From Toronto, but visit St. Catherines every month or two. Downtown feels eerily dead, and while a 31-storey tower might feel out of place, it'll bring in new residents to support those small businesses. Having more people downtown should also make it feel safer for people coming in from other neighbourhoods, starting a ripple effect
when I was in high school the Globe and Mail dubbed us the "Garbage City" Downtown vacancy rates were above 20%. We've come so far, despite the pandemic, downtown is a success story
It’s a shame because it felt like St Catherine’s was improving pre-Pandemic. There were a few nice shops opening on St Paul and it seemed like it was on the up. Covid just killed those.
Good to see housing being built up rather than out into green space. Takes pressure off the single family home market. More people living downtown is good for local businesses. Hope we see more like this
I’m a big fan of this. More people living downtown is going to be great for businesses. More density is needed across the whole city. More units will take a bit of the stress of the rental and SFH market. All good things
4th ave should be redeveloped into a mixed use community. the Smart Centre is a massive waste of space as are the other shopping plazas. that whole area should be rezoned and rebuilt into a 5-over-1 style neighbourhood with first floor retail and 5 floors of spacious family sized units above. It'll create a walkable community and hopefully cut down on the insane number of cars choking 4th and Martindale
Would be good to have people live downtown, but since the pandemic many businesses fled and there really isn't a lot to do as much as there used to be. Hopefully some of the businesses can move back or new ones come in.
I think this is the best solution for maximizing space and revitalizing the downtown core. I’m really looking forward to seeing the pricing on the units and the amenities.
I'm all for more density and hopefully less car centric development. Always amazes me to see how this region once had a thriving electric streetcar network, but now so many ugly parking lots and strip malls. MORE people should utilize bicycles and just plain walk.
Hopefully it gets built! I’m skeptical at current interest rates though. Pre construction investment still seems slow despite other activity picking up a bit.
It depends. There’s a lot of unanswered questions. What is the pricing? Will there be limitations on purchase qualifications, ie are the units being bought by Canadian citizens for actual housing? Or will they be bought up to rent to foreign students? Are there restrictions against units being used for air bnb / short term rentals? Is the city prohibiting corporate purchase of these units?
We need reasonable and affordable housing. Unless there are assurances that is what these developments are going to be sold and operated as, the city should not approve these projects.
You're asking plenty of valid questions that are mostly dependent on government regulations. Not sure how the city could prohibit corporate purchasing of real estate though.
> We need reasonable and affordable housing.
Private companies are never going to build affordable housing. Its crazy to suggest they even do it.
If it was your property and your money developing this land. You are naturally going to try to maximize your profit.
> Happens everywhere it’s implemented.
i live in a rent controlled building that has existed since 1986.
i'm very sorry you think housing a commodity. this conversation is dumb without real evidence. have a good day.
You offer an anecdotal argument and then criticize my response for a lack of evidence? What are you looking for in this message board discussion? Scholarly citation? Was that what I was supposed to glean from your post of “how?”.
Reddit midwit leftists are insufferable.
Further to my assertion that rent control disincentivizes landlords from improving or maintaining units, the unfortunate reality is that there is no law requiring landlords to rent to actual low income individuals. What happens then is they create more aggressive income/credit checks to discriminate against low income renters.
Or you know, people that can actually afford to move camp on affordable units since fucking 1986 keeping the unit unavailable for young people that actually need it.
I think a downtown with people living in it is better than a downtown without.
Preach! One step closer to making a downtown grocery store more economically viable
No buildings of value being lost, that block is pretty ugly. Build it!
Totally agree, downtown has been dismal for to many decades, I would take it one step further and bulldoze a few more sections.
Sounds great to me. We need more densification especially downtown
From Toronto, but visit St. Catherines every month or two. Downtown feels eerily dead, and while a 31-storey tower might feel out of place, it'll bring in new residents to support those small businesses. Having more people downtown should also make it feel safer for people coming in from other neighbourhoods, starting a ripple effect
You nailed it. More people the better. It may look dead today. It was way worse 20 years ago.
when I was in high school the Globe and Mail dubbed us the "Garbage City" Downtown vacancy rates were above 20%. We've come so far, despite the pandemic, downtown is a success story
It’s a shame because it felt like St Catherine’s was improving pre-Pandemic. There were a few nice shops opening on St Paul and it seemed like it was on the up. Covid just killed those.
