Kitchener TEK Tower | 144.5m | 45s | IN8 Developments | srm Architects

Crane is up. Picture via CuilTard on WRC

TEK Tower (30 Francis) | 45 fl | U/C

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Those two car parks in the background also look ripe for development! Does anyone know if plans for those blocks have been approved or are being considered?
 
Art Tsai said:
The sky is a great colour! The hole in the ground not so much yet. Honestly, the self-storage site should become a potential redevelopment...what do people think.
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Here's a screenshot from google maps from the same angle but higher up and zoomed out. So much land that's perfect for development. I can also see the old tannery complex on the right being intensified and turned into a really cool area.
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ben.thebean1 said:
Here's a screenshot from google maps from the same angle but higher up and zoomed out. So much land that's perfect for development. I can also see the old tannery complex on the right being intensified and turned into a really cool area.

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Wow, this put so much in perspective...there are too many parking lots still within Downtown Kitchener... what a shame the city should really intensify.
 
AlbertC said:
I'm a big fan of that Lang Tannery building right across the street.
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That makes two of us. One of the best revitalization projects in the region over the last decade or two.
Art Tsai said:
The sky is a great colour! The hole in the ground not so much yet. Honestly, the self-storage site should become a potential redevelopment...what do people think.
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U-Haul isnt going anywhere from what I've heard. Their business is booming thanks to the amount of development going on (surprise surprise) so they are content to stay for the moment. It will get redevloped eventually but for now there's nothing going on with that site that I'm aware of.
 
Looking West on Francis Street, from King.

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Looking West across the site from Francis and Hall's Lane
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Looking Southwest from Hall's Lane
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Looking Southwest from Hall's Lane
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Looking South from the U-Haul lot, between Hall's Lane and Charles
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Looking South-east from the edge of the U-Haul Lot and Charles
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Looking East from Charles
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Art Tsai said:
Wow, this put so much in perspective...there are too many parking lots still within Downtown Kitchener... what a shame the city should really intensify.
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Yeah - I live downtown, and everytime I'm outdoors I just walk around going - "they could do a building like this here", "they could do this there", "wouldn't it be great to see this!", etc. Daydreaming, but very enjoyable.
I'm glad I got here just a few years ago, when the city really started to swing back and get on the ascendant again. It was hit really hard by the recession of the early '90's when the manufacturing left, and was in a depressive limbo for a long time.
It's great seeing new stuff, and not just small stuff go up. The quality of architecture on the new towers is another thing, though - the city really needs to up its game. The architecture that's survived downtown is pretty fantastic - lots of evidence of care and loveliness in buildings built to last. I really want to see the city uphold that standard or better, not just do more blue-glassed thick-fingered mediocrities.
If Kitchener had design competitions or went excellence (or starchitect) hunting, that could cause a lot of excitement and up the city's reputation. Anyway. It's a good time to be here. Here's hoping these new projects turn out well.
 
CanadianNational said:
Yeah - I live downtown, and everytime I'm outdoors I just walk around going - "they could do a building like this here", "they could do this there", "wouldn't it be great to see this!", etc. Daydreaming, but very enjoyable.
I'm glad I got here just a few years ago, when the city really started to swing back and get on the ascendant again. It was hit really hard by the recession of the early '90's when the manufacturing left, and was in a depressive limbo for a long time.
It's great seeing new stuff, and not just small stuff go up. The quality of architecture on the new towers is another thing, though - the city really needs to up its game. The architecture that's survived downtown is pretty fantastic - lots of evidence of care and loveliness in buildings built to last. I really want to see the city uphold that standard or better, not just do more blue-glassed thick-fingered mediocrities.
If Kitchener had design competitions or went excellence (or starchitect) hunting, that could cause a lot of excitement and up the city's reputation. Anyway. It's a good time to be here. Here's hoping these new projects turn out well.
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Downtown Kitchener kind of feels like Downtown Hamilton 10-15 years ago. A lot of empty parking lots that I imagine will slowly make way for condos.

Hopefully Kitchener has better luck with quality condo design than Hamilton.
 
mjl08 said:
Downtown Kitchener kind of feels like Downtown Hamilton 10-15 years ago. A lot of empty parking lots that I imagine will slowly make way for condos.

Hopefully Kitchener has better luck with quality condo design than Hamilton.
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SRM is our very own local Graziani & Corazza. Gah! They seem to be getting most of the tower projects around here. Not usually atrocious, not often a pleasure - they're charting an unwavering course through the serviceable heart of mediocrity.
I live across the corner from a WZMH building from the '60's - probably one of their first. It's really well-handled, and elegantly stood the test of time. That kind of quality should really be the basic standard for new construction here.
 
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