Oak Street complex to be demolished; Community seeks to guide redevelopment
By Steph Willems
Ottawa East News, Sep 18, 2014
The expansive Oak Street warehouse will soon be no more, leaving a large tract of developable land near Gladstone Avenue and the O-Train tracks.
A request for proposals for a demolition project issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada closed on Sept. 9, with the federal department stating the demolition is expected to begin in early October.
The demolition comes as no surprise to nearby residents, as the federal government stated its intent to offload the property last year. Triangular in shape, the building occupied property that sits in the middle of the area covered by the Gladstone Station community design plan.
The north part of the property, which borders Somerset Street, will be retained by the government.
Public works has stated that following the demolition, the property will be backfilled, graded and landscaped pending future development. The likelihood of the Oak Street property becoming available for development is one of the factors that spurred local residents to participate in the community design plan process. That process has been ongoing this year, and is close to completion. A second draft was been created, but no final report has yet been tabled.
"For us in the community, we were expecting this to come," said Michael Powell, Dalhousie Community Association president. "It's nice to see the process (of redeveloping) the biggest chunk of available land in the area is starting to move forward."
The existing CDP documents, tailored from past consultations but not yet finalized, show Plouffe Park extended slightly towards the west, with an O-Train bridge linking Laurel Street to Oak Street.
A triangular park would be located on the site of the Oak Street complex, along with a north-south access road and condo buildings of varying heights located adjacent to the rail line. The low-rise nature of the dead-end streets that branch westward from Preston Street would be preserved.
Overall, Powell said he sees many positives in the CDP as it currently stands, but takes exception to the O-Train bridge. "What we've seen so far is a real drive to have more roads built in that area," said Powell.
"Right now, Oak Street is a quiet, dead-end street, opposite a park. They really shouldn't put a bridge there, as the end result will be more traffic in the area."
Powell said he hopes city planners "recognize that this (future) development is predicated around a walkable, transit-oriented community." The CDP process is expected to wrap up later this fall, following the municipal election in October. It is the community's hope, Powell said, that the CDP is in place before any part of the Oak Street property is put up for sale.
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/n...redevelopment/