Claridge Icon [505 Preston St] | 143m | 45 fl | Completed

[JackBauer24]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

How tall is this estimated to be?

They applied for 42. They need to go through the approval process with the city to see what they'll get. My guess is, it'll end up around 35 stories - but it's too early to tell.

[McC]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

How tall is this estimated to be?

From the Planning Rationale Doc:

Maximum building height: 138 m including mechanical penthouse

http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__8622G6

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

They applied for 42. They need to go through the approval process with the city to see what they'll get. My guess is, it'll end up around 35 stories - but it's too early to tell.

The City's draft strategic directions report calls for 40 on the site, so I would think they would get that...http://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-consultations/transit/findings

[Marcus CLS]

They have started constuction of a presentation/sales centre. Apprx. 18 small concrete pads 2 to 3 feet square made with 2X6 or 2X8 wood were poured today.

[amanfromnowhere]

Does anyone know if they decided to go with original design? I cannot find new renderings...

[linds11]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

How many Claridge condos have you stepped foot in (not including their models)? If you've had the chance to be in a few of their buildings, I think your opinion may change. I agree with you that most of their project exteriors are not aesthetically pleasing, but their interiors might actually be worse. The materials they use, the workmanship, the way in which their deficiencies are handled, the list goes on and on. Perfect example: my friend owns a place at CP1, they installed the large (12"x12" or 13"x13") bathroom tub surround tiles for his kitchen backsplash - mistakes happen when you're building 150+ condos, but it took him 9 months and the threat of legal action to have them change it to the correct tile. And that's just one of the many horror stories I've heard from Claridge condo owners.

Your theory about people buying Claridge because of, and not despite of, their cheap interior finishes to make it a better investment doesn't really make sense, because it's not as if Claridge's prices are way below everyone elses - in fact, they're prices are average at best. For the savvy investors out there, price isn't the top factor to consider when gauging investment options - value is. And since Claridge offers one of the cheapest finishing packages out there, but charges average prices - is there a lot of value there?

As for your take on the architects share of the blame: Architects are hired by the developer to design what the developer wants - plus they take into account the budget, height variences, by-laws, etc.... Not the other way around. Pointing the finger at the architects for poor and ugly buildings with terrible interior finishes is the same as blaming the roofing guys for putting Scotia Bank Place in Kanata over LeBreton. The developer cuts the cheques, he calls the shots. Any positive or negative comments should be aimed at the developer.

Having actually lived in a Claridge condo myself (instead of merely referencing a friend's experience, secondhand) I can say that Claridge condos are in fact good quality. Contrary to what has been mentioned above, Claridge condos do offer good value. They differentiate themselves because they give purchasers the option of upgrading or sticking with base models. They've even upgraded their their specs so you get more included as part of the base price - they now include features such as granite countertops, for example.

I have had a chance to view different Claridge buildings (and homes) and the same holds true.

Claridge Icon looks impressive - very different than anything Ottawa has ever seen before. The exterior especially looks new age and sleek. I'd probably be looking to buy there if I didn't already love the condo I'm in (ps - I'm in a Claridge).

[JackBauer24]

Originally Posted by linds11

Having actually lived in a Claridge condo myself (instead of merely referencing a friend's experience, secondhand) I can say that Claridge condos are in fact good quality. Contrary to what has been mentioned above, Claridge condos do offer good value. They differentiate themselves because they give purchasers the option of upgrading or sticking with base models. They've even upgraded their their specs so you get more included as part of the base price - they now include features such as granite countertops, for example.

I have had a chance to view different Claridge buildings (and homes) and the same holds true.

Claridge Icon looks impressive - very different than anything Ottawa has ever seen before. The exterior especially looks new age and sleek. I'd probably be looking to buy there if I didn't already love the condo I'm in (ps - I'm in a Claridge).

First off, my expereince wasn't "second-hand". Yes, it was my friends condo, but I viewed the suite and finishes for myself. That would be first-hand, me thinks. Notice, I didn't speak about the experience of living there - if I had, that would have been second-hand.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure that every builder in the city (condo, single family, etc...) offers customizations and the option of upgrading their properties, in fact, you'd be pressed to find one who doesn't. I'm not sure how that differentiates Claridge from any other builder.

Claridge's standard package has recently been upgraded to granite countertops, but that has been most builders standard since the early 2000s. If Claridge wants to differentiate their base package from other builders, they should try to be more innovative - quartz countertops or stainless steel. Again, offering what every other builder offers isn't differentiating them from anyone or anything.

And lastly, the Icon design does look good (mind you, initial artist's renderings always look good) but it's not "very different than anything Ottawa has ever seen before", unless you didn't see Soho Italia's initial rendering. If you had, and I would gauge that most of the readers/posters on SSF would have, you'll notice many similarities.

[Chadillaccc]

Jeeez what a wet blanket!

Well I really hope this gets built. The hole Little Italy area will be very different in a few years

[JackBauer24]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Jeeez what a wet blanket!

Well I really hope this gets built. The hole Little Italy area will be very different in a few years

I don't think there's a doubt it'll be built, I think the only questions are how tall and when?
But you are right, Little Italy as a whole will be very different in 5-10 years. You;ve got Claridge, Soho (x2) Richcraft, Domicile, and Ashcroft all with sites in the works, and I'm sure I'm missing a few others. Very exciting times for sure.

[Marcus CLS]

Construction of an on site sales centre is progressing full steam ahead even though there is no approval yet.

