U/C The Boardwalk at Ira Needles Boulevard

[scarfinv]

The Walmart foundation has been poured as well.

[WatDot]

Seems like they're really cranking on it now... I think the major inner road is paved, there's a big stone retaining wall at the back side of the development, and lots of earth being moved back and forth. Also lots of progress at the one further south where Sobeys is going.

There's a Sobey's going in there too?

[RangersFan]

I think the Sobeys is going in at the Field Gate commercial property at the NW corner of Highland and Ira-Needles just south of this monster.

[SeekForth]

Does anyone have any idea what will be going across from the Boardwalk at Ira Needles - the SE corner of Ira Needles and University?

From what I can gather, it is currently zoned multi-residential, but I have heard from a few sources that it will be a commercial development.

Has anyone heard any more details about this?

[UrbanWaterloo]

These are the building permits to date.

Permit No 10111511
Work Description PERMIT IS FOR SITE SERVICES FOR A COMMERCIAL PLAZA.
Status Issued
Permit Category Plumbing
Permit Type Non-Residential Plumbing
Application Date April 19, 2010
Issued By DIANNEC
Issue Date April 22, 2010
Legal Description TRACT GERMAN COMPANY PT LOT 39 RP 58R-16538 PART 1
Work Proposed Site Services
Construction Value 1000000
Special Conditions Final Inspection Deposit waived. See notes on drawings and Building Code Review. All work shall comply with the 2006 Building Code
LAND_USE_SUBCATEGORY COMMERCIAL
AREA 107286.382769765
LEN 1652.59193675928

Permit No 10107504
Work Description PERMIT IS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF SOLAR PANELS ON THE ROOF OF THE WAL-MART BUILDING. SEE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED WALMART PERMIT #09 121446
Status Issued
Permit Category Non-Residential Alteration
Permit Type Commercial
Application Date February 24, 2010
Issued By DIANNEC
Issue Date March 07, 2010
Work Proposed Designated Structure
Construction Value 410000
Special Conditions Final Inspection Deposit waived. See notes on drawings and Building Code Review. All work shall comply with the 2006 Building Code

Permit No 09121446
Work Description PERMIT IS FOR A NEW WAL-MART - INCLUDES MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL WORK. SEE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED CENTRAL SPINE SERVICING PERMIT #09 121443.
Status Issued
Permit Category Commercial Building
Permit Type Retail/Wholesale Store
Application Date November 02, 2009
Issued By DIANNEC
Issue Date December 23, 2009
Work Proposed New Construction
Construction Value 10004995
Special Conditions See notes on drawings. Plumbing work to be carried out by a Plumbing Contractor Licensed by The City of Kitchener. All work shall comply with the 2006 Building Code

Permit No 09121443
Work Description PERMIT IS FOR SITE SERVICES FOR THE IRA NEEDLES COMMERCIAL CENTER. SEPARATE PERMIT(S) REQUIRED FOR REMAINDER OF SERVICING.
Status Issued
Permit Category Plumbing
Permit Type Non-Residential Plumbing
Application Date November 02, 2009
Issued By DIANNEC
Issue Date November 04, 2009
Work Proposed Site Services
Construction Value 554000
Special Conditions Final Inspection Deposit waived. See notes on drawings and Building Code Review. All work shall comply with the 2006 Building Code
Contractor STEED AND EVANS LIMITED
Contractor Contact Info 300 BRIDGE ST KITCHENER ON N2K 2B7 phone 519-- phone2 519--

[UrbanWaterloo]

Does anyone have any idea what will be going across from the Boardwalk at Ira Needles - the SE corner of Ira Needles and University?
From what I can gather, it is currently zoned multi-residential, but I have heard from a few sources that it will be a commercial development.
Has anyone heard any more details about this?

I haven't seen anything mentioned about that particular property yet, although you're correct it's currently zoned R-6.

Welcome to WW btw!

[WatDot]

I think the Sobeys is going in at the Field Gate commercial property at the NW corner of Highland and Ira-Needles just south of this monster.

Ah ok. Thanks. That makes a bit more sense. Couldn't see Wal-mart going along with it at "The Boardwalk" development.

[KLM]

I think there is board saying new tenants wil be : Sobeys,RBC, Walmart? plus shoppers down the road.

