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Downtown Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites / Completed

As we all know, after buying the hotel in Place de Ville's Skyline Building, Delta decided to not to renew their lease with Morguard in the Delta Complex on Queen. After operating as an independent "National" Hotel, Morguard has decided to close the hotel to make a significant investment in the building.

The building, built by Bill Teron, originally opened in 1974 as the Inn of the Provinces (overlooking the Garden of the Provinces). It is the eighth largest hotel in Ottawa with 328 rooms. The complex was purchased by Morguard in 2008.

http://www.choicehotels.com/media/eB...16/CNA16A1.JPG http://r-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel...8/11836709.jpg http://q-ec.bstatic.com/images/hotel...8/11836926.jpg

Here are a few related OBJ articles that brought us to this point;

Quote:

Morguard buys property including Delta Ottawa hotel for $75.3M

Published on January 03, 2008

Morguard Corp. and Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust have bought the three-tower complex in downtown Ottawa which includes the Delta Hotel.

The Mississauga-based real estate and property management company said it had bought the Delta Ottawa hotel property on 316 Queen St., as well as a 12-storey, 171,311-square-foot office building at 350 Sparks St.

Morguard paid a total of $75.3 million for the complex.

The hotel property contains 328 guest rooms and includes an underground parking garage containing 273 parking spaces. It is currently under long-term lease to a major Canadian hotel real estate investment trust, the companies said in a statement.

Morguard Corp. and Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust will each own half of the complex, which will be operated through a joint venture arrangement between the two companies.

http://www.obj.ca/Other/Archives/2008-01-03/article-2309036/Morguard-buys-property-including-Delta-Ottawa-hotel-for-$75.3M/1

Quote:

Delta drops Queen Street hotel

Elizabeth HowellPublished on February 06, 2012

Independents thriving in major markets, experts say

A 35-year business relationship between a national hospitality chain and one of Ottawa's largest hotels is coming to an end.

The 328-room Queen Street facility formerly known as the Delta Ottawa Hotel and Suites is now operating independently as the National Hotel & Suites Ottawa.

Delta spokesperson Sandy Indig declined to give a reason for the parting of ways, beyond noting that the most recent agreement between the chain and hotel's owners expired on Jan. 31.

The change comes a year after Delta purchased the former Crowne Plaza building across the street from its existing facility and rebranded it as the Delta Ottawa City Centre, pouring $25 million into renovating the Lyon Street hotel.

At the time, Delta president and CEO Hank Stackhouse said that having two hotels in close proximity would allow the company to target groups of 500 to 700 guests.

"When the larger groups come in, we have an opportunity to host them at both hotels and offer them a mixed range of products," he told OBJ in December 2010.

However, Victor Ferreira, who headed the old Delta and will continue to serve as general manager of the National, said that the acquisition contributed to the end of the decades-old agreement with the Queen Street hotel.

"It was a brand decision not to renew the agreement because they have another Delta in the city and they own the building there," Mr. Ferreira said.

The National - as well as the attached office building - is owned by asset management giant Morguard Corp. and its real estate investment trust.

Meanwhile, the parent company for the Delta Ottawa City Centre is bcIMC Realty Corp., which also includes SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts - the former Crowne Plaza manager - under its umbrella.

One industry expert suggested that Delta is focusing on buildings where it owns the property.

"Hotels change brands from time to time, and I think with Delta actually acquiring the real estate, it was part of their long-term strategy. Delta did not own the real estate on the ... (Queen Street) property," said Bill Stone, the Toronto-based executive vice-president of CBRE Hotels.

He adds that despite the loss of the national brand name, the National will benefit from Ottawa's tight hotel market and service reputation.

"With relatively little supply growth in downtown Ottawa, I think that the name is important, but it's not critical," Mr. Stone said.

"(What's more important is) what's the quality of the guest room, how much am I paying, am I being treated nicely. That is something the current operator will do."

