Amazon Project X Warehouse [99 Bill Leathem Dr] | 30m | 5f | U/C
 

I'm not sure if this has been posted anywhere yet, but there is a proposal to re-zone the sites at 2 Leikin, 20 Leikin, and 99 Bill Leathem to allow a warehouse and truck terminal as uses.

Looks like someone is proposing to construct a warehouse here. The land has been vacant for a long time. The area has good access to Fallowfield which leads to the 416 relatively quickly, and Prince of Wales to go south to Bankfield for potential access to the 416 there.

Ottawa Dev App page

https://i.imgur.com/RTtCvyK.png

I've seen the odd comment that it might be a UPS facility? Have you heard anything?

I have so enjoyed reading the many comments in news articles on this story. The Barrhaven crowd have very short memories considering they paved over everything for their suburban wasteland which laid traffic carnage on every route to get there. Same crowd protests airplane traffic - again, the airport was there first. Karma - love it - build it!

I haven't heard anything regarding this, but I could see that working there. They have a smaller depot in Kanata, so building a similar sized one on this plot of land would work well.

Whatever it may be, it's known that it will take up the entire plot of land, and that the City will not have to construct the proposed roads and servicing that was initially agreed to by the former city of Nepean in 1996.

The lands were sold to Zena-Kinder Holdings for $1 and the City was released from its financial liability of approx. 7-10 million dollars for having to potentially construct the roads and servicing.

FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE report - South Merivale Business Park

Warehouse application for south-end business park drives fears over truck traffic

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: May 04, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 4 minute read

https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digi...trip=all&w=750

A Barrhaven-area community is fighting a proposal to allow a warehouse and truck terminal in a business park, with residents fearing negative impacts from trucks rumbling past their riverside homes.

Meanwhile, the property owner’s development team suggests demand for warehouse space will increase thanks to the growth in online retailing.

The planning application illustrates the city’s challenge in pursuing economic development opportunities reflecting the realities of the market while managing the expectations of residents who live near a project site.

The property owned by Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. extends west from Leikin Drive and Merivale Road to Longfields Drive, northwest of the RCMP headquarters.

The 30.5-hectare site is zoned for light industry, and while an office is allowed, the owner needs an approved amendment to add a warehouse and truck transport terminal as acceptable land uses. A planning rationale filed with the application says the added uses would not cause environmental, public health and safety concerns.

Residents of nearby Rideau Glen don’t buy it.

“People are concerned about the overall impact of the quality of life in this community,” Barbara Motzney said, explaining that residents are worried about noise, pollution, safety and security with more trucks travelling on local roads near the development property in the South Merivale Business Park.

“It not only doesn’t fulfill the vision for the business park, it’s a long way away from that vision,” Motzney said.

Barry King said he has lived in the Rideau Glen community since the early 1970s. Residents have expected light industrial uses in the business park, not developments that would generate transport truck traffic, King said.

“The general feel is it’s not an appropriate location for a transport truck depot,” King said.

According to the planning rationale produced by Zena-Kinder’s consultant Novatech, the property is “well situated in a location for goods movement, including warehouse and truck transport terminal uses, given their proximity to major roadways including Merivale Road, Woodroffe Avenue, Fallowfield Road, Strandherd Drive, Prince of Wales, and the Vimy Memorial Bridge connection to Earl Armstrong and the Riverside South Community.”

The application only offers a rough description of what could be built on the site and the impacts to the surrounding road network. A preliminary concept plan shows two industrial buildings and one office building.

A transportation study filed with the application forecasts 210 industrial-related vehicle trips in the morning peak hour and 310 trips in the afternoon peak hour. Of those 520 trips, 55 are attributed to “heavy vehicles” and the rest are attributed to “light vehicles.”

On top of the industrial traffic, the office portion of the development would generate 518 morning peak-hour trips and 544 afternoon peak-hour trips, according to the transportation study.

Full build-out is expected to happen over five years to 2026.

The application notes that Ottawa’s official plan allows warehousing and distribution activities in an urban employment area like the business park.

“The proposed warehouse and truck transport terminal uses will fulfill a vital and growing need in the urban economy,” the planning rationale says.

“They will enhance the underlying value of the parcels in the business park. Recent experience and trends clearly demonstrate that warehouse, truck transportation and distribution of goods in general is going to continue to grow with online shopping while the demand for ‘bricks and mortar’ stores is likely to decline somewhat. Warehouse and truck transport terminals are not noxious or heavy industrial uses that will impact on other potential uses that may be developed on the few remaining parcels.”

Vague information about the project is annoying residents in Rideau Glen. They haven’t been told what kind of company would be using the warehouse.

The project manager listed as the applicant for the zoning amendment couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.

“We shouldn’t have to glue together facts made by assumptions made in an annex of an application,” Motzney said.

“We need to have some confidence in this and not get the impression that it will get railroaded through,” King said.

Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan is aiming to hold an information session about the planning application on May 13. The application is projected to be in front of council’s planning committee by the end of the month.

“I am quite concerned about it,” Meehan said.

Meehan said she’s worried the roads can’t handle an increase in traffic volumes. “Our infrastructure is woefully lacking,” she said.

