WINDSOR | Construction - News and Development

[ericmacm]

Originally Posted by Symz

A new proposal on Wyandotte at the former site of The Windsor Music Cafe.

https://windsorite.ca/2020/12/anothe...ntown-windsor/

That's quite a nice proposal. Appears to be the same company that is doing The Hive, BK Cornerstone. I was personally hoping for a tower on that lot, but I guess this is better than nothing.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

That's quite a nice proposal. Appears to be the same company that is doing The Hive, BK Cornerstone. I was personally hoping for a tower on that lot, but I guess this is better than nothing.

Agreed, I would have liked to see a tower as well to build up some density in that area, but I also agree it's better than nothing. Maybe they'll add a few more floors before building? Not sure of the likelihood on that, but if the demand is there it might drive them to add some additional capacity

[north 42]

Love this proposal, but agree a few more floors would be perfect. I’m very happy to see some more mid rise developments happen in the DT area and not just tower proposals, there’s too many spots that need attention there.

I also have a feeling that we will see something like this proposal for that empty block east of the casino. The developers of the new building at Wyandotte and Crawford, Piroli Group, said they were scouting for other large sites in the DT area to build more of the same type of building that they just built at Crawford, so who knows, they might have been the ones who bought it earlier this year.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by north 42

Love this proposal, but agree a few more floors would be perfect. I’m very happy to see some more mid rise developments happen in the DT area and not just tower proposals, there’s too many spots that need attention there.

I also have a feeling that we will see something like this proposal for that empty block east of the casino. The developers of the new building at Wyandotte and Crawford, Piroli Group, said they were scouting for other large sites in the DT area to build more of the same type of building that they just built at Crawford, so who knows, they might have been the ones who bought it earlier this year.

Oh interesting. That would be nice to fill in that block. I believe the current building at Wyandotte and Crawford is full as well, so they have some success going into it (if it's them who made the purchase).

[Blitz]

Very nice! This is the NW corner of Wyandotte and Pelissier in case there is anyone else out there like me who had to look up the location of the old Windsor Music Cafe, lol.

[AmateurPlanner]

The Windsor Star just posted a gold mine article listing out all the residential projects that have been announced for downtown this year, some that I wasn't even aware of!

Link to article: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...y-really-great

Quick list from article:

- Wyandotte/Pelissier (recently posted development), BK Cornerstone plans to start construction once 80% of units are sold, current estimate to start is mid-2022
- Renovation of Southwest corner of Wyandotte/Pelissier building by Baker Investments (adding 3 apartments to second floor). I believe this is the 615 Pelissier building that they show in the article
- 477 Pelissier (former Jagerhouse) being converted into boutique apartments. This one was mentioned previously, but the article now includes a rendering! Developer is Ray Blanchard. It's mentioned in the article to "come down Pelissier summer next year when the Hive and 477 Pelissier are done". Not sure if I read this right, but it sounds like they're planning on being done by next summer?
- "A commerical property in the 600 block of Ouellette" was also purchased by Ray Blanchard, which he plans to convert to residential after the 477 Pelissier street project
- The Hive (we've known about this for a while), slated to be complete Summer 2021. Some good news here is that out of the 24 units, they have received inquires from a couple hundred people! They are also hoping a small grocery store opens on the ground floor, but no confirmation there
- The Chelsea building on Pelissier, currently has 30 apartments, 20 more are being added

Also mentioned in the article are Inspiration Tower, the Canada Building residential conversion, and the Security Building renovation which we have known about for a bit now. There is also mention of many current buildings undergoing facade improvements too.

This is some really great news in my opinion. I can see Pelissier becoming the residential anchor downtown and Ouellette being the retail anchor. Especially with the Farmer's Market and Holiday Markets downtown, it will be a bustling area. If the Hive's demand is any indicator, it sounds like there is a huge demand for people wanting to live downtown, which is great! I'm really excited to see what 2021 brings in announcements!

[north 42]

Yep, Great things happening DT! I wonder what building in the 600 block of Ouellete they are talking about?

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by north 42

Yep, Great things happening DT! I wonder what building in the 600 block of Ouellete they are talking about?

Very much so! I'm not sure myself. I did a quick lookup on Google Maps, so I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it looks like the 600 block of Ouellette is bordered by Wyandotte to the north and Tuscarora to the south. I see a couple of low-rise commercial properties in that block, so I suppose it could be any of them. Hopefully we'll hear more in the coming months, but I would hope to see them go vertical if it pans out!