Ottawa's traditionally stable government business has created a thriving market for independents, according to analysts. Customers for the feds tend to stay longer and prefer larger, suite-style hotel rooms, which many of the independents offer - including the National.

But it will be more the National's location close to downtown businesses and Parliament Hill, as well as its established customer base, that will serve the hotel well, said Alam Pirani, the executive managing director of Colliers International Hotels.

"Major markets like Toronto and Ottawa and Montreal, there are some independents that are very successful. If you've got a good location, operating as an independent isn't a major challenge."

The newly independent hotel will not save any money from the change, Mr. Ferreira said. Although the hotel will no longer pay a franchising fee - the exact amount was not disclosed - it will need to step up its marketing efforts and change its reservation system and website, he noted.

Management will remain in its current form, Mr. Ferreira said. As with before, InnVest REIT - which has a partnership with hotel operator Westmount Hospitality Group - will manage the facility. Also, all former Delta employees and managers at the hotel will stay on, he said.

The National was originally built as the Inn of the Provinces in 1974.

It is the eighth-largest hotel in Ottawa by number of guest rooms, with 328 rooms and about 250 employees, according to OBJ's Book of Lists. Prices range from $119 to $169 in the low season, to $169 to $229 in the high.

By comparison, the capital's largest hotel - the Westin Ottawa - has 500 rooms and prices of up to nearly $600 in the high season. The Delta Ottawa City Centre is Ottawa's fifth-largest hotel with 411 rooms, and prices of up to $280 in the high season.

Renovations of the National are in the works, but few details have been decided on yet, officials added.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2012...Street-hotel/1

Quote:

Morguard's National Hotel to close at the end of December

Mark BrownleePublished on November 20, 2013

One of Ottawa’s downtown hotels will be closing at the end of 2013 as its owner prepares for a “renovation and repositioning” of the building over the next year.

Morguard Corp. announced, in a note to tenants in the attached office building last week, that the National Hotel & Suites will close before the end of December so it could make a “substantial investment” in the property.

The note to tenants did not include any more details about how the property would be repositioned.

An advisory posted on the hotel’s website said the National Hotel & Suites would “permanently close its doors” on Dec. 22.

Morguard officials were not immediately available to provide more details but an industry source with knowledge of Morguard’s plans told OBJ that the building would reopen as a hotel after closing for a year.

The tenants in the attached office building at 350 Sparks St. will not be affected by the renovations, the note to tenants added.

The hotel, located at 361 Queen St., dropped its Delta branding last year and began operating independently.

The National has 328 guest rooms and employs around 250 people, according to OBJ’s most recent Book of Lists. That makes it the ninth-largest hotel in Ottawa when ranked by number of rooms.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2013...-of-December/1

Quote:

Morguard evaluating options for National Hotel building

Mark BrownleePublished on December 19, 2013

The owner of a soon-to-be-shuttered downtown hotel is planning to pour millions of dollars into renovating the building but isn’t willing to commit to re-opening the space as a lodging facility.

Morguard Properties announced last month plans to permanently close the National Hotel & Suites at the end of December so it could renovate and reposition the property.

Bernie Myers, the vice-president of Morguard for the region, declined to specify exactly how much the company planned to spend but said it would be somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

However, the building won’t necessarily re-open as a hotel. Morguard is leaning towards continuing to use the space for that purpose but is evaluating what other purposes it could serve, said Mr. Myers.

“We’re looking at all options, all scenarios at this stage,” he said. “Clearly the building certainly was built and has served well as a hotel.”

But, he added, “we would not be doing the right thing to our investors who own the building to (not) say, ‘Well, wait a second, what now is the highest and best use and if we are going to make a large capital investment in the project – which we are going to do – how should we do that for optimum results?’”

The hotel, located at 361 Queen St., dropped its Delta branding last year and has since been operating independently.

Mr. Myers said the company does not have any leads on a new affiliation for the building should it be re-opened as a hotel.

He declined to go into detail about the exact changes the company would be able to make for the money it is planning to invest.