[UrbanWaterloo]

IRA NEEDLES COMMERCIAL CENTRE (INCC CORPORATION) NAMING OF INTERNAL ROADS
Report To: Development & Technical Services Committee
Date of Report: April 28, 2010 | Date of Meeting: May 10, 2010
Submitted By: Alain Pinard, Interim Director of Planning
Prepared By: Juliane von Westerholt, Senior Planner (519-741-2776)
Report No.: DTS-10-087

RECOMMENDATION:
That the City of Kitchener acknowledge that INCC Corporation proposes to name private roads within the Ira Needles development located at Ira Needles between Glasgow Street and University Avenue; and,
That in the interest of providing clear locational information to emergency service providers, it is preferable to establish a system of coherent civic addresses and public way-finding for the purpose of road naming only; and,
That the Legal Services be directed to proceed with the required advertising and preparation of the necessary By-law for the naming of the private roadways; and,
That the design and location of signage for the proposed roadways be approved by the City’s Director of Transportation and the City’s Supervisor of Site Plan Development.

REPORT:
The INCC development is a large retail and office complex located in the northwest end of Kitchener.
The first phase of the project has received site plan approval and is currently under construction and expecting to open later this autumn. The second phase of the project is currently undergoing site plan review and is expected to receive final approval shortly. When the initial phase of the project was reviewed there was some discussion regarding the assumption of these internal roads by the City and it was decided that the City was not interested in assuming these streets.
City of Kitchener staff was requested by INCC Corporation to investigate the possibility of naming two private roads internal to the property on the west side of Ira Needles Boulevard between Glasgow Street and University Avenue West with the intention of establishing a more coherent civic address for clear locational information for emergency service providers.
The entire property is partly located in the City of Kitchener and partly in the City of Waterloo. The subject lands are approximately 18.1 hectares (44.7 acres) in size for the Kitchener portion and are designated and zoned for Planned Commercial Campus uses. The City of Waterloo portion is similar in size and the site will function as one combined property. In this regard, the total development includes a gross floor area of approximately 102,190 metres squared (1.1 million square feet) in size and will contain multiple buildings on site when fully constructed.
Staff has developed a procedure for the naming of private roads for large scale developments and the City’s Emergency Response staff agree that in order to improve emergency response and overall wayfinding on the site, the idea of naming the private roads should be considered for large scale developments such as this one. This process was implemented two years ago at the Sportsworld Crossing Development with support from the City’s Fire department.
At that time, when this process was originally contemplated, Staff turned to other municipalities in Ontario such as the City of Ottawa and the City of Hamilton, where this has occurred and learned that some have a very detailed system in place for naming of private roads. It soon became apparent that of paramount concern was whether this information would appear on the 911 emergency response information provided to the emergency service providers. Staff confirmed that the 911 response will show this information so long as the street is named. The street does not have to be assumed by the Municipality for this to be triggered.
Consultation with the City’s legal staff confirmed that under Section 48 of the Municipal Act, a municipality may name private roads by passing a by-law and depositing an appropriate reference plan, provided notice was given of the intent to do so.
The Region of Waterloo has been contacted regarding the intention to name the private roads on the INCC Corporation site and they have reserved the following proposed names:

• The Boardwalk for both City of Kitchener and Waterloo;
• University Avenue West (continuation) for the both City of Kitchener and Waterloo; and
• Lifestyle Way for the Waterloo portion of the development only

This report will be making recommendations only for the streets located within the City of Kitchener’s municipal boundary. In this regard, only the proposed names “The Boardwalk”, and the extension of “University Avenue West” within the City of Kitchener will be affected by the proposed by-law. Further recommendations will be made to direct Legal services to advertise the proposed names in accordance with Municipal Act requirements. A similar process will be sought in the City of Waterloo for those streets or portions thereof located within their own municipal boundary.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: All costs associated with the registration of the reference plan, advertising of the intent to name the road and street signage and/or any agreements deemed necessary by the City Solicitor to implement the street naming are to be entirely borne by developer/applicant.

[IEFBR14]

That in the interest of providing clear locational information to emergency service providers, it is preferable to establish a system of coherent civic addresses and public way-finding for the purpose of road naming only

When the Toronto boroughs amalgamated into Mel's Megacity, there were several duplicate street names that had to be resolved. Even so, ambulances and emergency vehicles occasionally went to the wrong address because of naming confusion. While it may seem "cute" to have Xxxxx St, Xxxxx Ave, Xxxxx Cres, etc. it's also potentially dangerous to those who live there. It's good to see the city take some responsibility to make sure that these sorts of confusions don't happen.

BTW this is another important reason why every building, residential and commercial, should also have a clearly visible street or unit number in a standard size and location. The occupants' lives may depend on it.

