rocketphish
Apr 13, 2016, 5:17 PM
Study centre eyed as ‘community’s living room’ in Alta Vista
By Erin McCracken
Ottawa South News, Apr 13, 2016
A bustling neighbourhood hub home to cafés, an arts venue, retirement living, a health centre and plenty of green space – Alta Vista residents have a growing wish list for the future redevelopment of the Federal Study Centre.
“The idea that it could be a community’s living room, that it fits within the ecosystem of a strong community, that it’s not just more residential,” said Clinton Cowan, president of the Alta Vista Community Association.
“The key thing is that it’s not overly saturated and not one dimensional,” he said of a future development at 1495 Heron Rd.
Public Services and Procurement Canada, which has managed the site since the federal government purchased it in 1973, expects to finalize its sale of the 7.3-hectare property to the federal arms-length Canada Lands Company this spring.
Local residents hope any change will not only fit the character of the neighbourhood, but be planned with their needs in mind and with a long-term outlook.
“Certainly not unimaginative big towers that are shortsighted. It’s very rare that you have a (seven-hectare) property in an established neighbourhood,” Cowan said, adding for that reason, it will be important for the community to have its say before Canada Lands sells it to a developer.
“Obviously, when there’s a large chunk of land being redeveloped there’s a distrust to how it will unfold, that, are we going to get office towers in there, is there going to be a wrecking ball and things that are unimaginative in there, just big boxes and things that don’t interrelate to the community that are intrusive,” Cowan said.
Given how Alta Vista residents appreciate the current design of the Federal Study Centre, its walkability and open spaces, they would not welcome a fenced-off, semi-closed development with service entrances at the back, he said.
“The ultimate thing is to ... have it re-purposed, reanimated and preserve the 12 buildings that are there.”
But, according to the federal public services department, the dozen buildings at the complex, which were used for government training and as a conference facility until 2011 and declared surplus in 2012, are in poor condition.
“It would require significant upgrades to meet our accommodation standards and code regulations,” said Stéphane Huot, executive director of the federal department’s real estate services in the national capital area.
“Sometimes from an economic standpoint it just doesn’t make sense to recapitalize an asset and (that) was the case with this ... complex,” he said, adding this would have required costly structural, mechanical and electrical upgrades.
In its current unused state, the property is racking up the bills.
In 2015-16, it cost the public services department $1.14 million in maintenance costs, building security, basic operations and payments in lieu of taxes.
“I would say it’s standard for an asset,” Huot said. “Costs are contained to the minimal just to make sure that the property is not creating a health hazard.”
But if it were used at full capacity, operational costs would be higher, Huot said, but did not elaborate.
There is some concern among residents that high-density housing on the south side of Heron Road in the Herongate community could be replicated at the property, Cowan noted.
That would be counter to the study centre’s design, which compliments the look and feel of the residential neighbourhood, he added.
Since the complex was built between 1963 and 1965, its green space, which backs onto a city park and includes forest and open fields, has buffered nearby single-family homes.
“It is a very exciting opportunity for the area. It is going to be in the long term,” said Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier.
While Cloutier cautioned it is very early days in the property’s changeover process, he has asked municipal staff to put it on their work plan “so they could start at a very preliminary level thinking about what might be possible what would be acceptable for the city in that area.”
It will be important for the city to be able to craft a plan that would help shape the future redevelopment “as it relates to employment lands, retail opportunities, mixed-use housing, transit ... that make for a more livable community,” Cloutier said.
“We don’t want huge towering buildings there. We just want all that to be clear.”
CONSULTATION PROMISED
Canada Lands will consult with the city and the community to develop “a vision and a master plan” for the property, a spokeswoman said, citing the example of its recently approved Wateridge Village redevelopment plan for the former CFB Rockcliffe.
“We engaged in a robust consultation process with the community and city,” she said.
For now, it’s too soon to determine when the company will sell the Federal Study Centre since it is still owned by public services, and the “due diligence” process has not yet begin, she wrote.
