'Fed up' Watson wants action on half-demolished Somerset House
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 27, 2014, Last Updated: August 27, 2014 1:00 PM EDT
A tough-talking Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is ramping up pressure on the owner of Somerset House to fix up the dilapidated heritage building at the corner of Somerset and Bank streets.
The three-storey building, which is owed by TKS Holdings Inc., has sat empty for years and been wrapped by hoarding on one side ever since a partial collapse in 2007. The city later took the owner Tony Shahrasebi to court and was awarded costs in that action.
“He needs to understand that having this eyesore in the central core of the nation’s capital is not acceptable,” Watson said Wednesday.
Council has given Shahrasebi a break on encroachment fees — in anticipation of work commencing, first in 2012 and again this year — at an estimated cost of approximately $20,00o per year. Yet despite promises, there’s been no action, Watson said.
“There’s a million excuses and nothing ever gets done, so I think he now knows we’re serious. I’m fed up.”
Watson has asked city staff to provide council with an update on what permits TKS has applied for and been issued for the site, as well as the total value of encroachment fees waived to date.
He also wants to know what options the city has for increasing those encroachment fees “until he shows good faith and gets that building back in proper working order.”
The mayor told reporters he had a tense telephone call with Shahrasebi recently.
“From time to time, I get on the phone with some of these landlords and give them a bit of a blast,” Watson said.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes echoed the mayor’s demand for action.
“That’s a very important building that he want him to move forward on,” she said.
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