While there are few details about the the developer’s plans, Meehan said she’s been told the property is an attractive location for a warehouse because of its proximity to the Ottawa International Airport and an Amazon distribution centre on the other side of Barrhaven.

Meehan said she appreciates the city wants to create more jobs in an underdeveloped business park, “but we have to weigh it.”

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twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-truck-traffic

"...residents fearing negative impacts from trucks rumbling past their riverside homes..." :titanic:

Wasn't this once the main route into Ottawa? These folks need a reality check... stop buying stuff online - no more warehouses!

https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digi...trip=all&w=750

I see a couple of sites in this picture that would be more appropriate for the south-end police campus:

1. The lot just north of Leikin/Bill Leathem
2. The block surrounded by Merivale, Leikin and Beckstead.

Maybe if there was a bridge at the end of Merivale but other then that no it's not really better for the intended purpose of the campus and while you may disagree with that purpose you can't just continue to ignore it.

The real question is if this increase in truck traffic would finally compel the city to expand Prince of Wales to multiple lanes in each direction. That road has been a traffic bottleneck, especially during peak traffic hours, for far too long.

Planning committee supports Barrhaven-area warehouse proposal without knowing what will be built
Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. has a 30.5-hectare site zoned for light industry at Leikin Drive and Bill Leathem Drive

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: May 27, 2021 • 3 minutes ago • 3 minute read

They didn’t know what products would be transported or the number of buildings eyed for the site, but all members of the city’s planning committee on Thursday endorsed a proposal calling for a warehouse and truck depot in a Barrhaven-area business park despite hearing concerns from multiple neighbourhoods.

Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. has a 30.5-hectare site zoned for light industry at Leikin Drive and Bill Leathem Drive, which is in the South Nepean Business Park near the RCMP headquarters.

The company wants to amend the zoning to add a warehouse and truck depot as permitted uses, but no one outside the company knows what will be built at the site. Only when a site plan application is filed at city hall will the community understand what exactly the operations will look like.

The development application has drawn attacks from neighbourhoods near the business park, with concerned residents in the wards of Gloucester-South Nepean and Knoxdale-Merivale mainly worried about the number of trucks using the warehouse.

The committee heard that 400 daily truck trips could be generated by the proposed development in a “worst-case scenario,” which is based on a warehouse serving the e-commerce sector.

Business advocates supported the warehouse application.

Barrhaven BIA chair Jason MacDonald expressed enthusiasm for the proposal, telling councillors, “all I’m hearing is support for this” in his circles.

Even a rep from the Carp Road Corridor BIA, located across the city, gave a brief presentation in support of the development application. The city needs to be “responsive to changes” in economic development trends, executive director Roddy Bolivar said.

Lise Sarazin, executive director of the Regroupement des gens d’affaires, which advocates for francophone businesses in Ottawa-Gatineau, said the city needed to accept that the growth of online shopping would drive warehouse developments.

Residents said they were afraid truck traffic will ruin people’s quality of life.

The development would “defy all of the principles of responsible growth” and the main two-lane roads around the property would be overwhelmed, according to Karen Meades, who lives in the Rideau Glen community.

Three neighbourhood associations had representatives voice opposition to the development application.

Complicating the debate was the mystery around what would be built on the site and the identity of the user. The property owner doesn’t have to offer that information in a zoning application.

It seemed the project team also wasn’t sure what would ultimately be built on the property.

A preliminary concept plan in the development documents showed two industrial buildings and an office building, but the committee heard there might be several smaller warehouses or something different.

Greg Winters, the project’s planning consultant who works for Novatech, told the committee there shouldn’t be policy debate about the application since the policies for the business park are already in place, thanks to the former city of Nepean and regional municipality. A warehouse is allowed in the property’s zoning today but not as a primary use, Winters explained.

The city’s planning department, which supports the zoning amendment, doesn’t believe there would be notable truck-traffic impacts with a warehouse moving from an ancillary use on the property to a primary use.

The development project team appealed to the city’s desire to increase economic development.

“It’s going to allow Ottawa to grow as a new city,” Winters said of the proposed warehouse, promoting the diverse employment opportunities a warehouse would create.

Still, not knowing what will be built befuddled Coun. Keith Egli, whose Knoxdale-Merivale ward is near the site.

“All we know is what could and might happen, but we don’t know what will happen,” Egli said.

Egli didn’t vote because he doesn’t sit on the planning committee.

Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan, whose ward includes the site, told colleagues to consider the concerns voiced by residents.

“Don’t give them a reason to go away more cynical,” said Meehan, who doesn’t sit on the planning committee.

“Give them a reason to be optimistic today.”

The committee’s unanimous vote in favour of the application immediately followed.

Council will vote on June 9.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-will-be-built

Council approves new warehouse near Barrhaven and creation of residential vacancy tax
Residents who live near the development site have been vocal in their opposition, fearing an increase in heavy trucks rumbling past their neighbourhoods.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jun 09, 2021 • 54 minutes ago • 3 minute read

Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan on Wednesday couldn’t convince enough of her colleagues to reject a controversial warehouse and truck depot application in her ward.

Meehan made one last attempt to block the rezoning application by Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. for a 30.5-hectare site at Leikin Drive and Bill Leathem Drive, in the South Nepean Business Park near the RCMP headquarters.

