Kitchener City Council approved two high-rise rental apartments at the former site of the Schwaben Club at a meeting on Monday.

The new buildings will be at the edge of the cities core near King Street East and Highway 8, featuring 658 one and two-bedroom residential units in two towers across the street from the Rockway Gardens.

“This development presents an opportunity to redevelop an under-utilized property with the new mixed-use development that is compatible with the Neighbourhood. It will diversify housing stock and provide additional housing choices in a Neighbourhood. And contribute towards a complete community,” Craig Dumart, a senior planner with the City of Kitchener said.

The buildings were originally planned to be 22 and 23 storeys high, but Vive Developments added two more floors to each building in the design at a meeting of the planning commission. Ward 9 Councillor Debbie Chapman disagreed with the process, saying the public should have been consulted about the additional floors.

Schwaben Club development

“Suddenly, what residents were expecting is no longer what can be expected,” Chapman said at the meeting on Monday.

According to city staff, there is no zoning limit on the height of the building. Instead, it depends on space needed for airplanes to safely operate.

“The flight path information that they had was based on the height of the crane. Through their research, the consultant determined that the crane would be temporary,” Dumart said.

Ward 10 Councillor Sarah Marsh, who is responsible for that area of Kitchener, said she couldn’t support the change either, wishing the public could have provided input about the additional floors.

“We should be making sure they are done in a way that respects the process, respects all the members of the public, of informing them in a timely way. Not at the 11th hour,” Marsh said on Monday.

Delegates also raised concerns about the two new floors and no plan to provide additional parking. The plan currently includes 403 parking spaces that will be underground and on a parking deck.

Schwaben Club Development

City staff said despite the additional floors, the parking proposed is appropriate because of the proximity to transit and bicycle infrastructure.

Another concern was a connection for students walking to Eastwood Collegiate, who many currently cross at King St. E. and cut through the development property to get to school.

“In many documents supplied for this development, Vive was promoting accessibility and walkability for the public yet they have not incorporated a path,” Georgina Georgiou, a delegate said on Monday.

But city staff said the property is private and installing a path is not possible.

“Due to grade change and the irregular shape of the property, it wasn’t feasible to have that midblock connection,” Dumart said.

Instead, city staff are expected to produce a report looking at other properties along the road that could be used for a walking connection.

Schwaben Club

Concerns were also raised about a lack of three-bedroom units in the buildings. However, the city’s interim Director of Planning said three-bedroom units make up 61 per cent of dwellings in Kitchener, and all types of rentals are needed right now.

“We are undersupplied in all housing types right now,” Garrett Stevenson, the Interim Director of Planning said on Monday.

The plan still needs final approval from the Region of Waterloo. Dumart said it will be presented to the Region within 120 days.