YOW Alt Hotel [1085 Airport Pkwy] | ?m | 7f | U/C

[rocketphish]

A proposal has been received for the construction of an Alt Hotel at 1085 Airport Parkway.

The hotel is proposed to be eight (8) storeys in height, and will contain 180 guest rooms. An enclosed pedestrian walkway is proposed to connect the hotel with the interior of the multi-storey parking garage. The ground floor is intended to accommodate the hotel lobby, as well as access to the pedestrian walkway. The top floor is reserved for meeting rooms and related uses for groups and conferences. The remaining floors will contain the guest rooms, with 30 rooms per floor. A vehicle drop-off area is proposed along Airport Parkway Private for hotel guests arriving by private vehicle. The drop-off area is delineated by means of a curb boulevard on the north side of the private way. Five lay-by spaces are proposed in the drop-off area, as well as one oversized stall for buses. Parking for hotel guests will be reserved in the short-term parking garage, at a rate of one space per guest unit.

Development application:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__AD1CAD

[rocketphish]

Group Germain Hotels and Ottawa International Airport Authority announce the construction of the Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport

Release date:
Monday, January 28, 2019

The Canadian hotelier Group Germain Hotels and the Ottawa International Airport Authority announced today the construction of the Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport, an investment of $40 million. The hotel will have 180 comfortable and modern rooms on eight floors. The meeting rooms (about 3,000 square feet) and a restaurant will be located on the top floor of the new building, providing an incomparable 360˚ view of the airport’s operations. An indoor skywalk will connect the hotel to the airport terminal for ease of use of travelers. The hotel is scheduled to open late 2020.

“This announcement marks an important milestone for Group Germain Hotels. It means that we have reached our goal of 20 hotels by 2020, and we are extremely proud of this achievement,” says Jean-Yves Germain co-president Group Germain Hotels. “Since we set out this ambitious goal, our teams have been working relentlessly to find the best locations to establish our three hotel brands across Canada, this was a tremendous collaborative effort,” adds Christiane Germain co-president Group Germain Hotels. “We are well on our way to reaching our ultimate goal which is to become the first Canadian independent hotelier group to be present all across Canada,” they both concluded.

The Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport will be Group Germain Hotels’ third property in Canada’s Capital Region. The first Alt Hotel, located in the business district, opened in 2016 and in the spring of 2018, Le Germain Hotel welcomed its first guests. YOW will be the third Alt Hotel to open in a terminal airport location confirming the growing demand for airport stays.

“After more than a year of due diligence, we found the ideal site and partner to develop a YOW terminal-connected hotel,” said Mark Laroche, President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority. “This development, plus LRT connectivity, plus our pre-board screening and concession revitalization plans underline YOW’s commitment to serving the growing demands of Canada’s Capital Region’s residents and visitors. We invite our passengers and partners to follow our development projects at www.yow.ca/yow+.”

Once again, Group Germain Hotels will be relying on Montreal-based LemayMichaud Architecture Design to bring to life the vibrant and unconventional Alt style to life in this new hotel. Comfortable and well-thought-out rooms with ergonomic workstations, sleek urban design with an eco-friendly environment, lobbies designed so that guests can socialize, relax or have impromptu meetings, as well as fitness rooms accessible 24/7, are all Alt Hotel signature elements. Other Alt Hotels amenities include ultra-fast free Wi-Fi, and Chromecast streaming media players allowing our guests to watch their favorite content as though they were at home! Also, dogs are welcome and there is no set check out time when guests book directly with us, giving them plenty of time to relax before their next flight!



About the Ottawa International Airport Authority
OMCIAA manages, operates and develops airport facilities and lands in support of the economic growth of the National Capital Region, generating more than $2.2 billion annually in total economic activity in Ottawa and Gatineau.

About Alt Hotels by Le Germain
At Alt Hotels, we march to a different beat by giving guests the best of what they want without any extra fluff. Located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Brossard, Quebec City, Halifax, St. John’s, Calgary and soon Saskatoon, all of our properties are carefully crafted to combine eco-friendly comfort within sleek urban spaces – all designed with guests in mind. Alt Hotels. Stay unconventional.