While Meehan called on the planning committee to listen to the concerns of residents rather than bending to requests from the development industry, 15 other council members agreed with the recommendation from the committee and staff to approve the rezoning.

Coun. Jeff Leiper voted in favour of the application at planning committee, but in Wednesday’s decision at council he flipped his vote, saying he had to be “truer to what I believe.”

Residents who live near the development site have been vocal in their opposition, fearing an increase in heavy trucks rumbling past their neighbourhoods. The planning committee heard that 400 daily truck trips could be generated by the development if the warehouse serves the e-commerce sector.

The city doesn’t know who would be running the warehouse or truck depot.

Council received a petition with 3,126 names of people asking for the city to reject the rezoning application.

“Show our residents that their opinion and their quality of life means something,” Meehan told council.

Coun. Diane Deans agreed with Meehan that a warehouse and truck depot should be near one of the 400-series highways to avoid “dramatic conflicts” caused by tractor trailers.

The application is an example of the growing trend of companies looking for warehouse sites in Ottawa. The most high-profile examples are the two Amazon facilities in the city.

After the council meeting, Mayor Jim Watson said the rezoning application is a signal that Ottawa’s economy has “changed dramatically” and that there’s a need for facilities with the upsurge in e-commerce.

Voting against the rezoning application in the 15-9 decision were Meehan, Leiper, Deans, Keith Egli, Catherine McKenney, Theresa Kavanagh, Shawn Menard, Mathieu Fleury and Rawlson King.


<snip>


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99 Bill Leathem Dr | Warehouse + Sortation Facility | Proposed
 

Councillor feels misled by plans for new Barrhaven warehouse
Carol Anne Meehan 'caught off guard' by warehouse plan with 100 truck bays

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Jun 16, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

https://i.cbc.ca/1.6066724.162378630...ldings-ltd.jpg

One Ottawa city councillor is annoyed the City of Ottawa has been asked to approve a large e-commerce warehouse with 100 truck bays in Barrhaven after she was told no solid plan actually existed.

Carol Anne Meehan, who represents the ward of Gloucester-South Nepean had fought giving Zena-Kinder Holdings Limited the ability to build a truck terminal and warehouse in the South Merivale Business Park, arguing such warehouses — including the truck traffic — should be located near 400-series highways, not residential areas.

On two occasions in May, consultants told meeting attendants there were no imminent plans or tenants for the site. Then last week, city council voted in favour of rezoning the land despite knowing little about what could be built, as well as receiving a petition with 3,126 signatures that opposed the rezoning.

Meehan said she was "caught off guard" when she later learned an application had arrived on June 3 with a plan for the site using the same Novatech consultant who had spoken at those May meetings.

"I'm confused, a little bit annoyed, and shocked," she said, worried about potential truck traffic in the area of Prince of Wales Drive and Merivale Road.

"They wanted to keep us in the dark as long as possible on everything. I think that's not fair to the planning process, it's not fair to the communities that are going to be affected by whatever comes."

Meehan says consultants should have been upfront with decision makers about the forthcoming proposal, but Novatech consultant Greg Winters argues the situation is not that simple.

Winters said his firm was hired by two different clients for two different tasks: Zena-Kinder Holdings Limited to rezone the property to help market it, and Medusa LP to apply for the 100-truck distribution centre.

He said he didn't know details about the two companies' negotiations for redeveloping the site when he appeared before planning committee.

As it turns out, the new warehouse proposal didn't even need the new rezoning approval. It has a small office that makes the warehouse a secondary rather than primary use, which has been allowed for years.

The new plan calls for an office that spans almost 17,000 square feet, along with a 262,000-square-foot warehouse — about a quarter the size of the Amazon distribution centre on Boundary Road — to deal with orders for a variety of e-commerce retailers.

The land would also include almost 500 parking spots for vehicles and 313 for tractor trailers, in addition to the 100 loading bays.

In a statement, the City of Ottawa's Don Herweyer said staff notified area councillors of the new application on June 4.

Typically, site plan applications are simply approved by city staff, but Meehan intends to take the rare step of removing their delegated authority so the file instead goes before planning committee for another debate and decision.

"The community is demanding that we have more control. It's the only tool that I have at this point to have some control over what's going forward," said Meehan.

In the meantime, she and Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli are organizing another public meeting for residents.

Egli says residents will have questions about the optics and timing of the new warehouse application. He hopes they can now get answers from the consultants about the impact of a distribution centre.

"It would have been nice to get it earlier, but we can have that discussion now," Egli said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...plan-1.6066502

Medusa LP is proposing the development of a Sortation Facility on the properties at 99 Bill Leathem Drive, 2 Leikin Drive and 20 Leikin Drive. The Project will be a large footprint prestige office and light industrial building where a third-party logistics provider quickly processes and packages customer orders that originate from a variety of sources for e-commerce retailers and external customers.

The building itself is constructed on a single level with a total floor area of 25,896m2 and a height of approximately 14m. The office area is projected out from the main body of the building to provide increased access to daylight at an inviting human scale.

The project is oriented with the prestige office space accessible both by passenger vehicles, and by pedestrians, from the traffic circle at Bill Leathem Drive and Longfields Drive. Pedestrian connectivity, accessibility and safety are important aspects of the site design with raised crosswalks linking the parking area to wide on-site walkways. Bike storage is provided at a convenient location near the main entrance. Pedestrian, bicycle and passenger vehicle circulation is kept separate from truck traffic to increase safety for all on site.

