General Update/Rumour thread [Urban Ottawa]

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

I'm trying to put together a video update of different construction projects just for a personal project to practice my video editing skills. I need a few pics of Ottawa condos that I can use for the intro. Does anyone have any pics I can use? I can give credit.

Which condos? I have some stuff on www.flickr.com/sheldef if there's any you like.

[J.OT13]

City aims to open innovation complex by 2016

OBJ ContributorPublished on November 27, 2013

The city is eyeing a 2016 opening date for the first phase of its proposed innovation complex at Bayview Yards, says a staff report to be tabled at a meeting of Ottawa’s finance and economic development committee next week.


© Google Street View image

An old city workshop at the Bayview Yards.

By David Sali


The report, which will be presented at the committee on Tuesday, also recommends the establishment of a new non-profit corporation to oversee the development and operation of the facility, the city said in a statement this week. The report will go in front of city council on Dec. 11.

If council gives the project the go-ahead, a board of directors for the non-profit corporation will be chosen and staff will start working on a lease agreement for the building, which is located on 0.8 hectares of land at 7 Bayview Rd.

The innovation complex would be the new home of Invest Ottawa and also include an expanded business incubation and acceleration centre and other support agencies for entrepreneurs as well as private tenants. Supporters say it will become a place where entrepreneurs can interact, share ideas and learn new skills, similar to Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District or Waterloo’s Communitech Hub.

“As we build our city’s new economic engine, Ottawa needs a dynamic, world-class facility like this to foster innovation and support private-sector job growth,” Mayor Jim Watson said in a statement. “This is a site that has tremendous potential for smart growth, especially as we expand our transit system in the coming years.”

The project would be jointly funded by the city, the province and the private sector. The province has already pledged $15 million toward the complex, an amount the city plans to match through in-kind contributions of staff resources, waived municipal fees and development charges and cash to help cover operating shortfalls in the startup phase.

The 45,000-square-foot city-owned building at 7 Bayview Rd. was declared a heritage site last year. The city said it expects to start renovations, including a 5,000-square-foot addition, in 2014, and is targeting mid-2016 for the first phase to be finished.

The city said it hopes to start planning the second phase – an office building of up to 180,000 square feet funded in partnership with a private developer – next year. Construction on the building would start once a development partner and anchor tenants are found.

See also: Innovation complex key for attracting cash to Ottawa, VC investor says.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/City-Hall/2013-1...ims-to-open-innovation-complex-by-2016/1

[J.OT13]

Bank of Canada renovations.

Heritage experts object to Bank of Canada’s plans to change “iconic” building

By Maria Cook, Ottawa Citizen November 29, 2013



Completed in 1979, the Bank of Canada head office was immediately hailed as an architectural gem. Symmetrical glass towers flank the grey-granite building which had established the Bank’s presence on Wellington Street since the 1930s. Where the original building communicates permanence and weight, the 1970s structure is light and welcoming. The towers set back to reveal the vault-like older building, preserving its visibility as a federal institution among others along Wellington. A glass-enclosed courtyard connects the three buildings on the Sparks Street side. It is a subtle composition that balances the ceremonial aspect of Wellington with the dense and commercial downtown on its south side.

In 2000, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada named it one of the top 500 buildings produced in Canada in the last millennium.

Today, as the Bank embarks on a major $610-million renovation, some of Canada’s most prominent architecture and heritage experts are afraid that a masterpiece will be compromised.


GARDEN COURT

The Bank’s employee newsletter this summer noted that when the 1970s addition was built “the glass buildings and public garden underscored a new spirit in central bank design — one of modernity, transparency and accessibility.”

Three decades later, the Bank plans to remove the plants and pool, level the gently sloping floor, and eliminate the green-slate paving. The 12,749-square-foot space will become private, serving as informal meeting space for bank employees.

The garden court provided access to the Currency Museum from the Bank lobby, which links Sparks and Wellington. People could walk through, or sit and enjoy the garden. It was popular for wedding photography.

“The soaring atrium filled with lush vegetation and a large reflecting pool is a key feature of the complex and provides an oasis of greenery to the general public, especially during the harshness of an Ottawa winter,” says a 2007 bank publication, More Than Money: Architecture and Art at the Bank of Canada.

A threat-risk assessment suggested “being able to walk in and leave a backpack and walk out was a significant issue,” says architect Fred Vermeulen.

The garden court encloses part of the Centre Building, where executives work, including the Governor. Though there hasn’t an incident in 34 years, “you have no control of who comes and goes in that public space,” says project manager Dale Fleck.

