A downtown area property that’s sat idle for many years is set to see shovels in the ground during the coming months, say those behind a residential development project there.
As it stands, the plan for 180 Gordon St. – located just south of the Speed River, on the east side of the road – is to build a block of eight, four-storey townhouses and a separate, enclosed parking garage with one space for each unit.
“It’s very similar to the previous incarnations, though we are a little lower density. We’re going with eight units instead of 10 units, which were previously proposed,” said Ryan Rivet of Boyes Signature Homes, which has partnered with Stonegate Group of Companies on the project.
“We’re looking to make a statement in a unique and timeless development, both architecturally and the living experience that we can offer there.”
The necessary zoning and official plan designations are already in place, having been approved for previous plans from former owners.
However, the developer is working with city planning staff on site plan-related matters.
“We’re not subject to site plan approval … but we still have a process to go through,” Rivet said, crediting the provincial government for eliminating site plan approval for developments of 10 units or less. “I know this is also new to the city, their planners and building department.”
Rivet hopes to begin construction next summer and finish the project in 2025.
“We’re still pretty early in the process,” he said, noting the units will be condos but the exact formal hasn’t been determined at this point. “We’re currently working through with our architects and what we think will work.”
The anticipation, he said, is that all the units will feature either three bedrooms or two bedrooms and a den. And they won’t be a traditional four-storey block – the top floor is meant to be a terrace with access from inside the building.
The site used to be home to a gas station but has undergone remediation efforts to clean it up.
“What’s on the site currently are monitoring wells that are a relic of previous remediation and environmental monitoring,” Rivet explained, adding the site has a clean record of condition and certificate of property use from the Ministry of the Environment. “The site has sat vacant for a long period of time.”
This is the first Guelph project for Boyes Signature Homes. It’s largely been responsible for infill projects in Mississauga, along with some in Waterloo Region.
“It was an opportunity for us to develop in Guelph,” Rivet said of what attracted his firm to the project, noting he came to know the city while attending university here in the early 2000s. “I spent four great years of my life in the city and kind of fell in love with the city.
“It’s a beautiful area,” he said of 180 Gordon St. in particular, pointing to nearby Royal City Park and the Speed River, along with quick access to the downtown core. “In the summer, it’s a vibrant area.”
