Region of Waterloo purchases land along Victoria Street as part of transit hub project

The Region of Waterloo has agreed to spend $19.75 million to purchaseproperty on Victoria Street in Kitchener as part of its planned project to build a large transit hub atKing and Victoria streets.

On Tuesday, regional councillorsvoted to purchase a parcel of land on Victoria Street between King and Weber streets thatincludes astrip mall at the corner of Duke and Victoria.

It's anticipated this newly purchased property, as well as land owned by the regionat the corner of Victoria and Weber streets where a large encampment is located currently, will be needed by workers as construction of the transit hub gets underway.

The region says the transit hub is expected to serviceGO and Via trains, the LRT, Grand River Transit buses and the local trail systems.

Discussion of the purchased parceltook place at a closed-door meeting before councillors voted on it during the public portion of a special council meeting.

Regional chair Karen Redman told CBCNews on Wednesday the purchase was the final piece to move forward with the project.

"It's a really important piece to complete what we see as the vision for a gateway to the region," she said.

"It was the one piece of the parcel between King Street and Weber Street that the region didn't own and now we can go forward."

Redman said it would also giveMetrolinxmore flexibility to improve rail transit.

"There are certain things Metrolinx needs to continue to improve that station and it also completes the Toronto-Waterloo Region corridor, which is really important fortwo-way,all-day GO transit," she said.

The Morning Edition - K-W7:19Region of Waterloo completes land purchase for King-Victoria Transit Hub

The Region of Waterloo will spend almost $20 million on a piece of property in downtown Kitchener. The location currently has a strip mall and will be used as part of the new transit hub. Regional Chair Karen talks about what this means for the project and bring us up to speed on where we are now in the timeline of getting the transit hub built.

Cost estimated at $130M

Thedowntown Kitchener transit hub has been in the works for years.Work on the project wassupposed tobegin in 2020but waspushed back to startin 2021.

According to the region's Engage Waterloo Region website, 30 per cent of thedesign for Phase 1of the transit hub was completed in March 2023.

In February 2023, council heard thecost for the new transit hub hadrisen by $23.9 millionfrom the last estimate, sitting at about $130 million.

Businesses surprised by land purchase

Redman said the development of the hub won't be happening overnight and businesses in the strip mall will remain for now.

"It isn't going to happen tomorrow. There are leases in place and my understanding is that the tenants will be free to complete their tenure in the building."

But news of the planned constructioncame as a surprise to business owners, includingJessica Harrison, who owns The Cake Box. She said it "wasn't great" to learn about the sale through media reports.

"I know that this isn't my property. I mean, I had no right to kind of be involved in any kind of discussion about it. But it was more of,we had planned to be here for a very long time," Harrison said."We have been here for a very long time. So now, knowing that my future is very unsure ... is very unsettling."

The Morning Edition - K-W4:55Local businesses say they were surprised to learn about land purchase for new transit hub

The region has recently purchased a plot of land that will be used for the new King-Victoria Transit Hub. The land currently has a strip mall and business owners like Jessica Harrison of The Cake Box say they were surprised to learn the building she operates out of was sold.

Dikran TchabrazianofArman's Jewellershas beenat the location since 2001. He said it raised a lot of questions,including how long he has until the business needs to move.

"I was shocked, I was surprised," he said. "Are we staying andfor how long?

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovicsaid staff with the city's economic development will be reaching out to the businesses to offer support.

"Small businesses arean important part of Kitchener's economy and our economic strategy and we want to make sure that they can find a new home in the city and if not, certainly supporting them in finding a home in the region," he said.

An encampment also resides on land beside the strip mall that is already owned by the region. That will also be used as the new transit hub is built.

Redman said the region will continue to work with outreach workers to findhousingor other supports for the residents at the encampment.