk to public parks such as Victoria Park.
A few other application requests are being made by the developer, including a decrease in required parking spaces, a minimum exterior side yard setback, a minimum front yard setback, and a minimum rear yard setback.
Ideal Capital is requesting a reduction of the required 3.0 m to 0.0 m as the minimum for the exterior side yard setback, a front yard setback of 1.5 m from the required 3.0 m, and a rear yard setback from the required 19.6 m to 7.5 m.
A reduction in parking spaces per dwelling unit is also in the application. The City of Kitchener requires 1.25 spaces per dwelling unit in this area, and the developer is requesting 0.5 spaces per dwelling unit, including visitor spaces.
If the City approves the application, there would be 52 underground parking spaces and five visitor spots at a surface lot on St. George Street, with two barrier-free spaces.
With 0.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit, not everyone in the building would receive a parking space. Therefore, the developer is proposing to include 94 bicycle spots.
On August 29, 2023, a Neighbourhood Community meeting took place to discuss the project, giving the community a chance to ask questions.
Juliane Von Westerholt of MHBC Planning represented the developer for the project at the meeting. Westerholt stated, “We’re probably at least a
minimum of a year or possibly longer before any shovels hit the ground [if the project is approved],” speaking on behalf of Ideal Capital.
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