About Group Germain Hotels
Group Germain Hotels is a Canadian family-run business that owns and operates Le Germain Hotels, Alt and Alt+ Hotels across Canada. Ranked as one of Canada’s best-managed companies, the business is known for its exceptional hospitality philosophy and the unique style that characterizes its hotels. Having celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018, Group Germain Hotels has achieved its ambitious goal of having 20 hotels by 2020, the 1250-employee company’s ultimate goal is now to become the first independent, truly pan-Canadian hotel group. Visit Group Germain Hotels.

- 30 -

For more information:

Krista Kealey
Vice-President, Communications and Public Affairs
Ottawa International Airport Authority
613-248-2050
Krista.Kealey@YOW.ca

France Savard
Senior coordinator Public Relations,
Group Germain Hotels
514-954-0702
fsavard@groupegermain.com


https://yow.ca/en/corporate/media-ce...tion-alt-hotel

[HighwayStar]

The first post says:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

.
The ground floor is intended to accommodate the hotel lobby, as well as access to the pedestrian walkway. The top floor is reserved for meeting rooms and related uses for groups and conferences. The remaining floors will contain the guest rooms, with 30 rooms per floor.
.

While the second post says:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

.
The Canadian hotelier Group Germain Hotels and the Ottawa International Airport Authority announced today the construction of the Alt Hotel Ottawa Airport, an investment of $40 million. The hotel will have 180 comfortable and modern rooms on eight floors. The meeting rooms (about 3,000 square feet) and a restaurant will be located on the top floor of the new building, providing an incomparable 360˚ view of the airport’s operations. An indoor skywalk will connect the hotel to the airport terminal for ease of use of travelers. The hotel is scheduled to open late 2020.
.

So will there be a publicly accessible restaurant on the top floor or not ?

[HighwayStar]

Answering my own post... buried in the floor plans PDF of the development application is the following for the 8th floor:



If this is really true... Oooo... wonderful new spotting options

[phil235]

Originally Posted by HighwayStar

If this is really true... Oooo... wonderful new spotting options

Not only that, the images on pages 16 and 17 of the design brief suggest spectacular ocean views.

[rocketphish]

Site:










Massing:




Renderings:

[rocketphish]

Deals of the Year – Tourism: Alt Hotel’s next Ottawa location spot-on for travellers

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Dec 13, 2019 3:24pm EST



It’s a mid-winter vacationer’s dream scenario: ditching the parka and strolling into the airport in shorts and flip-flops without ever having to face the elements.

Soon enough, it will be a reality, thanks to Canadian hotel chain Group Germain’s $40-million plan to construct a 180-room hotel under its Alt banner that will offer entry to Ottawa’s airport terminal via a covered walkway.

It gives a whole new meaning to “direct connection,” and it was one of the airport’s key requirements when it put bids for a new hotel out to tender in the summer of 2017.

“We know, based on our research and even probably many of your readers have personal experience of staying at a quote-unquote ‘airport’ hotel, that is really nowhere near the airport,” says Joel Tkach, vice-president of business development and marketing at the Ottawa International Airport Authority.

“When you can say that you’re directly connected, it certainly is appealing to those customers looking for that.”

Group Germain is expected to break ground on the project in January, with completion targeted for late spring 2021. It will be the chain’s third hotel in the capital, following the Alt Hotel on Slater Street and the Le Germain Hotel on Daly Avenue.

For Group Germain director of development Hugo Germain, the chance to add to the rapidly growing Quebec-based company’s stable of airport properties was too good to pass up.

“They’re pretty rare, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re so excited about this one,” he says of airport proposals. “When those opportunities come by, they don’t come twice.”

In this case, that’s not quite accurate. The Ottawa airport authority initially started looking for potential partners to construct a new airport hotel back in 2015.

Three sites were considered, and plenty of developers were keen on the proposal, Tkach says. But bidders clearly favoured a site that would allow them to link a hotel directly to the airport terminal, and the option best suited for that, located just south of the terminal, posed a number of construction challenges, he concedes.

