U/C 144 Park | 67 m | 19 fl | 80% Sold

[luckee]

Save the original trail...
Its natural, its green, provides shade on a hot, hot summers day...
Years from now it will be seen as an asset and praised for its unique location...
It needs not to be "improved"...its perfect as is...
Take a walk, stroll, bike, blade, jog and you'll appreciate it as an important amenity...
Lets not destroy this "paradise"

"They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got till ..."

[amward]

Notice in the drawings how at the end intersection of Caroline and John where the ugly Sun Life parking garage is located there is green space instead of the garage...I assume its green because the developers want to make it more appealing...after all the "Trail" would look more appealing with green as opposed to a concrete canyon...

I bet the developer doesn't care how unappealing the Sun Life garage is to trail users. Their concern is more likely how it would look to prospective buyers when they see that the first couple of floors of the tower look at the wall of a parking structure.

[mpd618]

Save the original trail...
...
It needs not to be "improved"...its perfect as is...

I disagree, actually. The trail can be substantially improved by returning it to the original rail alignment - the curve alongside 144 Park right to the corner of Caroline & Allen. That would eliminate the highly problematic 90-degree turn. It would also make for a connected parcel for development.

[zanate]

I disagree, actually. The trail can be substantially improved by returning it to the original rail alignment - the curve alongside 144 Park right to the corner of Caroline & Allen. That would eliminate the highly problematic 90-degree turn. It would also make for a connected parcel for development.

This is what mpd618 is talking about:



Note: This is from the regional GIS site. I strongly suspect that it is out of date. According to material shown at the meeting, the city only owns the trail in its "right hook" configuration.

Something to look into, though.

[mpd618]

According to material shown at the meeting, the city only owns the trail in its "right hook" configuration.

Right. The developer owns the original railway alignment.

[UrbanWaterloo]

April 29, 2012

[RyHam]

If the second tower gets built, I wonder if that central diagonal foundation wall will essentially be wasted. Perhaps it will serve to separate the parkades of the two towers?

[RangersFan]

Great pictures UrbanWaterloo

[amward]

If the second tower gets built, I wonder if that central diagonal foundation wall will essentially be wasted. Perhaps it will serve to separate the parkades of the two towers?

I believe, based on my recollection of the drawings in the city council packages, that the wall stays. If you look at UrbanWaterloo's second picture, one section of the wall has re-bar, but no concrete. I think that's where the connection is planned; I'm guessing it's fairly easy to cut out the re-bar if 155 Caroline goes through as proposed, or pour concrete to seal things up otherwise.

I've been thinking that perhaps such a connection could still be made under the Iron Horse Trail so that the trail can keep its current route. I'm sure that has some adverse impacts on the plans for 155 Caroline with respect to parking, ground level amenity space, and the views of the lowest few floors of units facing the Sun Life parking structure. Still, it seems that some compromises could be made to accommodate the current route of the Iron Horse Trail and not scrap the plans for 155 Caroline completely.

[mpd618]

TriTAG is looking for ideas for how to develop the site around a better Iron Horse Trail alignment.

[waterloo_local]

Is 144 Park sold out yet, do we know sales levels ?

[BuildingScout]

Is 144 Park sold out yet, do we know sales levels ?

The web site says 90% sold.

[zanate]

There is a lot that the expansion proposal is getting wrong. The 144/155 complex fails as a place and will both diminish the neighbourhood and the trail, and be a massive (no pun intended) missed opportunity. If you agree, please express this opinion to the Waterloo city council.

I've written quite a bit on this, on how 155 fails as a place and earlier, asking if this is worth disrupting the Iron Horse for.

My vision for this place? Reorient the trail over the other old rail ROW. Focus on keeping it open and non-canyoned. Anchor the far end with a corner cafe, say, the way Starbucks faces the pathway leading to King St in uptown. Recognize, and build for, the coming LRT stop, bring the parking oversupply into control, and create a new pedestrian district on the south of Uptown instead of just pretending we've done enough mixed use at Bauer and now we can go back to stratified zoning.

[panamaniac]

What is the current timing for the consideration of 155? Are people picking up signals re how the City Councillors are reacting to concerns? Will it make any difference?

[markster]

As I stated much earlier in this thread, there are some really interesting things you can do with this property, if done with a bit of thought.

For instance, Toronto is getting exactly what we need.




The design of the under-construction 144 Park sadly precludes something as well designed as the above.

Just think of how radically different the dynamics of a trail between the two proposals are?
From a public safety perspective, this is flanked by balconies that will be watching down on the shared space. 155 Caroline will have a concrete canyon with only the cars to observe (save for a few windows in the weight room).

[zanate]

Thanks for that, markster. I've actually sent that image and link to both Ms. Durrell and Terry Pender, both of whom I've been speaking to about this issue...

Just shows what a little more imagination and will might bring about.

[Anderson3133]

I love the Flat Iron building you posted Markster. Brad Lamb has really done some excellent work on the building posted above and it looks amazing thus far. Something like that would be amazing for the current land that Mady Corp. owns.

[RangersFan]

I walk by the site almost everyday, on Friday and again today there was no activity which I found pretty odd.

[luckee]

Well finally there is light at the end of the tunnel...this is close to what I had envisaged for this property...another intimate walking /biking area...however if 144 Park cannot be reversed, then perhaps a fan shaped building with balconies looking at 144 Park and down at the trail might just fit in the Vincenzo's parking lot...I wonder "markster" if you could design a structure that includes 144 Park and a new design for 155 Caroline (fanshaped) as I suggested and perhaps ten to fifteen stories with the trail as you have designed included...all I can say is "terriffic"....

[Pheidippides]

Part of the problem is that the excessive use of the car in North American society has ruined most individuals perception's of distance to the extent that they don't realize how near destinations/landmarks are any longer which helps explain why so many car trips are of the "ridiculous" nature (<5km).

For instance, ask a regular motorist in uptown Waterloo how far the University of Waterloo or Conestoga Mall or downtown Kitchener is from Uptown and the will invariably tell you that they are 5-10km away when in fact they are 2.0, 3.5, and 3.0 kilometers respectively (or all <=30min brisk walk). The same can be said for Downtown Kitchener if you asked how far downtown is from St. Mary's Hospital, the OEYC at Westmount, or Highland Hills mall (1.9, 2.8, and 4.0 respectively or again <=40min walking).

Maybe it is time to add some wayfinding signage to uptown and downtown.