Wonderful Waterloo Archive

This site is maintained by Sam Nabi as a record of the vibrant Wonderful Waterloo community, which was taken offline in 2014. This site is a partial archive, containing some posts from 2009-2013. To read more about the recovery effort and access the data in a machine-readable format, check out the GitHub page.

155 UpTown Waterloo

Post #39142 Unknown date Unknown Author	One Fifty Five Uptown http://155uptown.ca/
Post #39144 08-26-2012 07:26 PM Unknown Author City Member Kitchener Waterloo Joined Oct 2010 603 posts Benjamin Bach \| Real Estate Sales Rep @ Cushman & Wakefield Waterloo Region Ltd. brokerage. Not intended to solicit clients or properties under contract.	Originally Posted by Brenden I noticed a condo presentation center is going into the Bauer Building for a development called 155 UpTown Waterloo. Has anyone read anything about this? According to their website they are mid $200 condos. This is the second tower of 144 Park by Mady. The address is 155 Caroline St South.
Post #39145 08-26-2012 07:36 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member Waterloo, ON Joined Jan 2010 2122 posts	There's tons of discussion of 155 Caroline in the last few pages of the 144 Park thread.
Post #41336 12-21-2012 12:04 PM Unknown Author City Member Waterloo Joined Jan 2010 556 posts	---------- Post Merged at 11:04 AM ---------- The presentation centre and a model of the building can now be seen inside the presentation centre at Bauer when wakling past there on the King Street side. Was in a hurry so I did not take any pics.
Post #41380 01-02-2013 10:47 AM Unknown Author City Member Waterloo Joined Jan 2010 556 posts	Here are some pics taken Dec 31. Floor plans are along one of the walls but I could not get a decent shot of them. From the King Street side: From inside the Bauer building:
Post #41382 01-02-2013 11:12 AM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Dec 2011 252 posts	Looks very good. I like in your first shot how you can see a reflection of RED in the window. A nice view of things to come having these 2 together.
Post #41385 01-02-2013 02:49 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member West-South-West Kitchener Joined May 2010 1448 posts My Flickr - My Facebook	Very ironic to have them promoting an 'active lifestyle' when they intend to so horribly shaft the Iron Horse Trail. :/
Post #41388 01-02-2013 05:42 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member DOWNTOWN Joined Mar 2010 2089 posts	I'd like to get a closer look at that maquette. My first reaction was two stumpy towers with ugly boxes on top. Me no like, based on the photo.
Post #41389 01-02-2013 07:04 PM Unknown Author Urban Issues Moderator Joined Jul 2010 1641 posts	Originally Posted by panamaniac I'd like to get a closer look at that maquette. My first reaction was two stumpy towers with ugly boxes on top. Me no like, based on the photo. True, but as they say, the most important thing is location location location. It being next to Bauer, a block north from SunLife and The Red and walking distance to Uptown, my guess is that there will be great demand for the units.
Post #41390 01-02-2013 07:17 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member DOWNTOWN Joined Mar 2010 2089 posts	No doubt.
Post #41391 01-02-2013 07:18 PM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Mar 2011 115 posts	I will make every effort, in the next city elections to boot out our so called council person who lives in the district...every damn effort! I hope local residents are aware of her "do nothing approach"...
Post #41401 01-03-2013 10:46 AM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Feb 2012 106 posts	Can you elaborate on this? What's the problem?
Post #41402 01-03-2013 11:10 AM Unknown Author Metropolis Member Waterloo, ON Joined Jan 2010 2122 posts	One of the problems is that this development is predicated on the City of Waterloo selling off to the developer the portion of the Iron Horse Trail between Park and Caroline streets, to be replaced with some kind of obstacle-dotted path between this development's parking garage and the Sun Life parking garage. It would make the trip a right angle along the replaced path and then along Caroline, versus the current one which goes more directly. (If anything is to be replaced, the original rail alignment that has no right angles should be reinstated. Right angles with no visibility are terrible for cycling.) Other problems with this development are its massive amount of parking for a location right next to the LRT, its complete absence of retail or any other substantial street interaction along either Caroline or Allen Streets. It's a building with almost no regard for the context it's to be in. If the City of Waterloo wasn't so focused on immediate tax revenue (think RIM Park debt) and instead were focused on city-building, it would have told this developer to shove off. Instead, apparently selling off the Iron Horse Trail was actually suggested by city planners.
Post #41403 01-03-2013 12:08 PM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Feb 2012 106 posts	That's unfortunate but par for the course for Waterloo it seems. At least Kitchener seems to be making the right moves with respect to new developments.
Post #41404 01-03-2013 01:29 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member DOWNTOWN Joined Mar 2010 2089 posts	When is a final decision on the trail expected - or has it already been taken?
Post #41411 01-03-2013 09:39 PM Unknown Author Village Member Joined Oct 2010 64 posts	Wow Luckee, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. You'd think your councellor ran over your dog or something. Get a grip.
Post #41412 01-03-2013 10:58 PM Unknown Author Metropolis Member Waterloo, ON Joined Jan 2010 2122 posts	Originally Posted by panamaniac When is a final decision on the trail expected - or has it already been taken? The city has not been forthcoming on this issue. The ward councillor (Melissa Durrell) and the developer have had some meetings, but the city itself has not sought out any feedback. I believe they're required to declare the property as "surplus", with a formal public comment period, but I could be wrong about that. Has anyone heard anything about it? They better not try to get this through under the radar.
