New residences approved for construction

City Council has approved zoning by-law amendments to allow buildings

An architect's depiction of the new residences to begin construction in November.
Image by: Supplied
An architect's depiction of the new residences to begin construction in November.

The construction of two new residences has been approved by City Council after changes were made to the buildings’ original layouts.

Council passed a zoning by-law amendment that has given the go-ahead to start the demolition process of removing five inactive buildings from Stuart and Albert Streets to make room for the new residences.

Following a 20-day appeal period, construction is set to begin in November.

Town hall meetings were held in April to discuss the impact of the residences on non-students living in the area.

Kingston residents had originally expressed discontent towards the project due to traffic and density concerns.

“Significant changes were made to both buildings .The Albert St. residence was elongated slightly, and its floor heights were also reduced,” Donna Janiec, acting associate vice-principal (facilities), told the Journal via email.

Janiec said that many of the previous concerns presented at the town hall meeting have been addressed in the revamped plans.

“A storey was removed from the Stuart St. residence, and the building was pushed as far north as possible,” she said.

Janiec said the wings of this residence were brought down to match nearby homes on Albert St. and St. Lawrence Ave, making the project less dense.

Their design team also created an extensive report that studied construction’s noise impact, shadows created by the structures and how the buildings will affect snow and wind direction, she said.

The Albert St. residence will be nine storeys tall with 272 beds, and the Stuart Street residence will be five storeys tall with 274 beds, Janiec said.

She said the construction will create some noise pollution in the area.

“There will be some noise throughout the project at certain times of the day. We will be regularly communicating with students in nearby residences and with local residences to update them on the project,” Janiec said.

Contractors will be notified of exam periods so they can fix the construction schedule accordingly, she added.

Janiec said the University is pleased to see this project kick off.

“These buildings will provide much-needed space for first-year students while also allowing the university to have more flexibility for housing our upper- year, graduate and international students,” she said.

Tags

Construction, Residences, Town-gown

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