265 Catherine St [Former Greyhound terminal] | 110/117/127m | 32/34/36f | Site Prep

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News article in the Citizen, no images posted (yet):

Developer presents his dream for Ottawa bus station site


BY NECO COCKBURN, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

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OTTAWA — A contingency plan consisting of apartments, stores and office space that might be built at the Catherine Street bus terminal should Greyhound ever leave the site is to be discussed on Tuesday by council’s planning committee.

The bus station’s owner, Crerar Silverside Corp., has applied for rezoning to allow a new development that doesn’t necessarily include a bus depot on the land bounded by Catherine, Lyon and Kent streets and Arlington Avenue.

Although there is a proposal on paper for such a development, Greyhound is expected to remain at the station “for the foreseeable future,” said Stewart Robertson of Crerar.

“Our expectation is that Greyhound is going to stay and operate out of this terminal,” Robertson said, adding that details of an agreement are still being worked out.

Greyhound has operated out of the terminal on a month-to-month basis for at least the past 10 years, Robertson said, “so our goal is to have them there on a long-term basis, and to improve the terminal.”

The contingency proposal calls for four buildings, including two 25-storey towers, built around a courtyard area.

“It’s a beautiful plan, in my opinion. We’re excited about it, but we’re also excited about retaining Greyhound,” said Robertson.

The site’s current zoning allows limited transportation-related uses such as a bus station, parking garage, parking lot and train station, along with accessory uses such as a restaurant, retail store and convenience store.

The proposed zoning would permit a mixed-use development “with site-specific provisions to allow for a bus station as a permitted use,” says a staff report to go before the planning committee. That means the bus station could remain.

“The rezoned plan is for a bus terminal and mixed-use rezoning. It could be one, the other, or both, and when we look out into the future, none of us has a crystal ball, so you simply try and plan for as many contingencies as possible,” said Robertson.

Under the proposal to go before the planning committee, the two tower buildings would face Catherine Street.

One tower building on the western portion of the site would consist of two storeys for office and retail space and a 23-storey apartment building. The other building, to the east, would have a 19-storey apartment building built on top of six storeys of retail and office space.

The two remaining buildings would face Arlington Avenue “with ground-oriented residential units,” the report says. The buildings would front Arlington with three storeys and step back to seven storeys, it says.

Crerar began the rezoning process last year after former mayor Larry O’Brien talked about having Greyhound move into the train station on Tremblay Road in order to create a transportation hub that would combine intercity bus and train service with Ottawa’s planned light-rail line.

City staff say in their report that any relocation of Greyhound “has not been formally determined,” and that the planning department has not been notified of any plans to develop an intercity bus terminal anywhere else.

A VIA Rail spokesman says there are no current talks with bus operators about such a hub arrangement. A spokeswoman for Greyhound did not provide information by Wednesday afternoon.

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