The Bank also wants to use the area to encourage collaboration among staff, says Vermeulen. “The atrium becomes a big part of meetings which don’t have to be booked or structured.”

Phyllis Lambert, founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, objects to destruction of the garden, observing that landscape was a key feature of Erickson’s work.

“To remove that would be to remove the soul of that building,” says Lambert. “It’s not only a major piece of his design, it’s a major aspect of that building. It has a great important function. It’s how he connected the new building to the old and that’s a very brilliant way of doing this. It connects to the other public space around it.”


Denying public access is “unacceptable,” says Lambert. “Security you can do all sorts of things about. That’s become such a mantra for ruining everything. As in all great buildings, the ground floor has to be public. It cannot be privatized.”

Cornelia Oberlander, one of Canada’s best-known landscape architects, calls changes to the garden “crazy” and says “the garden was the most important part.”

She also questions the Bank’s idea to introduce Canadian plants to the atrium. “You can’t have Canadian things inside. They don’t want to grow.”


EAST PLAZA

Early architectural drawings show three glass pyramidal structures on the East Plaza at Wellington and Bank streets — a proposal that according to Lambert is “completely killing” the design. They will occupy about 12,000 square feet on the Plaza, which will lose its green slate pavement. “It should not be done,” she says. “It’s not a building designed anonymously by some commercial architect. It’s like adding something to a work by (artists) Michael Snow or Picasso. It’s totally ridiculous.”

The largest of the three structures, which Vermeulen calls “a very simple glass pop-up”, will become a main entry with lobby. It will lead to the Currency Museum and new conference centre in the East Tower basement, which extends under the plaza. Two smaller pyramids are to contain mechanical works and an exit stair.

The one-storey forms will be arranged to create an outdoor performance space and will provide built-in seating for events such as Canada Day or Winterlude, says Vermeulen. “People sit on the steps on the corner, but nobody really uses the space.”

The museum will move from the Centre building as a security precaution. It will be bigger “to showcase more of the currency collection and also reach out to the public a little more effectively,” says Jill Vardy, the Bank’s chief of communications.



FURNITURE

During the 1970s design, the architectural team examined every office system available and, finding them lacking, designed custom furnishings tailored to the Bank’s needs. They studied how employees worked, tested mock-ups and demonstrated 60 different layouts.

Though gradually phased out, about 220 settings remain. They consist of generous oak desks, oak storage units that also functioned as partitions, and round glass tables on chrome pedestals.

These will be replaced with new office-systems furniture. While the original has “legacy character,” it’s not suited to computers or keyboards and lacks ergonomic features, says Vermeulen.

“It’s just too bulky,” adds Fleck, noting that offices and workspaces will shrink. There will be “less personal workspace but more shared space,” explains Vermeulen. Some furniture will be reused in the temporary location; some stored for later use in the Centre Building; some will be removed by the new furniture supplier.

“Offices are different now because of the computer,” agrees Lambert. “However, these were offices designed by a great architect. If something is going to be done now, then the people who make the new interior would have to be equal to Arthur Erickson and not a large commercial firm.”


Lambert says the furnishings should be documented, the Bank should keep a representative suite, and they should donate pieces to the furniture collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

“It is a tragedy when specially-commissioned furniture from leading architects and designers such as Arthur Erickson are discarded,” says Rachel Gotlieb, co-author of Design in Canada, and founding curator of the Design Exchange in Toronto. “There are few government interiors designed by such important architects as Erickson so why destroy them?”



HERITAGE

The Bank buildings are not protected by heritage designation. And, as a Crown corporation, the Bank of Canada is not subject to review by the Federal Heritage Building Review Office or the National Capital Commission (NCC).

This is a problem, says Natalie Bull, executive director of the Heritage Canada Foundation. “Canada is the only G-8 country without laws to protect historic places owned by its national government,” she says. “If this building were in the United States third-party scrutiny and public consultation would be required before any changes to the design.”

The Bank voluntarily presented its plans to the NCC, which is responsible for Confederation Boulevard. The NCC board gave preliminary design approval last April, and the advisory committee on planning, design and realty offered comments on changes to the plaza on Wellington Street.

“The bank and its design team are to be commended for working with the NCC to enhance the use of public space in their proposal,” said NCC spokesman Mario Tremblay.

However, André Audette, the Bank’s retired facility and security advisory, says greater scrutiny is needed to protect the building’s architectural and historical value. He says the Bank should seek independent advice from heritage experts and participate in the same reviews as any project in the Parliamentary Precinct.