All he would say was that “you get a lot more than carpet and drapes for $10- to $20 million” and that the facility will have the “latest and greatest” in amenities when it re-opens.

He said the company decided to close the hotel because it was built in the mid-’70s. He felt the substantial renovation it needed could not be completed while the hotel continued to operate.

Morguard plans to have the renovations completed in nine to 12 months, he said. He anticipated the building will re-open sometime in 2015.

The National is the ninth-largest hotel in Ottawa by number of guest rooms, according to OBJ research. It has 328 rooms and employs about 250 people.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/2013-12-19/a...tel-building/1

Morguard has expressed interest in connecting some of it's buildings on Queen street to the Confederation Line. It seems the Inn of the Provinces Complex would be a good start.

So...what form will the investment make?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEWLine (Post 6382854)

So...what form will the investment make?

No clue. They don't even know what they'll do with the building. It seems foolish to close down a perfectly fine hotel when you don't have any concrete plans for the building.

Considering the slow down of the condo market and the ever increasing office vacancy rate, would assume that they would either keep it as a hotel (if they can find an operator as Morguard is not usually in the hotel business) or maybe convert it to apartment rentals.

As for where the money will go, I don't expect many exterior alterations. I would think mostly interior modernization (although from what I have seen, it looks fine), mechanical upgrades as well as technology upgrades.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTSkyline (Post 6436014)

Heard from some sources that "The National", the large hotel complex that just closed down in DT should be renovating and changing.

It will apparently become a Hilton or Starwood-brand Hotel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by citydwlr (Post 6436207)

That'd be good! We could use one of those chains in Ottawa (not including the Garden Inn or four-points). Even though I haven't heard anything regarding exterior changes, I hope there will be some in an effort to modernize the exterior a bit, so it has some "curb appeal".

Quote:

Originally Posted by McC (Post 6436246)

There already are two hotels from the Starwood chain in Ottawa, a Westin and Sheraton. Not that that excludes another one from the chain, but it would be "another one", not "one".

(you defined out the Four Points and Hilton in Hull by saying "Ottawa", but I think that the should region still get partial credit for them)

Quote:

Originally Posted by citydwlr (Post 6436302)

Good call! That's very true. Actually, I completely forgot about the Sheraton on Albert :S Not sure how the Westin didn't come to mind either as being a Starwood hotel...Figured they wouldn't open another (or a W for that matter) in the Ottawa region, I guess; unless they open one of their "element" hotels. Aloft is another solid choice, I think. I've mentioned them in the "Architecture for Ottawa" thread before, and I generally like their current offerings.

I don't venture over to Hull as often as I should, though I do know of the Hilton Lac Leamy. I can't remember there being a Hilton (apart from a Garden Inn) located on the Ontario side of the Ottawa region in recent years. So, it would be nice to get one.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing what moves in.

OTSkyline, any chance you could reveal your source? If not how reliable is it?

^ Heard it from someone who worked in the hotel until it recently closed down so, pretty reliable.

Here is a 'Before' picture...before they do something, not sure what exactly...
http://i.imgur.com/zChOHTd.jpg

What's happening with this? Is it going to be demolished or reclad or something?

All the information so far has been really ambiguous. I suspect it's being reclad.

If it's a reclad, wonder if it will be just the hotel or the office building as well.

Small financial update:

Quote:

November 12, 2014

Morguard entered into a binding agreement to purchase from Morguard REIT the remaining 50% interest it does not already own in a mixed-use office and hotel property located at 350 Sparks Street and 361 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario for a purchase price of $37,692. The acquisition is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Read more at http://www.stockhouse.com/news/press...cGx3d2X7hrX.99

No development updates though...

