Some units will have dens, and at least one will have three bedrooms. has the right ratio of windows to floor space that will see one- and two-bedroom apartments constructed on now-empty slabs of concrete. Not every office building converts well into residential apartments, but 22 Frederick St. “No development charges no infrastructure costs, because the sites are serviced, there is power there, there are sanitary sewers. By contrast, converting an existing office building like 22 Frederick into apartments takes a fraction of that time, said Robertson.

It can take years to design and secure approvals for a new apartment building even when land is zoned for it. The conversion will reduce the supply of office space on the market, which is good, and it will increase the supply of apartments, he said. That phase is now complete and NEO Architects is applying for building permits. It arrived in downtown Kitchener earlier this year when demolition work started at 22 Frederick St. The trend of converting office space to residential started in Calgary a couple of years ago, before spreading to Ottawa and Toronto. At the same time, apartment rents skyrocketed in Kitchener where a one-bedroom unit routinely rents for $2,100 a month. Since the pandemic began in March 2020 the vacancy rates in office buildings spiked as remote work became the norm, and office vacancy rates remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic. “We are waiting on permits to do the full construction,” he said in an interview Monday. It will take about 10 months to complete 91 apartments in the 12 storey building following months of planning and demolition work, said Laird Robertson of NEO Architecture Inc., which is doing the design work for the conversion. A restaurant will be built where the old council chamber was located.

the office tower that housed the City of Kitchener for years. KITCHENER - For the first time in this city a highrise downtown office building is being converted into an apartment building.

Download the clock tower restaurant