“Failing that, we run the risk that the project will not enhance this modern jewel of the Confederation Boulevard.”



INTERIOR

Arthur Erickson’s original open-concept office is being restored, says Vermeulen. “Erickson’s concept for these floors was basically a panoramic view when you come off the elevator.”

New walls to reinforce the building against earthquake will go in the core of the building, where stairs and elevators are located. This strategy protects the open-concept office landscape, with its treelike columns and coffered ceiling. Offices on the perimeter will move to the centre. Walls built over the years will come down.

“We’re making a much more open, collaborative transparent environment,” says Fleck.

As part of an effort to make technical upgrades unobtrusive, a new raised floor, unusual for being only a few inches thicks, will be used as a space for data and electrical wiring.


A third layer of glass will be installed inside the curtain wall, to save energy. Vermeulen assures the extra glass will not be visible from outside. It is a key point because the curtain wall is much-admired for its elegance. The finely-divided glass panels have a strong vertical proportion. Window mullions are patinated to match the green copper of roofs on Parliament Hill.

Lambert is skeptical. “I don’t see how it can really be done without affecting the appearance of the curtain wall,” she says. “That has to be really shown to everybody.”

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Herita...a+plans+change+iconic/9229079/story.html

[rocketphish]

Marriott announces $4M for lobby renovation, room refresh

OBJ Staff, Published on December 03, 2013

One of Ottawa’s largest hotels has announced plans to spend $4 million on upgrading its downtown facility over the next nine months.

The Ottawa Marriott Hotel, which is located on Kent Street just north of Queen Street, will refurbish the facility’s 480 rooms with new carpeting, window treatments and lighting fixtures.

The renovations will also lead to a “modern new lobby and great room” that will include seating and iMac workstations, a company press release said.The hotel expects to have the renovations complete by September of next year.

This is the latest in a series of upgrades for the hotel.

The Marriott earlier this year announced plans to spend $15 million to upgrade 21 meeting rooms and add five new boardrooms.

The hotel is the second largest in Ottawa when ranked by the number of rooms it has, according to OBJ records.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2013-12-...M-for-lobby-renovation%2C-room-refresh/1

[rocketphish]

Councillors continue push to save World Exchange cinema

City’s investment should earn some good will from owner

By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 3, 2013 9:00 PM

OTTAWA — City councillors have once again urged the owner of the World Exchange Plaza to make every effort to preserve its popular movie theatre space that is slated to shut down by year’s end.

The politicians at Tuesday’s finance committee reiterated their support for the cinema at the same time recognizing the owner has no obligation to retain the theatre space.

Representatives for World Exchange say they would like to find an operator to keep the theatre running, but given the lack of interest, they might have to consider other options. And they certainly can, now that city staff clarified that the development agreement for the downtown centre does not restrict the space for a theatre or for any other entertainment use.

“We just wanted to confirm the conditions of the development agreement that the third floor was not restricted to a theatre use only,” said Nancy Meloshe, a planning consultant working with World Exchange’s management group Bentall Kennedy.

There was public backlash when the owner asked the city for clarification that it could use the space on the third-floor for offices. The inquiry was made because Empire Theatres made known its intentions to abandon the big screen when its lease expires on Dec. 31.

Calgary-based cinema chain Landmark Theatres has since taken over the lease, but there is no guarantee the company, or any other, will continue to show movies in 2014.

Coun. Bob Monette suggests World Exchange reach out to smaller theatre companies to see whether they are interested in operating a cinema.

“I’m hoping that (city) staff, before agreeing to any changes, explore all options available for a theatre,” he said.

Even without the obligation to keep a cinema, Coun. Diane Holmes reminded the owner’s representatives of the public’s investment for the downtown building, including the dedication of street lanes still used for vehicles entering and exiting the building.

“We are looking to World Exchange Plaza to maintain this theatre space as a return on the major investment the city has made,” Holmes said.

Landmark’s chief operating officer Neil Campbell has already stated publicly that the company would like to operate a theatre at the World Exchange and those conversations are ongoing, according to representatives from Bentall Kennedy.

[email protected]

Twitter.com/Derek_Spalding
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainme...World+Exchange+cinema/9243151/story.html

[rocketphish]

Prep work for LRT-fuelled development to cost $72M

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 4, 2013 6:01 PM

OTTAWA — It will cost about $72 million to kit out neighbourhoods around three east-side transit stations so they will be fit for the massive redevelopments it’s hoped light-rail service will spur, according to a city reckoning.

That tab could also be much higher, if Hydro Ottawa buries its wires at the same time.