Post #41413 01-04-2013 12:57 AM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Mar 2011 115 posts	"Wow Luckee, talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. You'd think your councellor ran over your dog or something. Get a grip." I'd like to know what area of town you live in and if you have any right to make any comment on a project that is ill conceived and will in the future create a variety of safety/traffic/congestion issues that will be unsolvable. It impacts those residents who live in the area and every Waterloo resident who uses the trail and enjoys its natural amenities. Or, are you one of the so called bloggers who gets his rocks off by constantly promoting phallically inspired tall buildings; "build it! build it!..ten stories, fifteen, twenty, thirty floors; oh my gosh I'm goin' to _____!" Damn!!! ---------- Post Merged at 11:57 PM ---------- Secondly, if you lived in the area you would think otherwise; now if you live in the area and still think the way you do, I would keep my comments to myself for fear of offending you!!
Post #41414 01-04-2013 07:02 AM Unknown Author Town Member Joined Mar 2011 115 posts	And Yes one more thought about the way this so called city council works. This council has made a mess of King St N with the ugly walled towers; student ghettos, just thrown together in a haphazard manner with no rhyme or reason;it is the ugly part of the city and "ugly" will flourish as the entire block gets "walled up" This is the legacy this council will leave behind just like the ugly city hall which was built "ass backwards"; that was the legacy left behind by the then mayor whose name I would rather forget. So when this council sets its sights on ALLEN, NORMAN, PARK et al. we who live in the area, who have a stake in the area have to be worried; the incompetence of this city planners and city council is all too evident!
Post #41415 01-04-2013 09:34 AM Unknown Author City Member Waterloo Joined Jan 2010 556 posts	Originally Posted by mpd618 One of the problems is that this development is predicated on the City of Waterloo selling off to the developer the portion of the Iron Horse Trail between Park and Caroline streets, to be replaced with some kind of obstacle-dotted path between this development's parking garage and the Sun Life parking garage. It would make the trip a right angle along the replaced path and then along Caroline, versus the current one which goes more directly. (If anything is to be replaced, the original rail alignment that has no right angles should be reinstated. Right angles with no visibility are terrible for cycling.) Other problems with this development are its massive amount of parking for a location right next to the LRT, its complete absence of retail or any other substantial street interaction along either Caroline or Allen Streets. It's a building with almost no regard for the context it's to be in. Your statement is not all facts as you riddle it with misinformation by starting off saying the trail has been sold off but that is not true as what is being proposed is a land swap, which you go on to describe. Though meeting at a right angle the trail will have nicely separated stroll through section and a more rapid moving asphalt section. The asphalt section where you are likely to bike will be further from the building and should therefore reduce visibility issues. The amount of parking here is excessive, I agree with that but both Park and Allen will have street level interacting townhomes who’s front doors exit onto the sidewalk. Though not the retail as I would prefer, your statement is again inaccurate. The lack of retail on Caroline is inexcusable, on that point we agree. Originally Posted by luckee And Yes one more thought about the way this so called city council works. This council has made a mess of King St N with the ugly walled towers; student ghettos, just thrown together in a haphazard manner with no rhyme or reason;it is the ugly part of the city and "ugly" will flourish as the entire block gets "walled up" This is the legacy this council will leave behind just like the ugly city hall which was built "ass backwards"; that was the legacy left behind by the then mayor whose name I would rather forget. So when this council sets its sights on ALLEN, NORMAN, PARK et al. we who live in the area, who have a stake in the area have to be worried; the incompetence of this city planners and city council is all too evident! I'm no less impressed than you are with the King St. situation north of Uptown but that has nothing to do with this project. The reason the King St. block is “ugly” rests with the fact those buildings create a hostile pedestrian environment by having zero street level interaction, no allocation for a streetwall with all the space between buildings (as example Toronto zoning forces streetwalls), a lack of sidewalk setback from the street and too much building setback from the sidewalk. These streetwall and canyon wall effects are all good urbanism concepts that are proven to slow traffic, improve pedestrian safety and encourage pedestrian use. All things you are advocating for on this forum. All are being applied to this project (with 144 Park), just not as rigorously as most of the forum users would like. You cannot compare King St. N to this. I live on Alexandra Ave (mere blocks from this development) and would greatly welcome this new tower along with all its neighbour and the traffic it may bring. Being an Uptown resident means I walk or bike for virtually all my amenities and take the Iron Horse at minimum every 3 to 4 weeks as my haircuts happen downtown Kitchener. I look forward to the LRT in every way and cannot wait for high rise towers (with ground level retail) I hope it will bring to replace of all the surface parking on Caroline. That, by the way is a mere block from my low rise home.