[Marcus CLS]

As I have posted before construction of the sales centre is continuing and earlier this week a geotechnical drill rig was on site but was gone today.

[JM1]

I have to wonder if all of the projects in Little Italy will get built. After all, they will all be vying for the same condo buyers and I just don't see all that demand materializing in the next couple of years -- especially if the housing market goes bust.

[waterloowarrior]

David Reevely Live 2 ‏@ReevelyLive2 10m
City's planning department recommends letting Claridge build its 42-45-story building at the foot of Preston Street. #ottpoli #ottawa

David Reevely Live 2 ‏@ReevelyLive2 11m
The "Icon" building, at 143 metres, would be the tallest building in #ottawa by quite a bit.

David Reevely ‏@davidreevely 5m
The "Icon" approval is for 10 metres taller than Claridge originally asked for. Allows the building to be prettier, the report says. #ottawa

David Reevely ‏@davidreevely 5m
@BegleyChris @modalmom Commercial uses at ground level, the report says. Also more than $1.1M in S.37 payment.

[brentgaulois]

City planners suggest Claridge Icon should be approved, with 10 extra meters, at 45 stories. If those goes ahead, maybe Richcraft's 48 floor building might get approved.

Let Claridge build 45-storey 'Icon' building on Preston Street, City Planners say

OTTAWA — Not only should Claridge be permitted to construct the tallest building in Ottawa at the foot of Preston Street, say the city’s urban planners, the company should be allowed to make that building 10 metres taller even than it originally intended.

The planners are moving fast after city council’s planning committee approved a rough plan for the area around Preston and Carling Avenue on Tuesday evening. The plan, which allows “point towers” of about 40 storeys in several spots at and near the intersection, was devised partly in response to Claridge’s proposal earlier this year, which made the city perk up and pay attention to a sudden condo boom in the area.

The “Icon” building, as Claridge calls it, isn’t the first condo tower proposed there but it is the biggest.

Claridge plans to erect a 143-metre building at 505 Preston, on the east side of the street. That’s between 42 and 45 storeys, depending how they’re divided up. The tallest building in Ottawa now is one of the Place de Ville office towers in the downtown core, which is 30 metres (or about 100 feet) shorter. The plan includes 250 condos, a nine-storey underground garage, a couple of floors of offices, and stores or restaurants at street level.

The extra height — Claridge’s original filing asked to build a 133-metre building — is for a more attractive cap. One of the elements in the preliminary plan approved Tuesday, devised by Toronto planning guru George Dark, is that highly visible buildings that’ll be part of a new skyline for Little Italy should have distinctive tops.

A lot of the time in Ottawa, towers are topped with mechanical penthouses (holding things like the works for elevators) that are necessary but not pretty. The idea instead is to have features that “enhance the City’s image and the esthetic qualities of buildings when viewed from different vistas,” the report says. But to do that, and still include all the units Claridge hopes to sell, the building has to be taller.

The south end of Preston Street near Dow’s Lake is a new outpost of downtown in the city’s new thinking, a neighbourhood under major renovation that can be centred on the Carling O-Train station if the redevelopment is handled right.

“A high profile development located on the subject site will contribute to creating a community focus,” the city planners’ report says. “The subject property is a corner lot at the intersection of two major arterial roadways and is at the southern gateway to Little Italy. As well, the larger district serves as the gateway to the larger downtown area. The building on this property, as well as the buildings in the larger surrounding area, will all be required to meet high design standards that will contribute to the image and identify of the district and the city.”

The rezoning, if councillors approve it, would bring a $1.16-million payment from Claridge to be used for neighbourhood improvements, a big chunk of it going to a new pedestrian crossing of the nearby O-Train tracks. Coun. Diane Holmes, who represents the area, says much of the rest should be spent on improving area parks and buying land for new ones wherever possible.

The planners’ report is in quiet circulation to neighbours and is to be released publicly April 2. The planning committee is to vote on it April 9.

[email protected]

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Claridge+bu...lanners/8164845/story.html#ixzz2OqwI4k9z

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ottawa...g+Preston+Street+city/8164845/story.html

[amanfromnowhere]

and the renderings from the article:

[McC]

Extra height and hiding mechanical penthouses are unrelated issues, so there's a red herring swimming around that story. We went through this on the Parkdale projects (especially 111, when the top changed from slanty to flat): the height approved in the zoning is to the highest inhabited point, not to the actual summit of the building as observed by you and I.

[linds11]

@brentgaulois - Thanks for sharing the Ottawa Citizen article (http://ow.ly/jzfDG).

With the city's approval for Claridge to "construct the tallest building in Ottawa" I guess I wasn't too far off in saying it's different than anything Ottawa has ever seen before .

At any rate, we'll see if this can go through in a timely manner. It seems that anything new and different always encounters a little extra red tape in this city.

[Davis137]

I actually don't hate this revamped proposal and/or renders. It makes this building look similar to some of the buildings that are going up in the GTA, and I don't mean that as an insult.

[Ottawan]

It seems that in response to the Richcraft proposal for the Dow Honda site, Claridge has proposed nearly doubling the height of Claridge Icon to 82 stories: Claridge Press Release

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Ottawan

It seems that in response to the Richcraft proposal for the Dow Honda site, Claridge has proposed nearly doubling the height of Claridge Icon to 82 stories: Claridge Press Release

LOL would that ever get approved though? 82 stories would likely make it the tallest building in Canada, forget Ottawa! (As soon as I saw where it redirected to, I knew it was a joke)