Taxpayers won’t be responsible for all the costs of new pipes and sidewalks and bike routes, says a report bound for city council’s planning committee next Tuesday: Developers expected to construct all the new buildings the city hopes to see (and ultimately their buyers) will have to pitch in, too. And particularly in the case of sewers and water mains, laying new and bigger pipes will benefit communities besides the ones close to Lees, Hurdman and Blair stations.

The figures are in a report explaining the pre-emptive rezonings the city’s planners want to apply to those areas to try to get vacant properties and strip malls and parking lots to turn into condo towers and office complexes full of people who will ride the city’s $2.1-billion light-rail line to and fro for many of their trips around the city. The changes include allowing buildings as tall as 30, 35, even 45 storeys, taller than anything built in Ottawa now, next to the stations.

They’re the second round of “transit-oriented development” rezonings, after city council approved similar plans for Train, Cyrville and St. Laurent stations a year ago; the idea is to get up to five times as many people living and working near those stations as do today. The idea is to mimic the effect Toronto’s subway system has had in creating nodes of skyscrapers around many of its stations, in exactly the way the Transitway here was supposed to but didn’t.

But all those people will need services and amenities that the station areas don’t have now.

Lees, on the edge of the University of Ottawa campus, needs the least work: a mere $11 million, much of that in upgraded electricity service.

Hurdman, just across the Rideau River but practically isolated with fields on three sides (thanks to its location amid old closed landfills), needs the most: $35 million, with sewer pipes making up $15 million.

Blair, much farther east, needs $26 million worth of work, and the single biggest chunk of that is $13 million to improve the almost nonexistent bike routes to and from a station that’s tucked between the Gloucester Centre mall and a Highway 174 overpass.

Indeed, the single biggest item across all three redevelopment areas combined is biking infrastructure, from roadside tracks to painted lanes to dedicated paths, all of them adding up to $25 million. Making the new neighbourhoods walkable and bikeable is key to getting people to use the transit stations that are supposed to be at their hearts, the planners’ report says, because people will not use a transit system they can’t get to: “Pedestrian and cycling access to transit along with urban design standards for creating public and private spaces was given highest priority in the preparation of the TOD Plans.”

There is an expense the city won’t be jumping to pay, though, which is the cost of burying hydro wires. That would cost an estimated $39 million across all six of the transit-oriented development districts the city’s prepared so far, according to an estimate from Hydro Ottawa, and that doesn’t include moving other underground services to make way for them or changing all the electrical hookups in the buildings the wires serve.

“Council could consider burial of hydro wires on (these) streets at the time of major road reconstruction subject to consideration of detailed cost estimates, affordability and street location,” the planning department suggests.

[email protected]">[email protected]

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

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ottawa/Prep+work+fuelled+development+cost/9247743/story.html

[rocketphish]

Falling condo demand slows Ottawa real estate market

By Robert Bostelaar, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 4, 2013 6:01 PM

OTTAWA — Shrinking demand for condominiums in November sapped any momentum in Ottawa’s resale homes market.

Condo sales fell 15.5 per cent from the same month a year earlier, pulling down the overall real estate market by 0.7 per cent even as sales of other housing types held steady. The drop came after three months of small gains in overall sales figures.

For the first 11 months of 2013, condo sales have fallen by 6.6 per cent, according to figures released Wednesday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board. Values have also declined, but only marginally. The average condo resale price so far in 2013 is $263,902, a 1.7-per-cent drop from 2012.

For other housing types, sales are down by 2.3 per cent for 2013, but the average price has risen by 2.1 per cent to $382,597, according to the report.

Chris Scott, a Keller Williams VIP Realty sales representative, said he hasn’t seen any major price softening in the apartment-style condos in which he specializes. Still, with new condo developments stalled and as many as 1,000 existing condos listed for sale — “almost a year’s worth of inventory” — he says pressure on sellers to reduce prices will only increase.

Without the foreign investors who are buoying the markets in Vancouver and Toronto, Scott predicts, Ottawa’s condo market will stay sluggish into 2014. But he believes demand will catch up and prices will firm as more people opt for the condo lifestyle.

“The fundamentals of the local economy are very strong,” he said.

Tim Lee, president of Ottawa Real Estate Board, said the stability long observed in the capital’s real estate market should give confidence to owners of condos and other housing types.

“We don’t have these wild fluctuations,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘Well we bought, we got transferred and now we have to sell and the market’s tanked.’ That happens in Toronto and Vancouver a lot because they can go up and down in a very short period, and in Ottawa it just doesn’t happen.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Fa...wa+real+estate+market/9247617/story.html

[Urbanarchit]

Is this where those of us who have a question can post it, or is there another thread for general questions?

