A more than 100-year-old automobile tire factory in the heart of Kitchener, Ontario, has recently been list for sale — and the storied site is a residential developer's dream.
The property, located at 101 Glasgow Street between Downtown Kitchener and Westmount, is home to rubber products supplier AirBoss Rubber Solutions, but for nearly a century it was occupied by the Dominion Tire Factory, which, in 1964, became the largest tire company in Canada.
By 1966, the company changed its name to Uniroyal before merging with B.F. Goodrich in 1986 to become Uniroyal Goodrich. Eventually, the plant was purchased by Michelin but closed its doors in December 1991 only after producing over 160 million tires and earning the title of the oldest tire factory in North America.
During its lifetime, the factory manufactured products and conducted research to support the war efforts, became the first rubber company in Canada to sign a union contract, and helped Kitchener become known as the "Akron, Ohio of Canada" and "the rubber capital of the world."
According to a staff report to Kitchener City Council on its inclusion on the heritage register, the main building was designed by one of the 20th century's greatest architects Albert Khan, who is known as the "Architect of Detroit" for designing almost 900 of the city's buildings, including the Ford River Rouge plant.
Built in 1912 in the early Industrial Modernism style, 101 Glasgow features a flat roofline with cornice and dentil mouldings, an exposed concrete frame, red brick masonry, and large factory windows. In addition to the four-storey factory, the property includes a three-storey, 40,000-sq.-ft administrative building built in 1919 with a similar design.
Photo of the Dominion Tire Factory in its early days/TD Cornerstone Commercial Realty Inc.
According to the staff report, the factory was built in the comparably small city of Kitchener (then Berlin), as opposed to the larger industrial hubs of Hamilton or London, due to the persuasive efforts of Dominion Tire Vice President Talmon Henry Rieder. A true developer, Rieder saw that the development of the factory at 101 Glasgow Street could further his goal of building a residential neighbourhood on nearby farmland.
Now, the factory itself will likely become a residential development.
The 14.5-acre lot and existing buildings is being listed by TD Cornerstone Commercial Realty Inc. for an undisclosed price and offers a number of attractive features, one being an unlimited floor space index (FSI). Located in a Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) of the City of Kitchener’s Growing Together Plan, the site, which is one of the largest urban infill sites in Kitchener-Waterloo, is intended for a high-density intensification, meaning developers will benefit from no maximum building height, density restrictions, or parking minimum.
"Prospective purchasers are presented a unique opportunity to transform this 'blank slate' into a residential-focused community with endless built form and use possibilities," reads the listing.
101 Glasgow Street/TD Cornerstone Commercial Realty Inc.
101 Glasgow Street/TD Cornerstone Commercial Realty Inc.
Other advantages include interim holding income through a leaseback with AirBoss Rubber Solutions, supporting the new owner through their predevelopment planning phase. On top of that, a Cultural Heritage Review from MHBC Planners provides a vision for future redevelopment that strategically incorporates the factory's historic built forms. For example, the listing ponders a "both loft-style residential conversion and desirable commercial space akin to the nearby Tannery redevelopment."
Zooming out, the site has close proximity to a number of transit options and amenities, culminating in a robust and desirable neighbourhood for future tenants. Within 500 metres is both the Grand River Hospital and Central Station LRT stops, and even closer, the Kitchener Central Transit Hub, which is expected to be completed in 2027 and will connect the LRT to the GRT inter-city bus network, GO transit and VIA Rail service.
Further enriching the neighbourhood is the nearby education institutions, including Laurier University, University of Waterloo, and Conestoga College, top employers within the Catalyst137 hub, and plenty of shops and restaurants.
