Region continues work to find developer for Victoria-King transit hub

Waterloo region will continue its work to find developers for the King-Victoria transit hub after councillors decided to terminate the request for proposal (RFP) process on the project during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

King-Victoria Transit Hub Partners Inc. were the only respondents to the region's request for potential developers for the site in 2017.

• New regional transit hub in downtown Kitchener expected to cost $43 million
• Listen to Ellen McGaghey speak with Craig Norris about the transit hub project

Ellen McGaghey, project director for the King-Victoria Transit Hub, told CBC News staff had reviewed their response at the time and determined King-Victoria Transit Hub Partners Inc. would have been able deliver the region's vision for the project.

In the spring, the region continued with an RFP process with King-Victoria Transit Hub Partners Inc., where the region highlighted its requirements for the project and the developer shared its overall vision.

 But McGaghey said ideas were not aligning and staff decided to cancel the RFP process.

"As they shared their vision and preliminary designs for the site, it became apparent that they weren't going to meet our requirements for it," she said.

McGaghey said the region wants the transit hub to be a centralized transportation area for ION LRT, Grand River Transit, taxis and other modes of city transportation, combined with commercial and residential space as well. 

She said though the RFP process was not a success, it was not a significant blow to the project. Staff are looking at either introducing a similar process again or a way to deliver the project in smaller portions.

"What we'll be doing over the next couple of months is evaluating some of those options, and any alternative options that come up," she said.

Staff are scheduled to return to council in early 2019 with a new set of recommendations.