The Barrel Yards is located in the heart of Uptown Waterloo on former industrial sites.
The site is a significant part of the Waterloo community, and the urban renewal that it illustrates will continue to honour the history and bring new life to the area.
The new development on the land has two buildings, The Onyx and The Cooperage, which feature 11 buildings ranging from eight to 27 stories. The Barrel Yards will help to further revitalize Uptown Waterloo by attracting more visitors, residents, and office and retail spaces.
At Stonerise Construction, we believe every community has a story, and for the next few months, we’re highlighting each of Stonerise’s developments to tell theirs. This month, we’re going back in time to 1872, where the Barrel Yards began.
The Cooperage History
Waterloo has a rich history of industrial production close to the downtown, including whisky. Although The Barrel Yards is a new development, there is historical significance to the location. The Cooperage development is located on the former site of Canada Barrel and Keg Limited (Canbar) — the company that produced the whiskey barrels for the nearby Seagram Distillery. Canbar was an abbreviation for Canadian Barrel and Keg.
The company opened in 1872 by Karl Mueller and he originally called the company Mueller Cooperage. A brick building was built in 1906 on Shantz Avenue, then later renamed to Canbar Avenue. Both these streets no longer exist. By 1905 the company was producing 600 barrels per day.
Karl’s son, John Charles Mueller, eventually took over the company in 1914 and renamed the company as Charles Mueller Cooperate. After expanding the business they started producing 1,000 barrels per day.
In 1920 the company was sold to the Seagram family after Charles’s death and the name was changed to Canada Barrels and Kegs. In 1973 the name was changed to Canbar and was moved to Breslau, Ont.
Mueller Cooperage opened in 1872 at Erb & Regina Streets. Seagram’s bought the company in 1920.
Credit: Waterloo Library.
The Onyx History
The Barrel Yards had more than one company located on the site. The Onyx is named after a flour mill company that started in the 19th century. Granite Mills was built in 1857 by William Hespeler and George Randall in Waterloo, Ont. and milled Onyx Premium Four at the mill.
In 1863 they brought on William Roos, then later hired Joseph Emm Seagram in 1864. By 1883, Seagram bought out all three partners and became the sole proprietor. Seagram had a few company name changes but landed on Joseph E. Seagram and Sons Limited as the final name in 1911. After Seagrams death in 1919, the company was sold to the Bronfman family, which was later amalgamated into their distillery business.
Although the original businesses on the property are now gone, new businesses have taken over the area.
The Barrel Yards Today
The Barrel Yards development is mixed-use, featuring a hotel, restaurant, residential condos and apartments, and offices. The development features eco-friendly features, such as low-emission paints, energy-efficient thermal window systems, and more.
The Barrel Yards’ newest addition — Tower I — is Stonerise Construction’s biggest and tallest upcoming project — standing at 22 stories tall, 236 units are spanned over 300,000 square feet. This project will also include a separate parking structure available for tenants.
The Delta Waterloo, Proof Kitchen + Lounge, The Cooperage, The Onyx, and live-work units have already been built with plans to develop Tower I and an underground-parking garage with 115 spots available to the residents of The Barrel Yards community.
Tower I, located beside The Onyx, will be ready for occupancy by the summer of 2021.
With the expected completion date for the live-work complex being 2025, the final development will include a seniors’ residence, townhouses, street-level retail, office space, a 2,400 space underground parking garage and a park.
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