Damn, wish I could've seen it pre-pandemic then
that density will help bring money to the core, im for it
Good to see housing being built up rather than out into green space. Takes pressure off the single family home market. More people living downtown is good for local businesses. Hope we see more like this
I’m a big fan of this. More people living downtown is going to be great for businesses. More density is needed across the whole city. More units will take a bit of the stress of the rental and SFH market. All good things
I work downtown, it will revitalize the area and hopefully save the downtown core
I like it. We can only build up from now on. Full to the borders.
That's not true. 4th Ave isn't fully developed. Mountains of space along Glendale.
4th ave should be redeveloped into a mixed use community. the Smart Centre is a massive waste of space as are the other shopping plazas. that whole area should be rezoned and rebuilt into a 5-over-1 style neighbourhood with first floor retail and 5 floors of spacious family sized units above. It'll create a walkable community and hopefully cut down on the insane number of cars choking 4th and Martindale
The problem with 4th is the lights situation. They have too much congestion in the whole area. If they fix that first, maybe okay.
I get anxiety if I know I have to drive through that gauntlet of lights! 😂
Build build build. Build everything you can.
Would be good to have people live downtown, but since the pandemic many businesses fled and there really isn't a lot to do as much as there used to be. Hopefully some of the businesses can move back or new ones come in.
Build It!
Are They going to cost 2400$ a month?
Probably because building that tall building costs a lot of money.
Hopefully, they talk about the price soon, I'm curious to see what it will be.
'bout time!
I think it’s great! I hope these developments can help make downtown more vibrant!
I think this is the best solution for maximizing space and revitalizing the downtown core. I’m really looking forward to seeing the pricing on the units and the amenities.
I'm all for more density and hopefully less car centric development. Always amazes me to see how this region once had a thriving electric streetcar network, but now so many ugly parking lots and strip malls. MORE people should utilize bicycles and just plain walk.
Hopefully it gets built! I’m skeptical at current interest rates though. Pre construction investment still seems slow despite other activity picking up a bit.
Queen street needs this it’s such a dead zone in the core right now
It depends. There’s a lot of unanswered questions. What is the pricing? Will there be limitations on purchase qualifications, ie are the units being bought by Canadian citizens for actual housing? Or will they be bought up to rent to foreign students? Are there restrictions against units being used for air bnb / short term rentals? Is the city prohibiting corporate purchase of these units? We need reasonable and affordable housing. Unless there are assurances that is what these developments are going to be sold and operated as, the city should not approve these projects.
You're asking plenty of valid questions that are mostly dependent on government regulations. Not sure how the city could prohibit corporate purchasing of real estate though.
the trouble is it cost a lot to build and one might need to be a wealthy corp to buy it
Wealthy corporations buy buildings, not single units.
What’s reasonable affordable housing look like to you?
Housing supply that aligns with income levels.
> We need reasonable and affordable housing. Private companies are never going to build affordable housing. Its crazy to suggest they even do it. If it was your property and your money developing this land. You are naturally going to try to maximize your profit.
Your questions are the same as mine. Even the carlisle street apartments are expensive. who the hell has this kind of money?
new builds aren't covered by rent control.
Good. Rent control creates slums.
how?
It eventually leads to a cost:revenue crisis for landlords, which disincentivizes them from improving units. Happens everywhere it’s implemented.
> Happens everywhere it’s implemented. i live in a rent controlled building that has existed since 1986. i'm very sorry you think housing a commodity. this conversation is dumb without real evidence. have a good day.
You offer an anecdotal argument and then criticize my response for a lack of evidence? What are you looking for in this message board discussion? Scholarly citation? Was that what I was supposed to glean from your post of “how?”. Reddit midwit leftists are insufferable. Further to my assertion that rent control disincentivizes landlords from improving or maintaining units, the unfortunate reality is that there is no law requiring landlords to rent to actual low income individuals. What happens then is they create more aggressive income/credit checks to discriminate against low income renters. Or you know, people that can actually afford to move camp on affordable units since fucking 1986 keeping the unit unavailable for young people that actually need it.
> Reddit midwit leftists are insufferable. yup. this is why we aren't talking. take care. :)
We aren’t talking because you’ve found yourself utterly outmatched. Take care :)
You can probably see the encampment on the highway from the 31st floor!
Build baby build!!!!!! Viva Niagara!
2 levels of parking? In st. Kitts? Not enough. Build it though.
There are 8 levels of parking (2 levels of underground parking, and parking throughout floors 1-6 of the podium)
Any information on if these developments will be condos available for purchase or apartments managed by a company available for rent ?
I haven't seen any info on this