Development application:
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...1-0079/details

Siteplan:

https://i.imgur.com/vwGl1P3.png

https://i.imgur.com/jIV2agg.png


Renderings:

https://i.imgur.com/1kIWuHT.png

https://i.imgur.com/ZULXLPa.png

https://i.imgur.com/PoHrt49.png

https://i.imgur.com/K14HfkN.png

https://i.imgur.com/IOlkC7W.png

I can't see any of the large courier companies building something like that in Ottawa. This is a sort hub type of place, not a delivery depot, and UPS has a pretty large hub in Montreal. Purolator is building a new facility in the near future but it's certainly not something like this, and it's supposed to be out in Kanata.

This has Amazon written all over it to me. They have been opening a lot of their own delivery depots (2 are opening in London this year a couple blocks apart, each of which are double the size of the local Purolator or UPS depots), as well as Kitchener, Cambridge and around Toronto, and I wouldn't be shocked if this was a sort hub to service those from the 2 Ottawa distribution centres. Possibly handle Ottawa region deliveries as well. Weird location for that though.

Sure does. This one is also being built by Broccolini, and the proponents are hiding behind the codename "Medusa" this time. Very similar to Project Python.

https://opencorporates.com/companies/ca/12805537

Yes I agree. I had written that comment before the official site plan was released and before we knew it would be a larger sortation facility. Definitely looks Amazon-esque!

These facilities are extremely generic and I don't see anything here that screams Amazon, but I wouldn't rule it out. Crossdocks are used very widely across the LTL industry, and there are piles of them in Toronto's suburbs.

Amazon has a couple of different types of warehouse that aren't fulfillment centres. Delivery stations are where the last mile trips originate from, but this isn't for that it would seem. Sortation centres are where packages from warehouses are brought in, sorted to destinations and shipped out. There is already one of these south of Montreal, YUL5. It has 25-30 docks, so it's significantly smaller than this proposal.

The location of this is odd, unless you consider the airport. It's not near a highway, but if some of the cargo goes to/from the airport it would be justified.

There are some retailers who have crossdock style distribution centres, especially those that move palletized goods or don't have large inventory in warehouse. Costco just built a massive location on the east side of Montreal, so this seems unlikely for them. There are others though, it could really be anything.

^^All good points. What leads me towards Amazon is the description upthread of x amount of large trucks at certain times a day and of small vehicles at certain times a day. Sounds exactly like a courier depot only this one is huge. This is almost like a courier depot I'm familiar with in west Toronto. It's a sort hub on the outer edges where the loading docks are and a delivery depot in the centre where dozens of parcel trucks are loaded. But as I suggested, and could be very wrong, none of the major couriers are going to put something like that in Ottawa. But Amazon is gradually creating a full fledged courier company to its stable of businesses and I can see this being part of that process.

But then, I look at a map and wonder why there? Is the land cheap and is Amazon that tight with a penny they would chase a cheaper piece of land that isn't in an efficient location for that type of need? And then I wonder why would they put a parcel hub in Ottawa, that relatively close to Montreal? And not a similar type facility in Toronto yet? Or maybe in Toronto, they are waiting for the hub facility that a large chunk of their stuff goes through now becomes vacant the first part of next year when Purolator moves into its new hub? Probably pick that up cheap and can't beat the location. So, who knows. Maybe it's Canadian Tire or somebody and I picked up on a very wrong scent lol.

Amazon's last-mile centres often load the vans indoors. This would require multiple ground level doors to drive into and out of the building. The renders only show two, and they're in awkward places more useful for moving the occasional forklift in and out than anything else. There's also no on-site parking for delivery vehicles - there's a staff lot and trailer spaces, but nothing delivery van sized.

This would also be a HUGE facility just to do last-mile, and Amazon doesn't have a last-mile presence in Ottawa. Intelcom does the bulk of their work, and manages that out of a small facility in a light industrial strip mall.

This seems like a proper crossdock facility where trucks are unloaded, items are sorted and warehoused temporarily, generally without any vertical racking, and sent back out again.

I was suggesting it could be both a sort hub and a delivery van depot, similar to Purolator's Kipling Ave location in Toronto.

Amazon is in the process of opening 2 final mile delivery centres in London. One is a new build that has 2 ground level overhead doors for van access. The other is a retrofit of a building that used to have trailer dock doors down one side, but those are having the grade raised to be bumper height for vans. Lots of courier depots are like that as well. I haven't seen what Amazon did with the building they took over in Cambridge to be a delivery depot, but it was a 140,000 sq ft rectangle with 30 or so loading docks on either side and no doors to drive inside. Intelcom currently is one of the main Amazon service providers in London, along with Canada Post and Purolator, but they are planning to add upwards of 150 of their own delivery routes. Their trend is definitely more and more under their own control, and sort hubs are a necessary part of that.

Planning committee OK's warehouse project despite another blast from opponents

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 23, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read

https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digi...trip=all&w=600

Residents on Thursday had an opportunity to blast a mystery e-commerce warehouse and truck depot eyed for the South Merivale Business Park, only to have City of Ottawa’s planning committee deliver an approval for the site plan.