The airport authority went back to the drawing board and did another land study to find a more suitable space for a hotel, eventually rebooting the RFP process in 2017.

The new location next to the parking garage “was a lot less speculative and it was a lot more exact in terms of what the land could bear,” Tkach says.

Group Germain’s previous experience in building airport hotels ​– it already operates Alt-branded properties at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Halifax Stanfield International Airport ​– gave the Canadian chain a clear edge, he says.

A number of complications can arise when building a hotel so close to an airport, Tkach says, including the need to make sure the structure doesn’t interfere with a pilot’s sight lines.

“It’s good to have an operator that knows most of those,” he adds.

The new property will feature a restaurant and meeting rooms on the top floor offering 360-degree views of the terminal and runways. Guests will also be allowed to check out whenever they wish, meaning they can relax in their rooms until just before they need to head over to catch their flights. There will also be informal meeting space on the ground floor just steps away from the terminal, Germain adds.

“We become an extension of the airport,” he says.

https://obj.ca/article/deals-year-to...pot-travellers

[J.OT13]

Will it be a climate controlled link to the airport? I imagine they won't close off the parking garage section.

I feel like the Stanfield and Pearson hotels are more striking architecturally (though nearly identical to each other and other ALT branded hotels).

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Will it be a climate controlled link to the airport? I imagine they won't close off the parking garage section.

I feel like the Stanfield and Pearson hotels are more striking architecturally (though nearly identical to each other and other ALT branded hotels).

It looks climate controlled to me. It seems to be hooked up like this based on the drawings:

ALTR by harley613, on Flickr

[Harley613]

Yeah you can see that's where it's going here:

Screenshot_2019-12-14 2018_ottawa_airport_master_plan_-_executive_summary_-_eng pdf by harley613, on Flickr

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

It'd be nice to live to see Ottawa get a third runway.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by Jamaican-Phoenix

It'd be nice to live to see Ottawa get a third runway.

I'm pretty sure we'd have to move Montreal a little further up the St. Lawrence to see a third runway in Ottawa in anyone alive's lifetime 😜

[Harley613]

I'm really surprised this hasn't been revived yet based on recent travel trends.

[Tariq20]

this is a cool project hope it happens and on the YOW website it says this project is under review at this time

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I'm really surprised this hasn't been revived yet based on recent travel trends.

I don't know the out of town flying out of Ottawa market must be way down. Other than a few southern destinations most of those flights are gone and I bet most of even the Ottawa valley would just drive to Montreal if they need to overnight.

[BenYOW]

The Alt Hotel proposal is coming before the Finance and Economic Development Committee for consideration of an application under the recently passed Ottawa International Airport CIP. This is the first application under the Airport's CIP going forward for consideration by FEDCO.

City considers $13 million grant for new hotel at Ottawa airport

Ottawa taxpayers could provide a $13 million grant to support the construction of a 180-room hotel at the Ottawa International Airport, as part of a program to support the airport's post-pandemic rebound.

A report for the finance and corporate services committee recommends approving the grant over 25 years under the Ottawa International Airport Community Improvement Plan to support Germain Hotel's proposed development of the $55 million Alt Hotel at the airport.

The proposed hotel would have 180 rooms, a restaurant, meeting rooms and covered pedway connecting the hotel to the airport terminal via the parkade.

Last July, Council approved the Ottawa International Airport Community Improvement Plan (YOW CIP) to provide financial incentives in the form of a grant for companies who develop or redevelop properties in the airport area. The YOW CIP offers a grant to airport tenants of up to 75 per cent of the increase in municipal property taxes directly related to the development each year, up to 25 years, and the grant is only paid after all annual property taxes are paid in full each year.

The goal of the grant is to support the airport's post-pandemic rebound and city-wide economic growth, after the airport saw a significant decline in passenger air travel during the pandemic, city staff say.

The report for the finance and corporate services committee says the Alt Hotel project would result in an increase of $17.436 million in property taxes over 25 years. With a $13 million grant over 25 years, staff say the city would still see $4,359,228 in new property tax revenue over the 25-year period.

