KITCHENER — The landmark mixed-use development planned for downtown Kitchener will now be built in stages, and Waterloo Region will look after the transit portion.

"We are going to take on the construction of the transit hub," Coun. Tom Galloway, chair of the region's planning and works committee, said Tuesday.

"Then we'll chunk out the commercial, residential piece at a later date."

The original plan for the parcel at King and Victoria streets was to have a master developer look after the entire site, which would include transit infrastructure as well as residential, office and retail uses.

But last November, regional council decided to part ways with the developer — the only one to put in a qualified submission — because its vision didn't align with the region's expectations.

In a report presented to council on Tuesday, regional staff recommended breaking up the project into components and having the region get started immediately on building the transit infrastructure as the first phase.

"It's no change to the overall vision for the site," said Ellen McGaghey, the region's director of facilities and fleet management. "They weren't going to do it all at one go, anyway."

This way the region can move forward with the transit terminal, which will seamlessly connect passengers on Ion, GO Transit, Via Rail service and Grand River Transit, while having more control over the look of the hub.

"This is going to have a high level of design. This is going to be an iconic building," Galloway said.

The province has committed $43 million for the transit-related components of the project. It's not expected the stumble with the master developer will significantly affect the original schedule, with construction on the transit hub expected to be completed in late 2021 or early 2022.

The transit infrastructure would be built to allow flexibility to integrate future private development on the property, which could be done by a single company or several.

"It allows us to move forward," McGaghey said.

The plan was approved by a regional committee on Tuesday, and will need final approval at the next council meeting.

jweidner@therecord.com

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