City staff in Kitchener suggest Bramm Yards be sold

It’s a former public works site in the Kitchener downtown core that has since been turned into a parking lot, but now, city staff are considering a sale of the Bramm Yards.

In a report sent to councillors on Thursday, staff said the site could be used as a mixed-use urban business park for health innovation employment. The proposed vision for the city is for the site to be the “central gathering point” for the innovation district.

Some of the neighbouring businesses in the area include the UW School of Pharmacy, the Kitchener campus for the McMaster School of Medicine and the UW Innovation Arena.

Jay Brown, an economic development analyst for the City of Kitchener, noted during Thursday’s Finance and Corporate Services Committee meeting that some of the development ideas could also incorporate affordable housing.

“Because of the inclusionary zoning bylaw and this being within the boundary of that…The predominant discussion is affordable housing needed to be included on the site,” said Brown.

The city spent 20 weeks from August to January looking for feedback from the public. It also expects to raise $80 million dollars through the sale of the 3.2 hectares of land.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic called the Bramm Yards a key piece of land for the innovation district and employments lands in the city.

“It’s not the only piece that’s left along the railway corridor,” said Vrbanovic. “In the fullness of time, I expect that there will be other lands that will develop: that’s just the nature of progress.”

The report noted it would need to spend up to $400,000 on environmental and geotechnical reports that would take up to 96 weeks to complete.

Council passed a motion for city staff to come back to the table on June 24 for proper wording on input for a rating criteria for the site.