[Blitz]

There's a huge demand for housing anywhere in the city these days...such great news after years of stagnation. We were hit by the recession harder than anyone else but Windsor always bounces back it seems.

The city has done a great job with the incentives and programs recognizing the importance of infill.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by Blitz

There's a huge demand for housing anywhere in the city these days...such great news after years of stagnation. We were hit by the recession harder than anyone else but Windsor always bounces back it seems.

The city has done a great job with the incentives and programs recognizing the importance of infill.

Agreed, it definitely seems like we're on the upswing these days! yeah, I'm glad administration recognizes the importance of having these infill projects and density as opposed to sprawling suburbs

[AmateurPlanner]

Speaking of infill, does anyone here know if there are any plans for the brownfield site at the corner of Walker and Seminole? If memory serves, it was a GM plant, they tore half down (which is the site I mentioned) and the other half is now a U-Haul.

It's quite a large site, and I'm sure there would be a lengthy decontamination process, but was wondering if any rumours have been floating around? I would assume the site would need to be subdivided given it's size, but I could definitely see some residential on the western portion of the site given Ottawa St is so close and is starting to see a resurgence of small businesses opening up

[north 42]

Originally Posted by AmateurPlanner

Speaking of infill, does anyone here know if there are any plans for the brownfield site at the corner of Walker and Seminole? If memory serves, it was a GM plant, they tore half down (which is the site I mentioned) and the other half is now a U-Haul.

It's quite a large site, and I'm sure there would be a lengthy decontamination process, but was wondering if any rumours have been floating around? I would assume the site would need to be subdivided given it's size, but I could definitely see some residential on the western portion of the site given Ottawa St is so close and is starting to see a resurgence of small businesses opening up

There was talk about Possibly putting in new residential streets instead of something industrial, but nothing was decided on, so as of now it’s just a huge storage area for new cars, unfortunately.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by north 42

There was talk about Possibly putting in new residential streets instead of something industrial, but nothing was decided on, so as of now it’s just a huge storage area for new cars, unfortunately.

Darn yeah I've noticed them all parked there too. Well, hopefully one day it can get repurposed. It would be nice to see it get new life

[Symz]

If there's anything that living in Windsor for 40 plus years has taught me is to keep your expectations low and hopefully you'll be surprised, instead of hoping for the best and usually being let down.

[north 42]

Debbie Downer

[AmateurPlanner]

Yeah, this is the positivity thread!

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Symz

If there's anything that living in Windsor for 40 plus years has taught me is to keep your expectations low and hopefully you'll be surprised, instead of hoping for the best and usually being let down.

Are you from Hamilton originally?

Great to see this activity in Windsor. Much like Hamilton, change happened at a very slow pace from the 1980s to the 2010s, but seems to be ramping up. My grandparents (who lived in Riverside) would probably not believe it were they around today.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Are you from Hamilton originally?

Great to see this activity in Windsor. Much like Hamilton, change happened at a very slow pace from the 1980s to the 2010s, but seems to be ramping up. My grandparents (who lived in Riverside) would probably not believe it were they around today.

Yeah I agree, it's definitely been a long time coming, but I'm glad to finally see some movement around here I try to remain cautiously optimistic until I see shovels in the ground, but it's hard not to get excited after seeing development announcements one after the other after not seeing any for a while!

[Blitz]

What makes this time so different is the rapid rise in housing prices over the past couple years. There's no denying those numbers and that's a big reason why we are seeing all of these proposals and why we should have high confidence that they will carry through.

[AmateurPlanner]

Originally Posted by Blitz

What makes this time so different is the rapid rise in housing prices over the past couple years. There's no denying those numbers and that's a big reason why we are seeing all of these proposals and why we should have high confidence that they will carry through.

Definitely agree with you on this one. The price increases and new residential demand make me feel the same way.

Also, new renderings for the Grace Hospital site are shown in this article. There is another town hall-style event happening for the proposal. The developers (Fairmount Properties) have also hinted that they have other plans for the city, so hopefully we see more news from them in the future!

Link to article: https://blackburnnews.com/windsor/wi...-site-windsor/

Direct link to rendering: https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content...-fairmount.jpg

*Edit: Not sure if was announced before, but this article mentions that they are planning to start construction at mid-2021, and will be in a one-phase build that will last 18-20 months.

Link to timeline article: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-n...-moves-forward