Downtown Kingston’s Queen Street ripe for redevelopment, no shortage of ideas – Kingston

The new year could bring a new opportunity to reimagine the future of Queen Street in downtown Kingston, Ont.

City planners and residents say the street is ripe for residential densification and beautification projects, though the nine-block road with its narrow sidewalks is known for its legal battles over tall buildings and is generally hated by drivers and pedestrians alike.

“I don’t see a lot of love for Queen Street, but I do see a lot of potential,” said Nico Konig, a resident of nearby McBurney Park.

Koenig, a self-described community organizer who wrote about Queen Street’s potential in a neighborhood newsletter, wants the street to be more attractive to cyclists, pedestrians, and the people who will live there in the future.

He sees Queen Street’s four lanes of traffic as a shortcut for drivers looking to get to and from the LaSalle Bridge. He says the street, which has consistently ranked poorly in the Civil Aviation Authority’s annual survey of Ontario’s Worst Roads, could be turned into its own downtown destination with proper planning for apartment buildings, shops and other amenities.

“Not many people like Queen Street. Nobody walks with Quinn and the drivers, and according to the CAA, Queen is one of the 10 worst streets in Ontario.”

Some of his ideas can be considered radical or progressive.

These include closing the entire street to drivers and transforming it into a linear park with benches, trees and garden space, and building an observation deck for the lake view and the Royal Military College. Failing that, it calls for at least one or two traffic lanes to be removed to give cyclists and pedestrians more elbow room, to make it safer and more attractive.

While many of Koenig’s views focus on beautifying the street itself, City Hall grapples with the kinds of buildings it should limit.

“We can add more condominiums to bring more people downtown, which I think is more important than ever to get out of the pandemic and support businesses here,” according to Paige Agnew, the city’s community services commissioner.

Agnew, who served as the city’s master planner prior to its upgrade, believes that the future heights can be built in thoughtful, sensitive ways that won’t detract from the city’s historic downtown charm and tourist appeal, but says community acceptance is key.

“We need more people living downtown and we have to have a conversation in the community and agree on how to do it. Otherwise, we are locked up on appeal after appeal and nothing is built and the community suffers as a result.”

While Queen Street may never rival the main downtown Princess Street, which runs parallel to Queen One, with its unique restaurants and shops, many would agree that it’s a key piece of the downtown puzzle that needs more attention.

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Agnew says there are at least five proposed apartment buildings along Queen Street in various stages of the planning process.

One of them is already underway – Crown Apartment.

The residential tower project by IN8 Developments, formerly known as the Capitol Condominium, finally broke a six-year crisis of citizen appeals by striking a settlement deal to roof the building at nine floors, a significant drop from the original plan at more than 20 floors.

IN8 President Daryl Fierstein says it will take more than his building to rejuvenate on Queen Street.

“I think it’s definitely underutilized with a lot of potential. It has a lot of car traffic going up and down, but nobody really stops and shop and walks and uses the street. I think it has more potential if its residents live on the streets.”

The demolition of the former Capitol cinema at 223 Princess Street began late last year to clear the way for construction of the building, adjacent to the Kingston World Media Building.

Firsten says Queen Street is ideal for downtown density and densification – planning terms for cramming a lot of condominiums into a small space usually through tall buildings – and the back of the old theater along the Queen is where the building will be located.

He says opponents of tall buildings should focus instead on creating a thriving downtown with more people.

“The idea of ​​an economy driving itself on tourism will not work. The future is that we need more people living downtown. They will be there 365 days a year.”

However, opponents continue to back down via appeals against what they say are elevated demands for buildings by developers, including proposed 19- and 23-story buildings by Homestead Land Holdings on lower Queen Street.

There are other high-rise projects currently underway on Queen Streets, Barrie and near Queen and Division Streets.

Agnew says that the vibrancy and density of the city center can be achieved through attractive building designs that do not overwhelm the low-rise surroundings.

“With these new projects coming up, it will change the look and feel of Queen Street in a way that I think will be positive, and hopefully bring vitality and new people downtown.”

She says finding the right balance between what the developer wants and what the community will accept – with local politicians and planners (and often the courts) making the major decisions – is critical to the street’s future rejuvenation.

Agnew says the city-sponsored Density by Design process will focus on creating a vision for proper growth downtown, including Queen Street, later this year.

“We need to deal holistically with the whole street. If we allow things to build incrementally, it will not help. We need a vision and that is our top priority for 2022.”

If there was a time to reimagine Queen Street, now is the time, Koenig says, noting that the street will lose some of its shortened appeal for bridge access once the $180 million Third Bridge Crossing opens in late 2022. There’s also $61,000 the city received as a benefit. A community of developer Crown Apartments who have been assigned to study the redevelopment of Queen Street.

“With that much commitment, I’m not sure what you can get, but I will say it will win an international award. Let’s get feedback from all over the world on how we can redesign Queen Street to make it the best street in the world.”