The city’s early involvement in the training facility’s eventual overhaul will include mapping out guidelines for future change there and any development application approvals.
“There is city interest in initiating a secondary planning process, which would engage the community and owner in terms of the repurposing of these lands and developing a concept plan to guide any future development,” Don Herweyer, the city’s manager of urban development review, said in an email.
The city will also be involved in any planning, zoning, subdivision and site-plan approvals for the property, which is currently zoned institutional, Herweyer said.
Canada Lands has indicated it will contact municipal staff once the property changes federal hands, he noted.
The community wants to stay a step ahead of change by helping guide the city to implement a pre-zoning exercise, said Cowan, similar to what was done for the National Defence medical centre lands off Smyth Road.
DND plans to sell that property, which is currently used for administration. In 2008, the city fleshed out a pre-design that would help guide any future developer who purchases the parcel.
Ottawa South MP David McGuinty, whose riding includes the study centre, said he plans to advocate on a number of fronts.
“What I’m going to be fighting for here is making sure that whatever happens with this site is 1) fully transparent, 2) involves serious community consultation with the Ottawa South community at large and the immediate neighbourhoods,” he said.
Before his Liberals won a majority, McGuinty wrote last July to John McBain, head of Canada Lands, inquiring about the property’s transfer status and its future plans for the site.
McGuinty is confident the property can meet multiple needs, which can be fleshed out with input from Cloutier, city staff and residents.
“I’m going to fight very hard to make sure that this reflects the true needs and desires of the community,” he said.
In his letter, he advocated that cutting-edge sustainable design features be featured in any future revitalization, that it be a net-zero carbon development and be energy efficient.
“Maybe there’s some roof-top gardening in there, maybe there’s solar, maybe there’s mixed-use energy in there,” McGuinty told Metroland Media.
“I just think there’s an incredible opportunity here to do something very, very unique in the heart of Alta Vista. We don’t have a lot of open space. We don’t have a lot of development opportunities like these.”
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/6494011-study-centre-eyed-as-community-s-living-room-in-alta-vista/
By Erin McCracken
Ottawa South News, Apr 13, 2016
A bustling neighbourhood hub home to cafés, an arts venue, retirement living, a health centre and plenty of green space – Alta Vista residents have a growing wish list for the future redevelopment of the Federal Study Centre.
“The idea that it could be a community’s living room, that it fits within the ecosystem of a strong community, that it’s not just more residential,” said Clinton Cowan, president of the Alta Vista Community Association.
“The key thing is that it’s not overly saturated and not one dimensional,” he said of a future development at 1495 Heron Rd.
Public Services and Procurement Canada, which has managed the site since the federal government purchased it in 1973, expects to finalize its sale of the 7.3-hectare property to the federal arms-length Canada Lands Company this spring.
Local residents hope any change will not only fit the character of the neighbourhood, but be planned with their needs in mind and with a long-term outlook.
“Certainly not unimaginative big towers that are shortsighted. It’s very rare that you have a (seven-hectare) property in an established neighbourhood,” Cowan said, adding for that reason, it will be important for the community to have its say before Canada Lands sells it to a developer.
“Obviously, when there’s a large chunk of land being redeveloped there’s a distrust to how it will unfold, that, are we going to get office towers in there, is there going to be a wrecking ball and things that are unimaginative in there, just big boxes and things that don’t interrelate to the community that are intrusive,” Cowan said.
Given how Alta Vista residents appreciate the current design of the Federal Study Centre, its walkability and open spaces, they would not welcome a fenced-off, semi-closed development with service entrances at the back, he said.
“The ultimate thing is to ... have it re-purposed, reanimated and preserve the 12 buildings that are there.”
But, according to the federal public services department, the dozen buildings at the complex, which were used for government training and as a conference facility until 2011 and declared surplus in 2012, are in poor condition.
“It would require significant upgrades to meet our accommodation standards and code regulations,” said Stéphane Huot, executive director of the federal department’s real estate services in the national capital area.
