Parks, condos, or an arena: Exploring options for ‘valuable’ lot in Kitchener
Posted Feb 25, 2026 07:10:02 AM.
Last Updated Feb 25, 2026 10:12:39 AM.
The Region of Waterloo is set to discuss declaring the land at the Charles Street Terminal in downtown Kitchener surplus, opening the door for some development at a prime location in Waterloo Region.
Whether or not the land will be declared surplus will be a topic of discussion at a Region of Waterloo council meeting on March 25.
The bus terminal halted operations after the ION began rolling through Kitchener in June 2019. The building has sat dormant for nearly seven years now, and has often been the topic of “what if” development scenarios at that site.
The lot is just over one hectare in size, that’s nearly two football fields, and sits perfectly placed between City Hall, Victoria Park, and Gaukel Block in the city’s downtown core.
“It’s an incredibly central and important piece of property that connects the most important public spaces in the core,” said Rick Haldenby, architect and Professor of Architecture at the University of Waterloo. “It’s an unbelievably valuable resource.”
In 2024, the Region of Waterloo hosted a survey on Engage WR called “Charles Street Terminal Visioning,” laying out some potential options and exploring what the future of the site could look like with residents.
Those options included affordable housing, green space, an Indigenous learning centre, or a space that mixed all three ideas into one.
Haldenby has considered the options for what could fit on that Charles Street lot for years and has even had students in his classes at the University of Waterloo complete projects that explore a vision for how to best use that piece of land.
At this point, it’s unclear whether the region will look to sell the land to a private developer or collaborate with the City of Kitchener on a community-driven project.
“This should be a collaboration, and we should look carefully at providing affordable housing, social housing, as well as market housing, green space. I just think we’ve got to build something that really serves the community,” said Haldenby.
He admitted that when the terminal first went dormant back in 2019, he considered the possibility of putting a new hockey arena on that site, situated with plenty of access to local restaurants, bars, and public transit.
The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium is more than 70 years old, but with plenty of life left in it. The City of Kitchener recently invested millions into a new restaurant at the arena, a site that is set to open in the coming months.
Haldenby noted that an 8,000-seater, NHL-style arena could, in theory, fit on that site, but added that he believes it wouldn’t be the best use for the land.
“It would be a squeeze,” said Haldenby.
“It’s not an ideal site for The Aud. It is an ideal site to do something creative, mixing uses: housing, cultural, social, commercial, recreational at a smaller scale.”
Haldenby compared the potential of the Charles Street Terminal land to the development happening at Regent Park in downtown Toronto. What was once solely a space for social housing has been revitalized into a mixed-income, mixed-use community in the city’s downtown core.
