[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[vid]

That's a skyline? :P

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[Cambridgite]

That's a skyline? :P

By Cambridge standards...yes. :yes:

Tall buildings scare us. We're worried about "becoming Toronto". If we don't build over 2 stories and keep sprawling out, we can remain a small town forever :rolleyes: .

And hey, don't knock our "skyline". One day we may catch up to Thunder Bay, lol.

[Cambridgite]

Nope, but that's why I put it in quotation marks. I thought Cambridgite would think it was cute.

Indeed I did! :P

[vid]

By Cambridge standards...yes. :yes:

Tall buildings scare us. We're worried about "becoming Toronto". If we don't build over 2 stories and keep sprawling out, we can remain a small town forever :rolleyes: .

And hey, don't knock our "skyline". One day we may catch up to Thunder Bay, lol.

I know what you mean, my city has the same problem. :rolleyes: In 1913, we built "skyscrapers", and sent pictures of them to Toronto to brag about how prosperous we were. Now, if it's more than two stories and not made of wood, everyone despises it. At least Cambridge has grown since 1976.

[Cambridgite]

I know what you mean, my city has the same problem. :rolleyes: In 1913, we built "skyscrapers", and sent pictures of them to Toronto to brag about how prosperous we were.

That's funny. :haha:

At least Cambridge has grown since 1976.

It sure has!

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20070907/re-mattamy-0907/mattamy07re5big.jpg

Yes, it's exactly what it looks like. :eek:

[vid]

That's funny. :haha:

That isn't even half of the story. The history of Thunder Bay from 1880 to 1913 is absolutely absurd. Long story short:

Torontonian buys land in Northern Ontario.
Torontonian lies about land to other Torontonians to get other Torontonians to buy land from him.
Other Torontonians come up here, see land, and say no.
Torontonian hires a Winnipegger to do the same in that city.

Lather rinse and repeat with every big city from Montreal to Vancouver, Winnipeg to St Louis, and that's Thunder Bay from 1880 to 1913 in a nutshell. Famous quotes include the one in my signature (Uttered by, iirc, a Winnipegger who owned land in Port Arthur), the "Why should we build a sewage system in the east end? What does that do to help us?" uttered on the same day that the city gave 650,000 dollars (in 1905 dollars) to a company which goes bankrupt two months later, and "And then I see Port Arthur, largest city in the world!".

This city is a farce. And it's Toronto's fault! We wouldn't exist if they weren't so greedy!

[kitchener-lrt]

Cambridge is getting better. The only I see with downtown Galt is that the buildings aren't that well preserved. If they were preserved, Galt would be the place to be haha.

[vid]

What about Preston and Hespeler? What are their downtowns like? :)

[Cambridgite]

Cambridge is getting better. The only I see with downtown Galt is that the buildings aren't that well preserved. If they were preserved, Galt would be the place to be haha.

You really think so? I don't think that's the problem at all. Galt has one of the best collections of well-preserved heritage buildings I've seen across Ontario. I think Hespeler Road, car culture, and an the lack of taste from Cambridge residents have is preventing Galt from being the place to be. Hespeler Road because all of the original service functions of Old Galt have drifted up there to find surface parking and 401 access and big chains have largely taken up the opportunity. Car culture because everyone in Cambridge drives everywhere (unless you're poor, mentally handicapped, or under 16). In fact, councillors are now pushing to solve our "parking crisis" with a new parking garage, even though most of the surface lots downtown are only half full at the busier times of day. The lack of taste from Cambridge residents in that it's a fairly meat-and-potatoes town. We're not sophisticated like Waterloo, so unless it's a brand name, most of us won't touch it. Downtown Galt is just really out of place within the context of Cambridge as a whole, which is unfortunate.

[Cambridgite]

What about Preston and Hespeler? What are their downtowns like? :)

Preston is kind of like a lower-class version of Uptown Waterloo. Quaint, linear, but without any life to it. Not many vacancies, but at the same time, not much of a draw either. Although a couple nice cafes and bakeries have opened up lately, so maybe it's gentifying a bit. It does have some potential, although a lot of the old folks living there (who grew up when it was a small town) don't take kindly to proposals for infill. There's a project proposed in the area to redevelop a large vacant lot, but has been held up for a while because of NIMBYs.

Hespeler is a dump. Don't even bother. It's two blocks of Queen street. Many of the storefronts are empty and those that aren't are turning over multiple times in a year. The biggest draw is a KFC. However, the American Standard plant has recently closed down and there's been a rumour that a developer wants to turn it into lofts.

I will eventually be posting photo threads of these areas, but don't expect them to have anything on Galt.

[rapid_business]

http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20070907/re-mattamy-0907/mattamy07re5big.jpg

Yes, it's exactly what it looks like. :eek:

I died a little on the inside when I saw this...

[waterloowarrior]

Cleanup rules threaten condos
Developer asks Cambridge for help getting riverside project going
December 10, 2007
KEVIN SWAYZE
RECORD STAFF
CAMBRIDGE
A $120-million luxury condominium project is in "great jeopardy" unless city council waives its own rules and allows construction to start before a contaminated part of the downtown property is cleaned up.

Waterscape developer Paul de Haas is scheduled to appeal to council tonight for help getting the 230-home project back on track.