“Sometimes from an economic standpoint it just doesn’t make sense to recapitalize an asset and (that) was the case with this ... complex,” he said, adding this would have required costly structural, mechanical and electrical upgrades.
In its current unused state, the property is racking up the bills.
In 2015-16, it cost the public services department $1.14 million in maintenance costs, building security, basic operations and payments in lieu of taxes.
“I would say it’s standard for an asset,” Huot said. “Costs are contained to the minimal just to make sure that the property is not creating a health hazard.”
But if it were used at full capacity, operational costs would be higher, Huot said, but did not elaborate.
There is some concern among residents that high-density housing on the south side of Heron Road in the Herongate community could be replicated at the property, Cowan noted.
That would be counter to the study centre’s design, which compliments the look and feel of the residential neighbourhood, he added.
Since the complex was built between 1963 and 1965, its green space, which backs onto a city park and includes forest and open fields, has buffered nearby single-family homes.
“It is a very exciting opportunity for the area. It is going to be in the long term,” said Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier.
While Cloutier cautioned it is very early days in the property’s changeover process, he has asked municipal staff to put it on their work plan “so they could start at a very preliminary level thinking about what might be possible what would be acceptable for the city in that area.”
It will be important for the city to be able to craft a plan that would help shape the future redevelopment “as it relates to employment lands, retail opportunities, mixed-use housing, transit ... that make for a more livable community,” Cloutier said.
“We don’t want huge towering buildings there. We just want all that to be clear.”
CONSULTATION PROMISED
Canada Lands will consult with the city and the community to develop “a vision and a master plan” for the property, a spokeswoman said, citing the example of its recently approved Wateridge Village redevelopment plan for the former CFB Rockcliffe.
“We engaged in a robust consultation process with the community and city,” she said.
For now, it’s too soon to determine when the company will sell the Federal Study Centre since it is still owned by public services, and the “due diligence” process has not yet begin, she wrote.
The city’s early involvement in the training facility’s eventual overhaul will include mapping out guidelines for future change there and any development application approvals.
“There is city interest in initiating a secondary planning process, which would engage the community and owner in terms of the repurposing of these lands and developing a concept plan to guide any future development,” Don Herweyer, the city’s manager of urban development review, said in an email.
The city will also be involved in any planning, zoning, subdivision and site-plan approvals for the property, which is currently zoned institutional, Herweyer said.
Canada Lands has indicated it will contact municipal staff once the property changes federal hands, he noted.
The community wants to stay a step ahead of change by helping guide the city to implement a pre-zoning exercise, said Cowan, similar to what was done for the National Defence medical centre lands off Smyth Road.
DND plans to sell that property, which is currently used for administration. In 2008, the city fleshed out a pre-design that would help guide any future developer who purchases the parcel.
Ottawa South MP David McGuinty, whose riding includes the study centre, said he plans to advocate on a number of fronts.
“What I’m going to be fighting for here is making sure that whatever happens with this site is 1) fully transparent, 2) involves serious community consultation with the Ottawa South community at large and the immediate neighbourhoods,” he said.
Before his Liberals won a majority, McGuinty wrote last July to John McBain, head of Canada Lands, inquiring about the property’s transfer status and its future plans for the site.
McGuinty is confident the property can meet multiple needs, which can be fleshed out with input from Cloutier, city staff and residents.
“I’m going to fight very hard to make sure that this reflects the true needs and desires of the community,” he said.
In his letter, he advocated that cutting-edge sustainable design features be featured in any future revitalization, that it be a net-zero carbon development and be energy efficient.
“Maybe there’s some roof-top gardening in there, maybe there’s solar, maybe there’s mixed-use energy in there,” McGuinty told Metroland Media.
“I just think there’s an incredible opportunity here to do something very, very unique in the heart of Alta Vista. We don’t have a lot of open space. We don’t have a lot of development opportunities like these.”
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/6494011-study-centre-eyed-as-community-s-living-room-in-alta-vista/