Former Notre Dame school site condo proposal withdrawn
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By Carrie Debrone
Kitchener Citizen
October 16, 2014
The recently-proposed Notre Dame school property development is dead.
Options for Homes, a non-profit developer corporation, had been interested in purchasing and developing the six-acre site located at 142 Rosemount Ave. in Kitchener, but has now pulled its offer.
The land formerly housed Notre Dame Catholic School, which was closed in June 2010 and later demolished to make way for a planned 49-unit subdivision that included single family and semi-detached homes However, that deal fell through two years ago.
Options for Homes then became interested in the property and securred an option to purchase the land.
To get feedback from neighbours about what kind of development the local community would favour, company representatives held a meeting in June that drew about 150 people. At that time, the company said it was considering several different types of condominium developments for the property - either mid-rise or stacked townhouse styles - with hopes that construction could start in 2017.
While some people liked the plan for condos, others were unsure saying they believed it would change the character of the mostly single-family home area and cause traffic problems.
“Our company has pulled its offer for the Notre Dame property,” said Jan Ciuciura, head of Options for Homes Waterloo Region.
“The land is overpriced for the number of units we can put on it according to our benchmarks, and the seller didn’t want to lower the price, so we’ve withdrawn the offer,” Ciuciura said.
Although the company had talked informally about its proposal with city officials, the City of Kitchener never received a formal application for development from the developer, according to Della Ross, the city’s Manager of Developer Review.
The land is currently zoned for single detached homes. Development of any other type of homes, including condos or apartments, would require a zone change.