Envie & Capital Hall [101-105 Champagne Ave] | 78m + 68m | 28f + 22f | Completed

[OCCheetos]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Haven't noticed. What does the lighting look like (location, colour, if any?).

Sets of RGB strip lights around the windows(?) of the very top of the building (the dark grey brick). They were cycling between the colours of the rainbow.

Yesterday was the first time I've ever seen them.

[J.OT13]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing those.

[AuxTown]

Ya they look pretty cool. Early on there was some nice lighting on Mondrian "crown" (if anyone remembers) but they removed for some reason. Nice to see a little accent lighting in Ottawa.

[OCCheetos]

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by OCCheetos

Looks like Christmas lights to me

[rocketphish]

Fall of Ashcroft Homes hastened by 2018 student residence fire, court documents show
Seven years after the fire — and with Ashcroft now in receivership — the insurance claim will be the subject of a civil trial scheduled to begin in October.

Andrew Duffy, Ottawa Citizen
Published Mar 01, 2025 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 4 minute read

Court documents show the decline and fall of the Ashcroft Homes Group was hastened by an April 2018 fire at its large student residence then under construction in Little Italy.

The three-alarm fire began in an exterior garbage chute and climbed up the side of the 26-storey building on Champagne Avenue, causing extensive damage to 10 of its floors. Some interior units also had water and smoke damage.

The fire would lead to years of acrimony and conflict between Ashcroft and its insurance company, Northbridge General Insurance, about how to settle the damage claim.

The unresolved claim — the two sides were more than $21 million apart in their appraisals of the damage — ratcheted up the financial pressure on Ashcroft, which bore the cost of reconstruction on the 353-unit building known as Envie II. The company also suffered lost revenue due to the residence’s delayed opening.

The dispute led to two lawsuits, worth a total of $60 million, that were still not settled when Ashcroft was forced into receivership by its major lenders in January 2025.

Ashcroft claims the insurance company owes it $51 million for property damage and $9 million for business losses. Northbridge contests those amounts.

<more>

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/ashcroft-homes-student-residence-fire-court-documents

[J.OT13]

Just keeps getting better with Ashcroft.

Not good considering the continued housing shortage, especially affordable housing.

Ottawa tenants told to leave mould infested building as court approval sought for ‘mass eviction’

By Katelyn Wilson, CTV Ottawa
Published: July 28, 2025 at 4:37PM EDT

Dozens of tenants at an apartment building in Ottawa’s Little Italy say they’ve been left scrambling after receiving notice they may be required to vacate by the end of August, due to widespread mould and a pending court decision.

The building at 101 Champagne Avenue South has been under court-ordered receivership since February, after its owner Ashcroft Homes Group ran into financial trouble.

Now, a buyer is on the table, but the new owner wants vacant possession of all 185 units by August 31 to begin full remediation of the property.

One of those tenants is Yaasir Hosenie, who says he’s been living with visible mould in his unit for more than two months, including behind baseboards, in his bathroom and along the bedroom wall.

“I sent them photographic evidence of mould in this specific spot in my apartment, but they said they cannot do anything right now,” he said.

His unit was among 57 flagged in May following inspections. Later air quality testing confirmed elevated mould spore levels in some of those units and in common spaces like the gym.


At the time, management told tenants they were fixing the issue. But on July 23, residents received a new letter, this time warning of what Hosenie describes as a “mass eviction.”

“I was not contacted [about remediation], and then what happened is that on July 23, we just received a notice about a mass eviction happening,” he said.

The notice outlines a pending court motion, which will be heard Thursday, asking the court to grant the receiver the authority to take the “required steps to have the sheriff provide vacant possession” of the property if tenants refuse to leave voluntarily.

“For us, it’s a 39-day notice period,” said tenant Jayendra Kurukulasekara. “It’s incredibly hard to find a decent place at a similar price at such short notice.”

“This is coming during a time where you see the rental market hyper inflated and you can’t really find relatively affordable places to live.”

He says many of the building’s residents are international students or young professionals, some of whom have already left for the summer.

The court is also being asked to approve lease termination agreements, offering tenants two months’ rent and the option to take furniture from their furnished units.

However, in signing, tenants must also waive their rights to file future complaints or legal claims.

Kurukulasekara says mould is just the tip of the iceberg and things have been falling apart for months.

“One of the elevators had broken down and it wasn’t repaired for six to seven months,” he said. “There used to be a front desk person posted at all times essentially until at least 5 p.m. but for the past few months, there hasn’t been.”

In a brief statement to CTV News Ottawa, Varsity Communities, which manages the building under the direction of the court-appointed receiver, said:

“We recognize that this is a time of uncertainty for tenants and are committed to being a reliable source of information and assistance throughout the process.”

The company declined further comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings.

Tenants are now organizing with the help of advocacy group ACORN, which says it will be going door to door this week to inform residents of their rights.

“They can’t increase rent more than 2.5 per cent, and for me personally, I think that it is a case of renoviction,” said Hosenie.

The court hearing is scheduled for Thursday. According to the building’s general manager, formal written notice, including timelines and instructions for vacating, will be issued if the judge approves the receiver’s request.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/ot...court-approval-sought-for-mass-eviction/

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Envie in little Italy sounds like a disaster and the building is not very old. What used to be Envie on Rideau (street) is now called Alma. I guess it was sold to someone, but I am not sure who.

[ServiceGuy]

Isn't that the building that caught fire during construction? If so, it would have been soaked throughout during fire fighting efforts.

[qprcanada]

Originally Posted by ServiceGuy

Isn't that the building that caught fire during construction? If so, it would have been soaked throughout during fire fighting efforts.

105 Champagne is the building that caught fire during construction, it is the building closest to the street. It doesn't have a mould problem and is not managed by Ashcroft.

101 is the building behind 105 and closer to the train line.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by qprcanada

105 Champagne is the building that caught fire during construction, it is the building closest to the street. It doesn't have a mould problem and is not managed by Ashcroft.

101 is the building behind 105 and closer to the train line.

I had wondered the same thing myself.

I went back and looked at the construction photos on page 13/14. The amount of work done between Sept. and April is insane. Went from 5/6 floors of just concrete super structure to fully topped out and cladded with windows.

I was wondering if this building was precast panels which it isn't. I then wondered if there was a gap in construction leading to weather infiltration which doesn't seem to be the case.

So what the heck happened?

I would really like to see better reporting. So 57 units have mould. Where are these unit located in the building and is the mold mostly present on exterior walls etc. I'd love to see more investigated journalism and less story of the day reporting. This feels like it should be a class action lawsuit. The building is 7/8 years old.

Is the problem with the exterior envelop? cuz that is going to be a job and a half. I remember some of the Claridge Plaza buildings having some issues with their fire stacks or something freezing and pouring water everywhere so I have to wonder if it is something internal to the building.

I also feel like you can completely gut and flip a single unit in two months if you really wanted too. Small units as well. Move peoples furniture into a storage and pay for a short term hotel stay before moving them back in.

“They can’t increase rent more than 2.5 per cent, and for me personally, I think that it is a case of renoviction,” said Hosenie.

I guess this building was just finished before Doug went full nuclear on the common folk.

I feel terrible for everyone living in this situation.

Anyone want to place bets if the remediation is limited to 24 inches of drywall and new floors/baseboards?