KITCHENER — The purchase of a small property paves the way for a big redevelopment of 2.4 hectares of land fronting along King Street West that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Zehr Group announced Friday it completed the purchase of 641 King St. W. in Kitchener, and now owns all of the land between the railway tracks and Wellington Street South, and into the block as far as the Ontario Seed property.

"It really allowed us to close off the entire block," said Zac Zehr, manager of development for the Zehr Group. "We can now move forward with the whole master plan vision we have for the site."

During the next two months, the company will apply for zoning changes and an amendment to the city's official plan.

The changes are needed to accommodate the high-density, mixed-use redevelopment of the site. Preliminary plans call for one million square feet of new buildings — three condominium towers, an apartment building and office and retail space.

"Right now we have a huge team of consultants who are working with us behind the scenes, and we are getting very close to being able to move it forward into the public realm," Zehr said.

The demolition of the modern wings of the former Kaufman mansion will begin in the spring. The original mansion will be preserved, and incorporated into the redevelopment.

The first phase of the redevelopment could begin this time next year, and will include residential, retail and office space along King Street West.

"Our site is challenging in that it is quite large in comparison to a more traditional downtown site," Zehr said. "The overall plan at this point is to build in phases."

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