[Ken_Breadbox]

Ugh. more big box stores. At what point do they start eating each other? And if we have to have yet another power center, why can't we get an IKEA? Or even another Costco?

[KLM]

I dont think we are going to see Costco ,especially IKEA since you have to meet certain population criteria ( correct me if I am wrong).I wish for both to open there but seems we are out of luck.

I am more concerned about two things:

-traffic increase ( welcome to Sunrise plaza II)

- waterloo region landfill ,sorry guys but I just can`t picture myself having a nice snack or a drink and knowing actually there is dump near that center.

Wonder what would be odour levels during summer times?

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

Costco was officially interested about 5 years ago in this development, and went all the way to issuing a letter of intent (LoI) noting their interest in the site. However, as of about 3 years ago, Costco was officially out of the deal. I think it was something to do with the Wal-Mart Supercentre opening instead. If I can find Costco's LoI, I will try to post it here later on today.

IKEA on the other hand needs a minimum of 1M people in its primary and secondary trading area to open a store. I would say that Waterloo Region's primary and secondary trading area has only about 750,000 (when you include Stratford, Guelph and other smaller places like Elora, Fergus, Tavistock).

[Urban_Enthusiast86]

I dont think we are going to see Costco ,especially IKEA since you have to meet certain population criteria ( correct me if I am wrong).I wish for both to open there but seems we are out of luck.

I believe the figure is around 500,000 or 700,000 people that are needed for an IKEA. Ottawa (1.2 million) only has a small one. Maybe we won't get it in the next couple of years, but I think the market is there, especially when you factor in Guelph. I have no doubt that we are pretty high up on IKEA's priority list when it comes to new store locations in Canada. It could go somewhere on Victoria St. N or King/Sportsworld (if a couple of these other box stores in that area close).

[IEFBR14]

IKEA on the other hand needs a minimum of 1M people in its primary and secondary trading area to open a store. I would say that Waterloo Region's primary and secondary trading area has only about 750,000 (when you include Stratford, Guelph and other smaller places like Elora, Fergus, Tavistock).

If they opened something off the 401 between here and London they'd easily have 1M. Even better, (1) traffic along that part of the 401 is a lot less congested than it is between here and Burlington and (2) they pick up the vast majority of Londoners who wouldn't often drive to Burlington.

I would think also that university students and other younger people make up a large part of their customer base. Consider Guelph, UW, Laurier, Conestoga, Western, Fanshawe, etc. never mind the workers at RIM, Toyota (here and Woodstock), etc.

[Spokes]

I believe the figure is around 500,000 or 700,000 people that are needed for an IKEA. Ottawa (1.2 million) only has a small one. Maybe we won't get it in the next couple of years, but I think the market is there, especially when you factor in Guelph. I have no doubt that we are pretty high up on IKEA's priority list when it comes to new store locations in Canada. It could go somewhere on Victoria St. N or King/Sportsworld (if a couple of these other box stores in that area close).

The Ottawa location is being rebuilt as the biggest in Canada.

[Duke-of-Waterloo]

Here is Costco's June 2004 letter indicating their then interest in The Boardwalk site:


(From City of Waterloo Development Services Report DS-04-65)

[neonjoe]

The other thing I noticed about every location in southern Ontario is that they are all clearly visible from a highway that has well in excess of 100000 AADT and near an interchange of two major freeways.
427/Gardiner (Ikea Etobicoke)
Freeman Interchange (Ikea Burlington)
401/404 Ikea North York
400/407 Ikea Vaughan

In our area we don't have any locations that are accessible from the freeways or have enough traffic, maybe with the completion of the Highway 8/401 interchange we would have an ideal location based on their past stores but at the moment I don't think there is anywhere that would meet this apparent criteria.

[DHLawrence]

I would think also that university students and other younger people make up a large part of their customer base. Consider Guelph, UW, Laurier, Conestoga, Western, Fanshawe, etc. never mind the workers at RIM, Toyota (here and Woodstock), etc.

Guelph won't influence them; they're too close to Burlington and Ikea is one of the few big box stores with the brains to not put their stores in competition with each other. All the rest are definite market though.

I wonder if they'll ever give up their 'no delivery to apartments' policy; the original plan for the store was to provide furniture that urban Europeans could bring home on the bus; can't really do that with most of their current offerings unless you bring it a piece at a time.

[urbandreamer]

The Ikea crap that I did buy several years ago I brought home exclusively on transit--aka, the Bloor subway line. It was painful, but cheaper than using a cab.