General Update/Rumour thread [Urban Ottawa] - Page 103

waterloowarrior · #**2041** Posted **Feb 25, 2012, 2:50 PM**

for quick reference

reidjr · #**2042** Posted **Feb 28, 2012, 5:54 PM**

Does anyone know whats going on with the Bona office building in the east end?

rocketphish · #**2043** Posted **Feb 28, 2012, 6:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidjr

Does anyone know whats going on with the Bona office building in the east end?

Ya, it looks pretty much just as it does in the last photo in its project thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=5512037#post5512037

kevinbottawa · #**2044** Posted **Mar 7, 2012, 3:09 AM**

I drove by Angelo's Pizza House on Rideau at Cobourg and they have a sign up saying they've moved to St. Patrick Street and their building has been sold for future development. Rideau Street will look different once these lots are developed. Anyone know who bought it?

c_speed3108 · #**2045** Posted **Mar 7, 2012, 3:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by reidjr

Does anyone know whats going on with the Bona office building in the east end?

Bona generally doesn't use debt to finance their buildings. They just build a bit at a time as they have money available. Consequently, the buildings don't go up at break-neck speed.

That building apparently had no tenants - at least when they started so it is no rush.

Bona is also known for not talking to media - at all - so it is difficult to know exactly where things are.

Chris-R · #**2046** Posted **Mar 7, 2012, 3:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

I drove by Angelo's Pizza House on Rideau at Cobourg and they have a sign up saying they've moved to St. Patrick Street and their building has been sold for future development. Rideau Street will look different once these lots are developed. Anyone know who bought it?

I hope *something* gets built Uptown Rideau some time. It feels like it has been spotty like that since I moved here over a decade ago.

Ottawan · #**2047** Posted **Mar 7, 2012, 8:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris-R

I hope *something* gets built Uptown Rideau some time. It feels like it has been spotty like that since I moved here over a decade ago.

A quite large number of developers are known to be sitting on parcels of land along Rideau Street east of King Edward. I was wondering for a while why no one was moving ahead with their development of these parcels.

Then a few months ago in reports about the upcoming reconstruction of Rideau Street it was explained that the current below-ground infrastructure (water, sewage) is insufficient to handle any intensification in this area, but that when the pipes are replaced, they will.

In other words, development has not been allowed east of King Edward, but in two years from now, when the street is fully reconstructed, it will. In 3 - 5 years time, I believe we will see a greater concentration of cranes along this stretch of Rideau than pretty much anywhere else in the City (except maybe along the O-Train corridor).

Harley613 · #**2048** Posted **Mar 9, 2012, 12:09 AM**

very interesting! makes perfect sense. the vacant lot just west of charlotte...the block of boarded up buildings just east of charlotte....i'm excited for the infrastructure to catch up so this blight on the landscape can be gentrified.

waterloowarrior · #**2049** Posted **Mar 10, 2012, 7:37 PM**

November 2011 Of Capital Interest Newsletter
http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/ms_november2011.htm

The next largest transaction was 256 Rideau Street and 211 Besserer Street. The property sold to Phoenix Properties Inc. from 9093-5958 Quebec Inc. for $6,000,000 or $453/sf of site area. It was improved at the time of sale however the purchaser intends to redevelop the property with two 28-storey condominium towers consisting of 250 units.

here's an aerial from southfacing:

kevinbottawa · #**2050** Posted **Mar 10, 2012, 8:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

November 2011 Of Capital Interest Newsletter
http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/ms_november2011.htm

The next largest transaction was 256 Rideau Street and 211 Besserer Street. The property sold to Phoenix Properties Inc. from 9093-5958 Quebec Inc. for $6,000,000 or $453/sf of site area. It was improved at the time of sale however the purchaser intends to redevelop the property with two 28-storey condominium towers consisting of 250 units.

here's an aerial from southfacing:

That's gonna be the densest part of the city. Walking down Besserer is gonna be very interesting in the future. I just hope we'll eventually see more 30+ storey projects in this city.

