K.C.
07-23-2010, 01:25 PM
RiverBank Lofts (http://www.riverbanklofts.ca/) Not much on the site right now but I expect they'll have more details soon.
Advance sales start for condos in former Hespeler factory (http://cambridgereporter.com/news/article/215811) Prices start at $159,000, model ready by October.
CAMBRIDGE — Advance sales of condominium units in the former American Standard factory started Monday.
Kitchener developer Shawky Fahel says he’s essentially cleared regulatory hurdles and can get started on a $20 to $30 million rejuvenation of the old plant in downtown Hespeler. It produced bathroom fixtures before it closed in 2007.
“It’s taken 2 1/2 years . . . we’re standing on top of a mountain today,” Fahel said.
Before billboards went up and a website went live, 60 people had already called or emailed wanting information about purchasing one of the 124 units, he said.
Fahel expects buyers will be moving in by the end of 2012.
Prices for the Riverbank Lofts will start at $159,000. By October, a model unit will be ready in a concrete-block warehouse across Guelph Avenue from the main factory, which will house the sales office.
A provincial record of site condition is done, spelling out cleanup and monitoring conditions after people move in. Grand River Conservation Authority staff signed off on flood control plans. The site overlooks the Speed River.
There’s “no legal impediment” to pending city approval of the redevelopment, said Cambridge planning commissioner Janet Babcock.
Fahel has had to scale back his plans because of a shortage of sewage treatment capacity at the Hespeler waste water plant. It should be a short-term change — the Hespeler sewage treatment plant is scheduled for an upgrade in 2016.
For now, he’ll redevelop three main buildings on the site: one along the river, one along a railway siding off Guelph Avenue and one along Chapel Street. A building closer to Queen Street won’t be redeveloped until the community has more sewage-treatment capacity.
Fahel said he will ask Waterloo Region and the City of Cambridge for a tax-deferral agreement to help cover the $1.7 million cleanup cost of the old factory.
Cleanup and demolition is expected to start by fall, Fahel said.
Industrialist Jacob Hespeler built his first stone building on the site in 1847, and most of the rest of the complex within 20 years. The dam by the old factory held back water to power the flour mill, distillery, wool and cotton-making operations.
The plant became a sink factory in 1913, as Stamped and Enamelled Ware Ltd. American Standard bought the company in 1969.
The factory closed Sept. 13, 2007.
The massive stone walls and wooden beams of the original factories will be used in the living spaces of the complex. Solar panels will produce electricity. Fahel said the project will showcase environmental sustainability.
Local businesses look forward to having hundreds of new people moving downtown, said Loris Manni, owner of Gifted Floral on Queen Street.
“We feel it’s going to affect the street . . . to have American Standard closed up all this long is not a good thing.”
Advance sales start for condos in former Hespeler factory (http://cambridgereporter.com/news/article/215811) Prices start at $159,000, model ready by October.
CAMBRIDGE — Advance sales of condominium units in the former American Standard factory started Monday.
Kitchener developer Shawky Fahel says he’s essentially cleared regulatory hurdles and can get started on a $20 to $30 million rejuvenation of the old plant in downtown Hespeler. It produced bathroom fixtures before it closed in 2007.
“It’s taken 2 1/2 years . . . we’re standing on top of a mountain today,” Fahel said.
Before billboards went up and a website went live, 60 people had already called or emailed wanting information about purchasing one of the 124 units, he said.
Fahel expects buyers will be moving in by the end of 2012.
Prices for the Riverbank Lofts will start at $159,000. By October, a model unit will be ready in a concrete-block warehouse across Guelph Avenue from the main factory, which will house the sales office.
A provincial record of site condition is done, spelling out cleanup and monitoring conditions after people move in. Grand River Conservation Authority staff signed off on flood control plans. The site overlooks the Speed River.
There’s “no legal impediment” to pending city approval of the redevelopment, said Cambridge planning commissioner Janet Babcock.
Fahel has had to scale back his plans because of a shortage of sewage treatment capacity at the Hespeler waste water plant. It should be a short-term change — the Hespeler sewage treatment plant is scheduled for an upgrade in 2016.
For now, he’ll redevelop three main buildings on the site: one along the river, one along a railway siding off Guelph Avenue and one along Chapel Street. A building closer to Queen Street won’t be redeveloped until the community has more sewage-treatment capacity.
Fahel said he will ask Waterloo Region and the City of Cambridge for a tax-deferral agreement to help cover the $1.7 million cleanup cost of the old factory.
Cleanup and demolition is expected to start by fall, Fahel said.
Industrialist Jacob Hespeler built his first stone building on the site in 1847, and most of the rest of the complex within 20 years. The dam by the old factory held back water to power the flour mill, distillery, wool and cotton-making operations.
The plant became a sink factory in 1913, as Stamped and Enamelled Ware Ltd. American Standard bought the company in 1969.
The factory closed Sept. 13, 2007.
The massive stone walls and wooden beams of the original factories will be used in the living spaces of the complex. Solar panels will produce electricity. Fahel said the project will showcase environmental sustainability.
Local businesses look forward to having hundreds of new people moving downtown, said Loris Manni, owner of Gifted Floral on Queen Street.
“We feel it’s going to affect the street . . . to have American Standard closed up all this long is not a good thing.”