Medusa Inc./Broccolini was identified as the site plan applicant for 99 Bill Leathem Dr., 2 Leikin Dr. and 20 Leikin Dr. The builder needed the city’s approval of a site plan for how the property is going to function, including details on design, landscaping and traffic access.

Communities around the business park have grown uneasy about the interest in the area shown by warehouse developers.

City planning staff have the authority to approve a site plan unless the ward councillor makes staff win the approval of planning committee. In this case, Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan forced staff to ask for the committee to make a decision on the warehouse site plan.

The city describes the future facility as having a “light industrial use and associated shipping, receiving, loading, and distribution elements.”

However, the project team hasn’t disclosed which company will be using the warehouse.

All the city knows, according to a planning report, is that the facility will have “a type of assembly line that includes processing and handling of previously prepared products, packages, materials, merchandise, and packages serving external customers.”

The warehouse will be about 262,000 square feet, and an office will be roughly 16,700 square feet.

Residents are upset that the city would approve a warehouse in the business park, especially when the project would produce more transport truck traffic on already busy roads like Merivale Road and Prince of Wales Drive.

Many people also spoke out when a related zoning application hit planning committee’s agenda in May. The Ontario Land Tribunal has received an appeal to the zoning amendment approved by council.

Daintry Topshee, who lives in the Glens community, said the mystery warehouse project was a “travesty” and she expressed disappointment that the community didn’t know who would be operating the warehouse.

Inna Ellis, whose backyard faces Prince of Wales Drive, said she was already impacted by heavy truck traffic.

“We feel like our health, our wellbeing, our peace does not matter to whoever the developer is here,” Ellis said.

Meehan didn’t get a vote because she’s not a member of the planning committee.

“It has a potential to be disastrous,” Meehan said of the project in her final plea to committee members.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli, who represents residents in the neighbouring ward, said he opposed the site plan, but he’s also not a member of the planning committee and couldn’t vote.

Tim Marc, city hall’s top planning lawyer, told the committee it would be an “awkward situation” to reject the site plan since it complied with the zoning rules for the property.

The committee voted 7-3 in favour of the site plan. The decision doesn’t need council’s ratification.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...from-opponents

How could this be anything but an Amazon. The descriptions of what the company will do, how they do it, what their space requirements are, what goes on inside..it can only be an Amazon warehouse/distribution centre.

Some rather tetchy back and forth between the clients lawyers and one of the Committee members on the feed.

This is going to OLT for the zoning I believe. Who appealed it? Neighbours?

I'll be surprised if it is and as far as I can tell the zoning appeal wont do anything to do this project as it falls under the old zoning.

I wonder what the community would have thought of all the car traffic from the predicted office space that was part of the original plan for the area.

Considering it has been zoned light industrial for a long time.

Maybe all the oponents need to stop buying crap online and then there would be no further demand for these facilities.

Hey, I don't create traffic.it's everyone else who does...but not me. :cheers::cheers::cheers: as I merrily drive to work solo in my car.

20 Leikin Drive, 99 Bill Leathem Drive & 11 Beckstead Road was purchased by Medusa General Partner Inc. (Broccolini) from Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. (Leikin Group) for $34,585,200 or $408,229 per acre. It is zoned Light Industrial.

http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/ne...mber-Sales.pdf

So if I understand correctly.. Zena-Kinder Holdings purchased the land from the City of Ottawa for $1 and have now sold it for 34.5 million dollars.

yabba dabba do!

Yup. From the brilliant minds at the City of Ottawa. That was just a year ago.

I hope that, at the very least, they added an iron clad clause that says this "deal" must be held by any current or future owner, regardless of when the land is redeveloped. Considering they never anticipated Zena-Kinder Holdings would turn around and sell the land for Market value, I doubt it.

To add on this, it won't even really hinder them, because the traffic would generally be Prince of Wales to 417, which most of the traffic jams aren't there. Plus trucks can take a back route from Barnsdale and Borriskane via Prince of Wales.

Updated Proposal (October 2024)

-->> Height increased from 1 to 5 floors
-->> Total floorspace increasing from 25,896 m2 to 291,000 m2!!


Medusa General Partner Inc. is proposing to construct a light industrial building (Project X), with associated loading bays, parking and stormwater management (SWM) facilities, at 2 Leikin Drive, 20 Leikin Drive and 99 Bill Leathem Drive. The ground-level building footprint is 60,701.92 m2 with additional servicing platforms and mezzanines covering 4,049.67 m2. It is five stories tall, with an overall floor area of 290,999.58 m2. Levels two through five are allocated for operational facilities, while the ground floor houses 1,553.3 m2 of offices, extending outward from the main structure to maximize daylight and create a welcoming, human-scale entry.

The development includes 59 loading docks for non-refrigerated trailers and a fenced truck yard accommodating 482 trailers, for a combined capacity of 541. A total of 1,185 car parking spaces are provided, which includes 32 accessible spaces and 24 electric vehicle stalls. 291 bike racks are provided to promote active transportation, and access for cyclists connects Leikin Drive and Paragon Avenue to the facility's main entrance. Pedestrian access is routed through a traffic circle on Bill Leathem Drive, Paragon Avenue, and Longfields Drive.