In any case, I don't yet have the skills or programs to do building or city renderings, and I need to somehow improve my hand drawing skills, but does anyone else have the knowledge and ability to do them?

I was wondering if there was a chance we could design a 3D map of the city to show many of these projects, as well as provide a better image of what we hope to see in Ottawa.

Also, I do a lot of amateur photography (with an decent camera), but I was hoping to take photos of buildings and cities from higher up. I heard about drones that are like little helicopters with cameras attached, and can take photos from above. I was wondering if this is illegal or not permitted in Ottawa, or if it's fine for me to get one and start taking pictures of the building and city.

[MountainView]

Random morning thought:

Has anyone been to the Canadian Tire in Findlay Creek? It's one of CT's new 'small market concept stores' and is about 1/4-1/5 the size of a regular CT and still has the automotive service center. I think something like this would be great in the downtown/market area to serve the new condos and existing residential. The lack of a decent hardware store anywhere in Centretown, more especially downtown and the market is evident. I know there's a Home Hardware off Bank after the 417 but that can handle the Centretown crowd and it's quite small. I think the nearest CT for the market/downtown crowd is on Coventry.

[cityguy]

Try Preston Hardware

[harls]

More condos for Aylmer..

http://www.condosvisionnaire.ca/

Just minutes from everything, of course!

The entire site has been bulldozed already. Looks like they want this to get going asap.

edit .. wonder why a website with a french name, located in Quebec brings you to an English page first? Wonder what audience they are targeting?

[McC]

There is a hardware store in the market: the Home Hardware on George Street.

[kevinbottawa]

There's a home hardware in the market (although I'm sure our downtown can use a few more).

[McC]

jinx!

[S-Man]

More condos for Aylmer..

http://www.condosvisionnaire.ca/

Just minutes from everything, of course!

The entire site has been bulldozed already. Looks like they want this to get going asap.

edit .. wonder why a website with a french name, located in Quebec brings you to an English page first? Wonder what audience they are targeting?

They're targeting me!

I'm surprised they didn't advertise 'super-low electricity bills' here as well, just to sweeten the pot.

That said, I drove by here the other night on my way to the Depanneur Deschenes....and noticed the land had been cleared. Given that I go by there all the time, it seemed there was some urgency in the pace of construction, being that we;'re going into winter.

If you've got a car, and work in Ottawa, this location/setup would be desirable.

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by harls

More condos for Aylmer..

http://www.condosvisionnaire.ca/

Just minutes from everything, of course!

The entire site has been bulldozed already. Looks like they want this to get going asap.

edit .. wonder why a website with a french name, located in Quebec brings you to an English page first? Wonder what audience they are targeting?

Why is every single condo "a new take on condo living"?

• Video Link

[MountainView]

Thanks, didn't realize there was a HH on George!

Also, I noticed yesterday that the old Retirement Home/older Hotel at Carling and Richmond has been bought by Brigil and they put up a sign that says 'new Brigil community coming soon'. Anyone know any more information on this?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by S-Man

They're targeting me!

I'm surprised they didn't advertise 'super-low electricity bills' here as well, just to sweeten the pot.

That said, I drove by here the other night on my way to the Depanneur Deschenes....and noticed the land had been cleared. Given that I go by there all the time, it seemed there was some urgency in the pace of construction, being that we;'re going into winter.

If you've got a car, and work in Ottawa, this location/setup would be desirable.

Or how about "free water"?

[harls]

Originally Posted by S-Man

They're targeting me!

I'm surprised they didn't advertise 'super-low electricity bills' here as well, just to sweeten the pot.

That said, I drove by here the other night on my way to the Depanneur Deschenes....and noticed the land had been cleared. Given that I go by there all the time, it seemed there was some urgency in the pace of construction, being that we;'re going into winter.

I'm sure they'd love to advertise that place with the cheap booze across the street, but someone probably outlawed it.

Only you and I know.

..or ..

🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Schattenjager]

Originally Posted by harls

More condos for Aylmer..

http://www.condosvisionnaire.ca/

Just minutes from everything, of course!

The entire site has been bulldozed already. Looks like they want this to get going asap.

edit .. wonder why a website with a french name, located in Quebec brings you to an English page first? Wonder what audience they are targeting?

If your computer's locale settings are set to EN-CA and not FR-CA, the website might be looking at these to attempt to predict whether you'd prefer the website to be in English instead of French.