Three new housing developments get the green light from Kitchener council

A rendering shows the development proposed at 528-550 Lancaster Street West beside the Grand River. (Council agenda package/City of Kitchener)

Kitchener council approved the construction of three new housing developments at a meeting Monday.

The largest, at 528-550 Lancaster St. W., will see 1,300 units split between four towers ranging from 12 to 34 storeys. The development will include a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments, 917 parking spaces and more than 1,000 bicycle spots, the city said in a news release.

Three homes currently at the site will be demolished to make way for construction. Tenants living there have been offered apartments in a recently built 10-storey tower at 528 Lancaster St. W., representatives for Vive Development and MHBC Planning told council on Monday.

Another rendering shows a view of the development looking northeast from the corner of Bridgeport Road and Lancaster Street West. (Council agenda package/City of Kitchener)

If they accept a unit in the new building, Litt said the displaced tenants will be able to pay their current rental rate for a period of five years, before it goes up to around $1425.

“We thought this was a reasonable ask that would give folks enough time to find accommodation elsewhere,” Stephen Litt with Vive Development said when questioned by councillors about the increase.

A rendering shows the 17-storey and 19-storey towers planned at 1157 and 1175 Weber Street East. (Council agenda package/City of Kitchener)

At the corner of Weber Street East and Franklin Street, a mixed-use development with two towers was approved. The towers, one 17-storeys, the other 19-storeys, will sit atop a four-storey podium. The development will have 443 residential units, 376 square metres of residential space and parking for 319 vehicles and 423 bicycles.

(Council agenda package/City of Kitchener)

Another mixed-use development is planned for Weber Street near Montgomery Road. The new build will be made up of a 17-storey tower and a 27-storey tower atop an eight-storey podium. It will have 481 residential units, 650 square metres of ground-floor commercial space and underground parking for 270 vehicles.