I also hope Phoenix brings some amazing design to Rideau Street. That part of the city is very underwhelming for the city's major downtown main street.

rocketphish · #**2051** Posted **Mar 10, 2012, 10:38 PM**

On March 16, 2011 a five-alarm fire ravaged several properties on Beechwood Ave., destroying several businesses and many apartments units above them. At the time, owner Helene Carter vowed to rebuild, but the entire process has been held up due to the processing of numerous insurance claims and lawsuits.

Now, according to the February issue of the New Edinburgh News, there is an unconfirmed but credible report that the properties are being sold to Minto for redevelopment. This is a substantial site, encompassing the entire southwestern corner of Beechwood Ave. and MacKay St., including the still standing Hamie's Diner and Bread & Roses Bakery, and a still-standing 3-story building on MacKay St., which remains vacant due to smoke damage.

The property is municipally known as 409 MacKay St., and measures 153 x 192 ft.

http://newedinburgh.ca/sites/default/files/NEN/NEN_Feb2012_web.pdf

rocketphish · #**2052** Posted **Mar 10, 2012, 11:04 PM**

According to the Cardinal Glen Community Association, the property at 460 St. Laurent Blvd. (at the corner of Dunbarton Ct.) has been sold to Gatineau developer Brigil. It measures 200 x 137 ft. and was formerly the site of John's Sunoco Service Station.

http://www.cgcasite.info/?page_id=146

Uhuniau · #**2053** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 1:46 AM**

What a wasted opportunity that LCBO ugliness represents.

Davis137 · #**2054** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 2:41 AM**

Now imagine that the Aerial Photo above by Southfacing was actually from like a 40th floor window of Ottawa's newest tallest...The reason I say that, is because it kinda looks like a photo taken from a tall building looking down at others...

citizen j · #**2055** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 5:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

What a wasted opportunity that LCBO ugliness represents.

Don't fret; it's a disposable building. The lot can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. (A design principle at work all over the city).

S-Man · #**2056** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 9:08 AM**

Quote:

The lot can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

That Rideau-Besserer block will be a super dense one for sure, especially given what it looked like just half a decade ago. Still, having four 28-storey buildings clustered so close together is a bit weird. Why 28? That number's become the silver compact sedan of Ottawa's development scene - ie, they're everywhere.

Hope Phoenix does something different, instead of building a HP 5&6. I'll also brace myself for the inevitable outcry from the residents of 200 Besserer over their lost light and views.

kevinbottawa · #**2057** Posted **Mar 11, 2012, 3:21 PM**

At the corner of Rideau/King Edward where the LCBO/Metro are I'd love to see something like the Hullmark Centre in North York, but smaller. It would be a nice gateway building to downtown with a public square, a few floors of retail, condos, and office space in there's demand.

Or even something like what was proposed for the bus station. Rideau and King Edward has so much potential.

Uhuniau · #**2058** Posted **Mar 12, 2012, 5:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by citizen j

Don't fret; it's a disposable building. The lot can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. (A design principle at work all over the city).

The town was full of disposable buildings once; they just are now tearing down the last of them

That LCBO is still going to be there, looking as squat and crappy as when it was barfed up in the 90s, 20 years from now. BUT AT LEAST THERE'S LOTS OF SURFACE PARKING.

Uhuniau · #**2059** Posted **Mar 12, 2012, 5:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by S-Man

That Rideau-Besserer block will be a super dense one for sure, especially given what it looked like just half a decade ago. Still, having four 28-storey buildings clustered so close together is a bit weird. Why 28? That number's become the silver compact sedan of Ottawa's development scene - ie, they're everywhere.

I thought it was because 29+ storey buildings decrease the value of your children.

Uhuniau · #**2060** Posted **Mar 12, 2012, 5:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

At the corner of Rideau/King Edward where the LCBO/Metro are I'd love to see something like the Hullmark Centre in North York, but smaller. It would be a nice gateway building to downtown with a public square, a few floors of retail, condos, and office space in there's demand.

Other than the obligatory but pointless "plaza" out front, that would be OK.