City owned property and land

Learn more about leasing or purchasing a city owned land or property. Submit an expression of interest, find permitted use of land or property for sale, history and details on listed land or property, and find information packages on available land or property for sale.

About the Former Kraus Lands

Deadline for submissions has passed.

The Former Kraus Lands (referred to as "the lands") are located on University Avenue East adjacent to the fire station at 911 University Avenue East. The lands are approximately 13.29 hectares (33 acres) in size. It is bounded by University Avenue East to the west, the Walter Bean Trail to the north, the Grand River is located to the east and a private property to the south.

The sale of the lands provides an opportunity to create additional residential and commercial development on the east side of the city. The lands are generally flat and there are no buildings or structures on site, with the subject lands being currently vacant. The surrounding lands are serviced by a bus route, and have amenities of the Grey Silo Golf Course and the RIM Park Manulife Sportsplex. 

 

What the City of Waterloo is seeking

The Former Kraus Lands were acquired as part of a larger acquisition a number of years ago for the construction of RIM Park, with the intention that the lands would be sold at a later time. The sale of the lands provides an opportunity to design residential and commercial development on the east side of the city.

The City of Waterloo is interested in development applications that:

  1. Make the best use of the site in terms of diversity of use and intensification.
  2. Advance the city’s Strategic Plan goals and objectives.
  3. Contributes to the creation of a mixed-use area that is seamlessly integrated in the surrounding community.

Zoning and permitted use

The Former Kraus Lands are designated as Low Density Residential with a Future Node and two specific provision areas in the city’s Official Plan.

The lands are identified as Residential (Low Density), Residential (Medium Density) and Residential (Medium-High Density) and are located within the Rural East District Plan.

A minor node is identified on the west side of the lands which shall contain commercial uses and a range of residential development with an emphasis on medium-high density developments.

Zoning Bylaw 2018-050 zones the property as Future Determination (FD) zone. A zoning bylaw amendment application will be required to rezone the lands appropriately to allow for the proposed development, which will include residential with a commercial component.

Additional planning applications will be required depending on the nature and scope of the proposed development.

Expression of interest

The following are some of the items that will be considered when reviewing proposals in response to this Expression of interest (EOI):

  • financial benefit to the city as the city should receive no less than fair market value for the subject land
  • affordable housing component
  • urban design, master planning, timing and the compliance of the proposal with the city’s requirements
  • consortium, team capacity

For the full list of items that will be considered, please refer to the expression of interest package.

Through this review process, the city wishes to identify a proponent where the city can enter into negotiations for an agreement which will include the sale of the subject land to the successful proponent subject to the city’s land disposition process.

Additional information

The REOI is now closed.

Council meeting to render decision:

To be determined.

Photos

Photo Gallery: Former Kraus Lands will appear here on the public site.