Architect: GKC Architecture


Development application:
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...4-0139/details

Location:

https://i.imgur.com/XSXrzs9.png


Siteplan:

https://i.imgur.com/uKApFUK.png


Renderings:

https://i.imgur.com/B4xZbhh.png

https://i.imgur.com/WKnI6BB.png

https://i.imgur.com/CFNVZPN.png

https://i.imgur.com/zunsr0c.png

https://i.imgur.com/htLADj7.png

Fallowfield / 416 Amazon facility 2.0?
Build it!

Broccolini files plan to build Ottawa’s largest warehouse in Barrhaven east

David Sali, OBJ
November 20, 2024

The developer behind two mega-warehouses in the National Capital Region is planning to build another massive fulfilment centre in Barrhaven that would create as many as 2,500 new jobs. Montreal-based Broccolini recently filed a proposal to construct a five-storey, 3.1-million-square-foot distribution facility about a kilometre southeast of the intersection of Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road.

Located on three parcels of land at 2 Leikin Dr., 20 Leikin Dr. and 99 Bill Leathem Dr., the 75-acre site fronts along Merivale Road, Leikin Drive, Paragon Avenue, Bill Leathem Drive and Longfields Drive.

The property is zoned for light industrial uses such as a warehouse. The developer is requesting a minor variance because the building’s proposed height of 29.5 metres, or 97 feet, exceeds current limits. A site plan application prepared by Novatech Engineering Consultants says the proposed building, which has a floorplate of about 650,000 square feet, would include 59 loading docks as well as a yard with room for an additional 482 trailers. A surface parking lot would accommodate 1,185 vehicles. Broccolini is working with GKC Architecture & Design on the proposal, which it dubbed “Project X.”

In a transportation impact assessment filed with the site plan application, Broccolini says it plans to construct the building in a single phase and is aiming to complete the project in 2026.

The developer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposal on Wednesday.

The development application Broccolini recently filed with the city touts the building’s “sustainable design elements,” which include a reflective roof and an HVAC system with “energy recovery” capabilities. It also says the facility is designed to be “solar ready” with cable pathways and a roof strong enough to accommodate solar panels. If the project goes ahead, it would be the third and largest major fulfilment centre Broccolini has developed in the Ottawa region. The Montreal-based firm built a 2.8-million-square-foot warehouse farther west in Barrhaven at 222 Citigate Dr. that opened in 2021. That followed Broccolini’s first major industrial project in Ottawa, a one-million-square-foot distribution facility that opened on Boundary Road in the city’s south end in 2019. Amazon now leases both of those facilities. The online retail giant is one of a growing number of companies that are setting up warehouses in the National Capital Region to take advantage of its strategic location between the country’s two largest population centres and its easy access to major transportation routes such as Highways 416 and 417.

Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo, whose ward includes the proposed building, said he has discussed the new project with officials from Broccolini, but he wouldn’t reveal the names of any potential tenants that might eventually occupy the warehouse. “That’s not information I can share,” he told OBJ on Wednesday. “But I’ll say this – the field of possibilities is narrow.” Lo said Broccolini has suggested the facility would employ between 2,000 and 2,500 people once it is running at full capacity, “which obviously presents a lot of downstream economic benefits,” he added. “I’m thinking about the small businesses that are in the community that can stay open later, that’ll have a new customer base when a shift changes, for example.” While Lo said he supports the project, he has some concerns about the volume of traffic it will generate and its effect on nearby transportation infrastructure.

Lo said he hopes the development will be a catalyst for new funding to widen major traffic arteries such as Prince of Wales Drive and Fallowfield Road. “Objectively, it’s a very high-impact development,” he said. “Most of those roads are still two lanes. The intersections are already overloaded – I’m thinking about Prince of Wales and Hunt Club, Woodroffe and Fallowfield.” Lo said he’s planning to hold a public consultation early next year to give residents a chance to voice their opinion on the plan. “Overall, I’m supportive of the idea of introducing all that new employment into the community,” he said. “Early indications are encouraging. They want to be a good neighbour.”

https://obj.ca/broccolini-files-plan...new-warehouse/

I love these SOF-type names being given to these warehouse projects. Amazon's was "Project Python" and now this. Jokes aside this will be impressively huge. I can't wait to see the backlash from local residents who are shocked that their suburban stroads with easy highway access continue to prove to be prime industrial real estate.

rumour is that it's costco

Because of the red paint?

I doubt it will be Costco... look at their DC's (Distribution Centers) in Vaughan, ON, Airdrie, AB, and Langley, BC, they are all long and narrow with docks for 75+ trucks. Costco wouldn't need the height proposed for this site.

It would also be a really weird area for a Costco DC if you think about the perishable goods that would come in/out and where the DC would be shipping to.

My guess is still on Amazon... especially since it's Broccolini who has built both the Boundary Road and Barrhaven Amazon DCs. Plus this looks eerily similar to the Barrhaven warehouse.

Edit: Pretty sure if it were to be Costco... they would come out and say it because their HQ is north up the road and everyone seems to love Costco.

Yeah - I think the clever naming of the construction shell company gives it away "Medusa General Partner Inc." Project Python was Amazon - and Medusa is the Greek mythical figure of the woman with snakes for hair - sounds to me like it's Amazon again.