He wants to put a contaminated part of the property under separate legal ownership, which would allow him to go ahead with the condo project on the remaining land.

The city has said the land, a former factory site on Water Street at the north junction of Ainslie Street, must be cleaned up before it is severed.

The Environment Ministry is also looking at more stringent requirements for cleaning up buried coal tar to ensure it doesn't spread to the Grand River just metres away.

But in a letter to council, de Haas suggests the cleanup requirements are standing in the way of his 12-storey condo towers.

He says severing the contaminated part of the land would allow him to obtain loans to build the two towers on the north half, while delaying the need to clean up and build on the southern half.

The letter says a business partner planning to develop a retirement complex on the south half of the 1.4 hectare property has backed out. De Haas says he's confident a new partner will be found, but not in time to meet city requirements to get construction started quickly on the condo project on the north half of the site.

"The severance is vital to the financing and structuring of the Waterscape project," he says.

He offered the city a $50,000 letter of credit "as a gesture of a good faith guarantee that we will complete the remediation of the south land within 36 months" of receiving Environment Ministry approval of a cleanup plan.

That's expected shortly, he said.

"Although not conforming to the policy, we ask that council accept this as another signal of my company's undivided commitment to this project."

Already, de Haas said, his company has spent $400,000 on consulting fees and testing of the one-time home of the Galt Gas Works, which operated there from 1887 to 1911. Coal tar is a by-product of coal-gas production. It is considered a health risk and causes cancer

The gas plant was demolished in the 1920s to make way for a textile mill, which was demolished in the 1980s, in anticipation of a residential building project.

De Haas said the rejuvenation of the eyesore property is "logistically complex and saddled with numerous challenges -- many more than we ever anticipated."

Council considers the request from deHaas tonight in a meeting starting at 6 p.m. in historic city hall.

City staff recommend council reject the request to ignore city rules aimed at protecting taxpayers from getting stuck with expensive cleanups.

Council has already approved the Waterscape plan, which includes $4.2 million in public money to help clean up the site, deferral of property taxes and move a public sewer line from the middle of the property.

Most of the money comes from long-standing city programs to encourage developers to clean up old factory sites in the Galt, Preston and Hespeler cores.

Waterscape is also exempt from height limits imposed across the rest of old Galt because the project application was filed at city hall before the new rules were imposed in May.

kswayze@therecord.com (kswayze@therecord.com)


.

[rapid_business]

That's a tough call on the part of the city. Both routes could be justified.

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[WaterlooInvestor]

-

[Cambridgite]

Eeek, these brownfield sites get ugly. Luckily there aren't many more left in the region.

So I'm assuming there's no contamination on the north end of the property. If it turns out that the clean-up must be done first, I hope the province puts their money where there mouth is and pays for the clean-up. All this intensification talk from Places to Grow is pretty useless if the province doesn't provide some serious incentives.

[Cambridgite]

From the Outlook on Cambridge paper, construction will commence in April.

[KitchenerBitcher]

Anything constructed near the river is a good sign. Although I'm not a fan of identical buildings side by side.

[Cambridgite]

I ran by the site today and noticed a tractor at one end. Hopefully they'll start with the contamination clean-up this coming week. :)

[Cambridgite]

I ran by the site again today and they're well into digging and cleaning the contamination. There are pipes on the site, as well as tractors. Water and Ainslie streets have been narrowed to one lane in each direction and the right-most lane, going south, has been torn up. I think they're extending the sidewalks there and possibly redoing the area to make it more predestrian friendly.

[Cambridgite]

Update:

The wooden sign is back up on Ainslie street, so the sidewalks must be done. From the Mill Race trail, you can see that they've dug a hole and moved a bunch of dirt over to the south. A new fence has also been set up on the north end of the site. It appears they will have to dig out a concrete foundation that was there previously. So work was certainly done last week, although I didn't see any activity happening today.

[Cambridgite]

Update on the site today. They've dug a big hole!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Picture247.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Picture248.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Picture249.jpg

There was a punch of pipes just south of the site in the abandoned parking lot.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Picture250.jpg

[Cambridgite]

I don't have any pictures, but building 1 of this project is already above ground by one storey and the frame of the basement is already finished. Hopefully the crane should be up shortly. :)

[Cambridgite]

Picture of the building going up today.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Galt/Picture265.jpg

[metropolis]

Drove past the site the other day and they are on the fourth or fifth floor. Anyone in the area to take pictures?

[Cambridgite]

Drove past the site the other day and they are on the fourth or fifth floor. Anyone in the area to take pictures?

I'm in Cambridge, but am soon going on vacation out-of-province for a few weeks. I'm sure if I take pics once I get back in January, there will be some amazing progress to display.

Curious, why does this almost appear that it will be stucco? The renderings show it to be pretty glassy.

[bauer123]

Ya I thought the same. It makes me wonder....

Looks weak so far.

[Masonjar]

Drove past the site the other day and they are on the fourth or fifth floor. Anyone in the area to take pictures?

Last time I checked they had a webcam on their website.

[Cambridgite]

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Galt/Holiday2010_WatReg047.jpg

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/Galt/Holiday2010_WatReg048.jpg