It has housed several insurance companies, a bank and the Waterloo Police Station. Now it is going to become a luxury hotel.

The History

The oldest part of 14 Erb Street West in UpTown Waterloo was built around 1886 as an early office for Ontario Mutual Life Assurance Company.

Molson’s Bank also shared this building.

In 1912 Dominion Life Assurance Company moved into the building.

The building was later used by the Canada Health and Accident Assurance Company and by Waterloo’s first insurance company – Waterloo Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

In 1991, he building underwent extensive renovations and became a division of the Waterloo Regional Police Department.

The building is a designated landmark for the City of Waterloo. The building’s facades are designated under the Ontario Heritage Act for architectural and cultural purposes. To alter the heritage aspects or demolish the building would require city approval.

The Future

Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis (Blackberry) are hoping to bring a luxury, boutique hotel to uptown Waterloo. Ophelia Lazaridis purchased the old Waterloo police station at 14 Erb Street West and is exploring the construction of a new luxury boutique hotel on that site.

Region of Waterloo councillors approved the sale for $3.1 million on Wednesday. It is expected to be finalized in June when the buyers have completed investigations of the property.

The Reason

In 2006, a Waterloo uptown vision committee said a top-of-the-line hotel with conference space was a must. “A high-quality hotel would be a great amenity for the uptown,” its report said. “We cannot afford to accept a lower-quality hotel just to get it built sooner.”

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Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, neighborhood update, real estate trends, Schools and Neighbourhoods, uptown waterloo by Keith Marshall
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Live in wonderful Westmount at 215 Dick Street, Waterloo. This exceptional bungalow features a loft master bedroom! Thousands of dollars recently spent on major system updates including: roof, most windows, doors, furnace and electrical system. 215 Dick Street is situated on a mature lot in one of Waterloo Region’s favourite neighbourhoods – lovely Westmount! The two elementary schools are always ranked among the best in Waterloo Region.

Important Facts:

MLS#: 123707

Bedrooms: 3+1

Bathrooms: 2

Price: $329,900

Taxes: $3229/2012

Age: up to 60 years

Days on Market: 57

Westmount is one of Waterloo’s favourite old neighourhoods. It started out 100 years ago as a dream and desire for a “garden suburb”. The neighbourhood had the initial help of the landscape architect who had designed New York’s Central Park and Montreal’s Mount Royal neighborhood. But it wasn’t until after 1930 and the construction of the Westmount Golf and Country Club that things really got rolling. By the 1960’s almost all the lots had been built upon and Westmount had established itself as Kitchener Waterloo’s premier neighbourhood.

When my family first moved to Waterloo Region, we spent about half a year getting the lay of the land, checking out different neighborhoods. We were researching to find great schools, and proximity to pools and libraries. These were our two main criteria. We eventually bought a home in Westmount, not old Westmount, but in Westmount/UpTown. 215 Dick Street is just around the corner from where we bought our home. Our kids went to Empire School – always one of the top ranked schools in Waterloo Region, then Centennial School for 7&8 and then to WCI – all great schools!

What I like about this neighborhood is an easy walk into UpTown Waterloo, and all the shops, the library and nightlife. Once we got a dog, Waterloo Park, about a five minute walk away became a daily destination. It’s really a great location!

Open House:  Sunday November 4, 2:00-4:00pm

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, for sale, open house, real estate, relocating, this week in real estate, uptown waterloo by Keith Marshall
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Last night after dinner and after we had taken the dog for a walk through Waterloo Park my wife and I were sitting on the front porch having a chat. It was a perfect night. I love this time of year, I love the piebald prediction of a celebrated summer. I love warm breezy nights in spring.

We are still enjoying the novelty of having a large and covered front porch – a real advantage of living in an old house in an old neighborhood.

I went into the house and made a cup of coffee (decaf) and when I came out, our old neighbors from Westmount/Lourdes were out front talking with our new neighbor from Euclid/William. We moved last May. Our old house is about one kilometer away.

Random Real Estate Fact: The majority of residential moves are within five kilometers.

We invited them up on the porch and caught up with neighborhood news. I told them about our upcoming Grand Porch Party and our old neighbor said that they were planning a street party last summer but because they wanted to block off the street someone had to take liability for the event and no one wanted to be liable in the unlikely instance that some nut drove down the street and killed a little kid.

“Why can’t it just be simpler?”, she complained.

It’s not. Life is complicated. The “what ifs” always get us.

Along the same lines of conversation, we talked about square2square and what a costly non-event it turned out to be. I was behind it naturally. I loved the idea of riding my bike free of all traffic down King Street from Uptown to downtown, which is exactly what I did at two of the four events. The problem was that the idea became so complicated with barricades and police and volunteers, the carnival atmosphere, I thought was overdoing it, but I guess the organizers wanted to have something for everyone and make it a real event – not just a big road for weekend cyclists.

It idea failed. Just not enough people were interested in hanging around at a second-rate (sorry) carnival.

But like many things that fail, we can learn from it. It’s back. If other cities can pull this off, we’re sure we can too. There have been some changes – including the name change from square2square to Open Streets. The other major change is that its a citizen led event now not a municipal council sponsored one. I think its a great idea. Festivals and events like this make KW a great place to live.

The four street celebrations will be held at the same time as other festivals and events in Kitchener Waterloo.

June 17 — Father’s Day.

July 22 —  Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival.

Aug. 12 — TD Kitchener Blues Festival.

Sept. 16 — Doors Open Waterloo and back to university weekend.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, neighborhood update, uptown waterloo by Keith Marshall
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The Jazz room is opening this week. I’m so excited. I love live jazz!

Home to the Grand River Jazz Society, the Jazz Room is set up to support exceptional musicians from Waterloo Region, and to invite talented jazz musicians from elsewhere for us to hear.

The Jazz Room is located at the Huether Hotel in Uptown Waterloo. Be there or be square, daddy-o.

For more information, please visit website.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, uptown waterloo by Keith Marshall
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Central to most people’s neighborhood is their own home. Second to that is often their kids’ schools. Many people choose to live in a certain neighborhood, or stay in a certain neighborhood because of a school. But schools get old and neighborhoods change.

We’re nostalgic. No one wants their school to close.

I was talking with an old neighbor last week. His first question was, “Did you hear that WCI might be closing?” I had. There was a story in the newspaper about how old the building is (51 years) and how the neighborhood has changed. He was postulating that Wilfred Laurier University wants the building and the land. He could be right. All around Waterloo Collegiate Institute’s neighborhood is university related buildings, mostly housing for students.

WCI will close. It will happen, I think, but not for a while. “It’s a facility and location under review”. This was the early rumblings.

With more and more development on the outskirts of the city, new schools are built where young families are buying their first home. With two kids playing sports in the public school system, I’m always dropping them off or picking them up at schools I’d only vaguely heard of before.

There is a new public elementary school being built on the corner of Fairway Road and Lackner Boulevard. It will open in September 2014.

With that, Stanley Park School has been targeted for potential closure as has Sunnyside Pubic School. Both like WCI are in older neighborhoods where the demographics have shifted.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, neighborhood update, uptown waterloo by Keith Marshall
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