I said Amazon over 3 years ago upthread, and stick by that until there is confirmation it's someone else. And as Amazon keeps secrets until the place is almost done (as seen in the recent new fulfillment centres built in London and Kitchener), we likely won't hear until the parking lots are being paved.

This seems like a terrible location for a fulfillment Centre warehouse, transportation wise tho?!? the other two Amazon warehouse are along highways.

Agree on Costco - their facilities aren't Distribution Centres, but rather cross-dock facilities. They don't need to break down skids or store anything, everything arrives on a skid on one trailer and gets sorted onto another on the other side almost same-day.

With newly announced Barnsdale exit coming to the 416...it would be a quick drive down Prince of Whales and and right on Barnsdale toward the yet to be constructed 416 South on ramp. Also, cutting across the city to the East end Amazon warehouse off Boundry dr. could be done via back road instead of the congested 417 cross-city track.

'Begging for new supply': Proposed Barrhaven project won’t solve industrial space crunch, broker says

David Sali, OBJ
November 25, 2024

The National Capital Region is still playing catchup on industrial real estate construction even as another mega-warehouse is in the works in Barrhaven, a prominent commercial broker says. “Ottawa has been deprived of industrial development for the last 40 years,” Steve Piercey, a vice-president at CBRE’s local office who specializes in leasing industrial properties, told OBJ in a recent interview. “I think we’re just catching up to every other major city.” Piercey was reacting to Montreal-based construction firm Broccolini’s recently filed plans to build a 3.1-million-square-foot fulfilment centre near the intersection of Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road in east Barrhaven. The proposed facility would be the largest industrial building in Ottawa once it is completed. It would be Broccolini’s third warehouse build in Ottawa, following a 2.8-million-square-foot facility at 222 Citigate Dr. that opened in 2021 and a one-million-square-foot distribution centre on Boundary Road that was completed in 2019.

But even with the spate of big-bay builds in recent years, Piercey says Ottawa’s total industrial footprint – which ranges from about 38 million square feet to 46 million square feet, depending on the source – continues to lag other similar-sized Canadian cities. According to CBRE’s third-quarter industrial real estate report, for example, Calgary and Edmonton both have about 160 million square feet of industrial property, while Winnipeg has about 88 million square feet. The lack of inventory is reflected in Ottawa’s vacancy rate, which is the second-lowest in the country at 1.5 per cent, just behind London, Ont., at 1.3 per cent. Meanwhile, leasing costs in the National Capital Region have been climbing steadily over the past several years as supply – particularly for users that need much smaller pockets of space than facilities such as Broccolini’s warehouse provide – remains scarce.

Asking net rents in Ottawa have risen from just over $12 a square foot in 2021 to nearly $16 in the third quarter of this year. And with only about half a million square feet of new construction underway, the space crunch won’t ease up any time soon, Piercey said. “We’re having tenants renew in place at (rental) rates they’re not happy with because we cannot find them alternative locations,” he said. “Rates are still increasing, vacancy is getting tighter. “We’re still half of what a typical city with our population size has in terms of industrial square footage. It’s got to catch up at some point, and projects like (Broccolini’s latest proposal) are an indication of what the city really needs. I’m excited to see groups look at Ottawa from this perspective, and I really hope it continues. We have consistent requests for space in Ottawa that we can’t solve today, so groups like this are going out there and having to build it themselves.” Broccolini, whose other industrial facilities in Ottawa are both leased to Amazon, has not publicly stated if it already has tenants lined up to occupy its proposed warehouse. James Beach, the company’s Ottawa-based vice-president of real estate development, was unavailable for comment on Monday.

However, veteran broker Matt Shackell said it’s highly unlikely the firm would construct a building of that size unless it had someone ready to move in.

“They’re a very sophisticated developer,” said Shackell, a vice-president at Lennard Commercial Realty. “I don’t think they’re building 3.1 million square feet on spec.”

Retail analyst Bruce Winder said the project has all the makings of a distribution centre for a major e-commerce firm such as Amazon or the like.

“That’s a big box for sure,” Winder said. “It could be a number of different players. It’s probably a (retail) heavyweight.” While the new Barrhaven facility would seem to be ideal for an e-commerce titan, Piercey said tenants looking for small-bay industrial units in the 2,000- to 5,000-square-foot range would be “hard-pressed to find more than a handful of options” in the National Capital Region.

“It’s too expensive to build (new projects), and that will continue to be a pressure point for small businesses in the city. I don’t see any sort of relief in sight for small-bay industrial occupancy in the future.” Shackell agrees it’s “very challenging” for tenants seeking small-bay properties in the 5,000-square-foot range to find quality space at an affordable price in Ottawa. “A lot of (available) units aren’t viable because they don’t have the loading, they don’t have the parking, they don’t have the clear height, they don’t have the visibility,” he explained. At the same time, Shackell said he’s sensing a bit of a slowdown in demand for bigger units. He pointed to recently constructed developments such as Avenue 31’s National Capital Business Park and Rosefellow’s two-building project on Huntmar Drive in Kanata, where large chunks of space are still available. “We’re pushing probably half a million square feet of brand-new product that’s never been leased, and it’s already built and ready to go,” he said. In addition, the veteran broker noted that other marquee projects in Ottawa’s construction pipeline have been put on hold, including Toronto-based CanFirst Capital Management’s plan to build up to 900,000 square feet of warehouse space in Barrhaven. “When you start to hear projects are getting shelved, well, there’s a reason for that,” he said. CanFirst executives did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. However, Piercey said he believes CanFirst’s decision to pause its development had more to do with macroeconomic headwinds and the emergence of other new builds – such as Rosefellow’s project in Kanata and Manulife’s two-building, 200,000-square-foot project on Bantree Street in the city’s south end – at around the same time.