350 Sparks St / 37 Bay St | 78m & 85m | 23fl & 27fl | Proposed

Morguard Corporation is proposing a redevelopment of its site at 350 Sparks Street and 137 Bay Street, which currently houses two conjoined hotel towers on the west side of the site (the former National Hotel), an office tower on the east side of the site, and a small residential apartment building on the southwest corner of the site. The current proposal includes the demolition of the two hotel towers and residential apartment building, which will be replaced with separate residential and hotel towers. The existing office tower will remain, with minor interior and exterior improvements proposed at grade level. The two proposed towers, designed by WZMH Architects, will share a common podium, entry plaza and parking access. The podium is comprised of grade level retail, hotel amenities and private residential amenities.

At 250 units, the residential tower occupies the northwest portion of the site and sits on a six (6)-storey podium base with an overall height of 77.55 metres (23 floors plus mechanical) and a total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 14,744m2. The proposed 303 suite hotel tower is located on the southwest corner, at Queen Street and Bay Street, with an overall height of 84.55 metres (27 floors plus mechanical) including a three (3)-storey podium with a total GFA of 18,618m2.

Development application:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__0R1SY4
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__0R1RYS

Renderings:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/...374be0fc_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/547/1...387a7e7f_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/...ae1ec30b_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/395/1...cedf9f6c_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/482/1...eecb86e5_b.jpg

Siteplan:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/525/1...df323d2e_o.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/349/1...3f207bc4_o.jpg

Wow would this ever block out Place de Ville C or what coming in from the west. Game changer.

Glad to see the increased density, but realistically, 23 and 27 floors is thinking too small-scale for such a prime location. It's less than one block away from both a Confederation Line station and the national archives and it's an all around ultra-prime location.

If ever there was a location that demanded some big thinking and had a legitimate justification for breaking through the current 27 floor monotony in Ottawa, I think that this block and the two blocks immediately south would be those locations.

A while back I had a little bit fun with a spacial analysis looking at a hypothetical challenge if we wanted to maximize both downtown TOD while also maximizing views of Parliament.

The exercise was just an intellectual curiosity while I was bored at work for a couple of days, but I think it does illustrate quite nicely which downtown/centretown plot(s) of land should be prioritized for significantly increased heights. Based on those criteria, the 350 Sparks St. block ended up being basically the #1 best location downtown for intensification beyond just 27 storeys.

Aw, I like that hotel, it's all angular.

Quote:

Originally Posted by defishel (Post 7099001)

Suggestions:
- Smaller building should be hotel, larger residential.
- Sparks- and Bay-facing sides should have continuous retail along the street.
- Garage entrance facing in towards the inner blocl drop-off zone.
- Make the corner of Bay and Sparks more interesting to take advantage of the potential vista from the Garden of the Provinces

This would allow for better flow of people along Sparks and Bay without having to dodge cars exiting the buildings, as well as providing more opportunities for retail in the area (continuation of Sparks Street Mall). Switching the residences to the taller building provides more residences while gives hotel visitors view of Gatineau and the River.

They are using the existing parking garage which currently has two entrances. Sparks and Queen. They will be closing the Queen street entrance and putting in a pedestrian entry to the existing office tower there. So they won't be able to make it inside their drop-off courtyard unfortunately.

The Holmewoods Suites and Garden Inn brand in one hotel? Kinda hoping for an official upscale 'Hilton' in such a prime location. But that's Ottawa for you.

Yeah, not particularly impressed... Although a nice surprise;

1) Not really "added" density as they are tearing down two towers to build two new ones
2) Long live the 27 story downtown ceiling!
3) Very bland and uninspiring designs

I would've rather seen something different, better design, taller or would've preferred to see the parking lot across the street being redevelopped instead.. Oh well... typical Ottawa dissapointment :shrug:

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTSkyline (Post 7099152)

Aren't the two existing towers a lot shorter than 27 fl & 23 fl?

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTSkyline (Post 7099152)

I would've rather seen something different, better design, taller or would've preferred to see the parking lot across the street being redevelopped instead.. Oh well... typical Ottawa dissapointment :shrug:

Claridge has plans for that lot.

Will miss the former Inn of the Provinces, had that nice futuristic design. This proposal is underwhelming.