Staff say Germain Hotels decided to proceed with the proposed hotel after learning of the Ottawa International Airport Community Improvement Plan grant, after initially shelving the plan due to escalating costs and the impacts of the pandemic.

In July 2019, Germain Hotels and the Ottawa International Airport announced plans to build a $42 million, eight-floor hotel at the airport. By the summer of 2020, the project was abandoned due to a "business climate resulting from pandemic impacts on air travel and visitation to Ottawa, mandated business closures, and supply chain issues affecting costs", staff say.

When Germain Hotel re-examined the project in the fall of 2021, the cost of the project jumped to $55 million and the company determined that, "given the pace of pandemic recovery and escalating construction costs, the project was no longer viable", according to the report.

The Ottawa International Airport approached Germain Hotel following council's approval of the Ottawa International Airport Community Improvement Plan to try and resuscitate the Alt Hotel project.

"In late 2022, Germain Hotels decided to proceed with the project, but only if they could secure the financial incentive available through the YOW CIP program," staff say in the report for the April 4 finance and corporate services committee meeting.

"A YOW CIP grant would represent a material change to the project's financial forecast and feasibility and was a deciding factor, in addition to positive trends in the Ottawa visitor economy and air travel generally, to move the project forward."

The report says the new Alt Hotel at the Ottawa International Airport would create 50 new full-time jobs when it opens, while the economic impact of the proposed development is approximately $55 million in direct construction costs in addition to "significant indirect and induced economic benefits to the local economy."

Staff say the new hotel would generate $17.4 million in property taxes over the 25-year period for the grant, and $3.7 million for city project permits and fees.

According to the report, the grants would start at $295,347 in 2025, ballooning to $809,691 in 2049. The city would see an increase in municipal taxes starting at $393,796 in 2025, jumping to $1.079 million in 2049.

Councillors on the finance and corporate services committee will debate the proposal on April 4.

[lrt's friend]

Hmmm. A hotel at the airport, a prime location, can't be built without a tax subsidy from my property taxes?

[Richard Eade]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Hmmm. A hotel at the airport, a prime location, can't be built without a tax subsidy from my property taxes?

Yup. I have to agree with you on this one. I don't think that the addition of a hotel (which was already planned) is what the grant should be used for.

Granted, the designation of a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is a pretty wide open thing. It allows the city to provide grants (through reduced taxes, I believe) to help a designated area to undergo a revitalization. For example, I think that Bells Corners was (supposedly) 'revitalized' with the addition of a hotel or two. However, I'm not convinced that subsidizing a hotel near the airport - that is not even beside the LRT - is the best approach.

The Ottawa International Airport needs international flights. With Pearson limiting the number of flights, why have the big airlines not shifted flights to Ottawa? If they are shuttling people in to YYZ to fill those planes, how much different would it be to shuttle them to Ottawa?

I think that doing things that increase the use of Ottawa International Airport would be a better use of the city's money than to subsidize a hotel.

[Harley613]

I have been wondering when this one would be back on our radar!

http://https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/city-considers-13-million-grant-for-new-hotel-at-ottawa-airport-1.6328579

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Richard Eade

Yup. I have to agree with you on this one. I don't think that the addition of a hotel (which was already planned) is what the grant should be used for.

Granted, the designation of a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is a pretty wide open thing. It allows the city to provide grants (through reduced taxes, I believe) to help a designated area to undergo a revitalization. For example, I think that Bells Corners was (supposedly) 'revitalized' with the addition of a hotel or two. However, I'm not convinced that subsidizing a hotel near the airport - that is not even beside the LRT - is the best approach.

The Ottawa International Airport needs international flights. With Pearson limiting the number of flights, why have the big airlines not shifted flights to Ottawa? If they are shuttling people in to YYZ to fill those planes, how much different would it be to shuttle them to Ottawa?

I think that doing things that increase the use of Ottawa International Airport would be a better use of the city's money than to subsidize a hotel.

Yes especially as there already is a hotel. If there wasn't we could see the logic as it attracts some travelers. How about eliminating the passenger tax on new routes for 6 months for example.