“If those buildings were staggered, our city could certainly absorb them,” he argued. “One hundred per cent, we need that space.” Piercey said he doesn’t think any fresh inventory will remain vacant much longer. “We’re two to three good-sized deals away from having really no space for mid- to large-bay users in Ottawa, because there’s nothing (new) on the horizon,” he explained. “If you look at the development pipeline, there’s nothing being delivered within the next 12 months. We are going to do those couple of deals in the next 12 months, and at that point we’ll be where we were four years ago, begging for new supply to be developed.”

https://obj.ca/barrhaven-project-won...h-broker-says/

Amazon confirmed
https://obj.ca/amazon-poised-to-expa...y%202025-07-04

Amazon poised to expand Ottawa footprint with massive new warehouse in Barrhaven

David Sali, OBJ
July 4, 2025

Amazon is building a massive new warehouse in Barrhaven in a move that solidifies the National Capital Region as a key distribution hub for the e-commerce giant. Amazon recently acquired three parcels of land on Leikin Drive and Bill Leathem Drive from Montreal-based developer Broccolini for $109.1 million, CBRE said in its latest Ottawa industrial market report released this week. The transaction comes after Broccolini filed a proposal late last year to construct a five-storey, 3.1-million-square-foot distribution facility at the 75-acre site about a kilometre southeast of the intersection of Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road. Broccolini has previously built two other fulfilment centres in Ottawa that are now being leased to Amazon – a 2.8-million-square-foot warehouse farther west in Barrhaven at 222 Citigate Dr. that opened in 2021 and a one-million-square-foot distribution facility that opened on Boundary Road in the city’s south end in 2019. This time, Amazon will own the facility, further cementing the National Capital Region’s status as a mainstay of the e-commerce powerhouse's logistics network, CBRE Ottawa managing director Maxime Foucaud says. “It is a strategic location for them in a growing market,” Foucaud told OBJ Friday, citing Ottawa’s close proximity and easy highway access to Canada’s two largest population centres in Toronto and Montreal.

“It’s great to see Amazon solidify their position here and strengthen their position in Ottawa, and it’s good news for the industrial market overall as well.” In its development application filed last fall, Broccolini said the new mega-warehouse – which will become Ottawa’s largest industrial building – would create up to 2,500 jobs. The Montreal firm said it plans to construct the building in a single phase and is aiming to complete the project in 2026. The Barrhaven land purchase follows Amazon’s decision early this year to close all seven of its warehouses in Quebec.

An Amazon spokesperson told OBJ in January the company is “always looking at our business to see if there are things we can do better,” but said the closures would have no immediate impact on the firm’s Ottawa operations. Amazon and Broccolini did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. The new facility will boost Amazon’s total footprint in Ottawa to 6.9 million square feet of warehouse space.

“I think there’s a lot of positives for Ottawa,” Foucaud said. “That on the tailwind of obviously everything happening in Quebec, it’s great news for the city.” Amazon’s project brings the total amount of industrial space currently under construction in the capital to 3.6 million square feet, the highest amount ever. The local industrial sector has cooled off somewhat in recent months due to uncertainty over the potential impact of tariffs and other economic worries, CBRE said. The city’s industrial vacancy rate rose to 2.2 per cent at the end of June, up slightly from 2.1 per cent in the first quarter. But Ottawa’s vacancy rate remains the lowest of any major Canadian city. Meanwhile, average net rents have risen nearly nine per cent over the past year and are among the country’s highest at $16.89 per square foot, thanks to continued leasing activity from occupiers looking to scale up their footprint or expand into the National Capital Region. “There’s been perhaps a wait-and-see (approach from) some tenants, but just based on fundamentals and low new supply, demand (for industrial space) remains strong,” Foucaud said. “We’re maybe a couple of deals away from (having) very low availability. We’re in a good position here in Ottawa to capture this momentum that we keep seeing in industrial.”

https://obj.ca/amazon-poised-to-expa...awa-footprint/

I thought there was talk of this becoming a Canada Post distribution centre at one point?

That one is just to the south
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=255319

Thanks! Those whole entire parcels around Leikin have been getting flattened and site prepped for the last few months so they all seem to blend together.

Here's the CBRE report referenced in the OBJ article, above.

https://www.cbre.ca/insights/figures...igures-q2-2025

Massive Amazon facility planned for south Ottawa met with mixed reaction

CBC News
July 8, 2025

A planned 290,000-square-foot Amazon distribution centre in Barrhaven is raising noise and traffic concerns in the community.

Video: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6824673

so from everything I can gather, this will be the largest warehouse of any kind in Canada? Also possibly one of the top 10 in North America? Does anyone have any stats on this? I found this site on North America as a whole:

https://www.damotech.com/blog/larges...-north-america