Kitchener aims to move forward with pre-development plans for Charles Street terminal

The City of Kitchener aims to move forward with pre-development plans for the former downtown Charles Street bus terminal ahead of development and a potential sale, a city report shows. 

This report will be discussed at the finance and corporate services committee meeting on Monday. The city is looking to enter into an agreement with the Region of Waterloo to split the duties and pre-development costs based on ownership.

The region owns 88 per cent of the property and Kitchener owns 12 per cent of the approximately 11,000 square metre terminal.

The block located at 15 Charles Street was the site of the city's bus terminal from the late 1980s until 2019. It was turned into a drive-thru COVID-19 testing centre in 2020 during the pandemic but has sat empty since April 2022.

Last July, regional staff said that the former terminal would be redeveloped for multiple uses, which included bringing more affordable housing to the downtown core.

They said it would also focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, sustainability and climate change, and economic development.

Sale of land in question

The staff report implied that the aim is to sell the land that the former terminal sits on, as it references "the future land sale revenue." However, it also reads that the selling of the property might "not occur".

Ward 9 councillor Debbie Chapman stressed that "city council has not approved the sale of the property, of [their] portion of the property," but said that it could be possible. 

"It could at some point in the future be sold," Chapman said. "But nothing has been approved at this point." 

She explained that "it's still in the community engagement phase."

Its potential sale came as a surprise to Amy Smoke, the co-director of the Willow River Centre who is part of Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan of the Six Nations of the Grand River. However she said that the sale has been "always in the back of my mind." 

"They're a corporation," Smoke said. "The region, the city, they want to make money."

Smoke and others have been advocating for the property to be turned into an Indigenous community hub that would include medical services, a daycare, and affordable housing among other things. Smoke explained that if built, it would also be open to other marginalized communities. 

"I was not under the impression that, yeah, a land sale would occur given they're asking everybody, 'What do you want to see?'"  Smoke said. 

CBC News reached out to the region for comment about the potential sale but didn't hear back by the time of publication.