A local developer hopes to breathe life back into a landmark hotel site on King Street West.
"The site itself is a special, key site in Cambridge," said Paul Weigel, president of North Development Corp, talking about 255 King St. W., where the former Kress Hotel once stood. "It's a gateway to Preston. It's an important part of Cambridge. It's in the core of Preston and that's where the city, region and province are encouraging intensification. And it's close to the future LRT (light rail transit)."
The applicant is proposing three residential towers, at 15, 17, and 18 storeys each, connected by a two-storey podium, containing 579 dwellings and 690 underground parking spaces. To accommodate the intensification, the developer is requesting an official plan and zoning bylaw amendment.
Generally speaking, Weigel told CambridgeToday, there's always a lot of anxiety when a new development is posted.
"This type of development will affect people; there's no question about that," he said, adding he grew up in Preston. "But the question is, will it be positive or negative?"
While that remains to be seen, some of the nearby residents and property owners have already expressed concerns around the proposal.
"I have some thoughts and opinions," said Michelle Goodridge, who owns property behind the proposed development lands.
"I'm worried about scale and massing. I think the proposal right now requires a large amount of parking and that takes up a large footprint of the property. By doing that, you'll have a large hardscaped area and you'll have ambient temperature changes to the area. And because the structure has to be so large to accommodate all these units, you then have traffic concerns."
She said she emailed Weigel with her questions and received not only a response but also a visit.
"The traffic study they have, I believe says the area will be inadequate to handle traffic by 2026," said Goodridge, continuing with her concerns. "I know we're pushing for the LRT to come in but that's not 100 per cent a done deal, nor can we expect all residents to take transit."
She also wasn't in favour of the height of the towers.
"They're going to cast shadows on the surrounding properties," Goodridge said. "It creates a fishbowl effect. We (also) have concerns about privacy. The removal of a lot of mature growth and trees that provide us privacy."
She added Weigel had indicated they may be able to keep some of the trees.
He told CambridgeToday the site is mainly swampy and grassy.
"All of the area that's next to the river, about a third of the site, will remain natural land," Weigel added. "We're going to naturalize and landscape next to the houses. As much as possible will be done to maintain the natural environment for the wildlife."
That was one of the factors Walter Hrelja, whose property in the area is rented out, talked about.
"One the reasons my tenants moved into that property was the beautiful backyard," he said, adding the residents in the area are really the ones that will be impacted by the project, be it the height of the buildings or the construction. "They'd comment on the family of deer that would come visit.
"It's a shame that all that has to go, but I guess that's progress," added Hrelja.
Many of the properties situated nearby are either on the city's heritage registry or already designated as heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Goodridge's and Hrelja's properties are among the latter ones.
"The integrity of the (heritage) buildings is also a concern," said Goodridge. "What will be done to make sure that remains intact? They've addressed some of it but I want to see more assurances and plans."
Hrelja had similar thoughts.
"Just the vibration and the fact that they are going to be working on that hill, so the stability of that hill will be compromised," he said. "So, yes, I'm concerned about the structure of the house."
Addressing that, Weigel said, the company has undertaken a heritage impact assessment.
"It's both in consideration of the architecture and scale of the project and the affect on structure," he said. "No way should this development pose a physical risk to any of the structures."
Weigel said he couldn't go into detailed answers for each of the points raised by Goordidge and Hrelja.
"The reason why that's hard to answer is the other side of this is the economic social impact," the applicant said. "The proposal is highly supported by staff through the lens of provincial policy and the revitalization of the core. We need more good housing in the core of our centres. There are a lot of other things that need to be considered than just the height of the buildings."
However, he said, he is committed to engaging the group of area residents to come up with a plan that benefits most people.
"I think we want to consider everything," Weigel said. "I have already met with some of the residents and made appointments to meet more. The more we can involve people, the more we can have both sides of the conversation as opposed to fear and anxiety for new development."
Goodridge said she welcomed the opportunity to give input.
"I'm pretty open to different ideas," she said, adding she commended Weigel's efforts to take into account what was on nearby residents' minds. "I realize we need something here. There's an opportunity here to do something really awesome. If all of us can come to some sort of an agreement to see the site is developed really well, I think it could be really great."
The details for the proposed development are available on the city's website. A statutory public meeting is expected for sometime in fall, said Weigel.
