National Defence HQ (Carling) | 60 Moodie Drive [former Nortel campus]

[eternallyme]

As for the existing DND building, a hotel would be most sensible IMO.

[citydwlr]

Does the Pearkes Building have heritage status?

[McC]

Wouldn't the "most sensible" use of an office building be as an office building?

[Capital Shaun]

Originally Posted by McC

Wouldn't the "most sensible" use of an office building be as an office building?

Of course. And as far as I know those buildings are still in good shape and obviously easy to commute to by bus. Considering its location it just needs a tenant with less stringent security requirements. All that steel fencing could then be removed after DND moves out.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

As for the existing DND building, a hotel would be most sensible IMO.

Great location for it, but wouldn't that building be a bit awkward for one? I don't think they're completely abandoning this building for Nortel, right? But if they did, there's some potential (maybe reopening that street that runs underneath it?).

One thing I hate is how much space it takes up. That parking lot is huge, but I don't know if it would be possible to put a building there, as it may be too small and too close to Pearkes. And it's not exactly a friendly space for people to walk around.

[Norman Bates]

Maybe Transport Canada will finally move in to it.

[Fraser]

The existing DND site would be a great location for the Sens' next arena (if and when such a discussion takes place).

Next to various transit modes (417, Colonel By, LRT, the Rideau Canal, Laurier bike lanes) and in the middle of the core with plenty of nearby hotels for visiting teams.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by Fraser

The existing DND site would be a great location for the Sens' next arena (if and when such a discussion takes place).

Next to various transit modes (417, Colonel By, LRT, the Rideau Canal, Laurier bike lanes) and in the middle of the core with plenty of nearby hotels for visiting teams.

Interesting idea. Does anyone know about the lifecycle of this building? Is it in good shape?

[OTSkyline]

This entire site is a waste... A real "fort knox" in the middle of the city with iron gates and security cameras 'a la "don't even look at me" attitude.

So. Much. More could be done with it...

[adam-machiavelli]

I'd rather DND offices remain in the city. Better to have it in a location that the public can keep an eye on, rather than having it out of sight and out of mind in the middle of a forest.

[DEWLine]

Time was - not two decades ago! - when you could walk through either entrance of the DND HQ building and exit the other side with no one even thinking to challenge your presence, never mind the security fencing. Ten years or so back, that started changing and not in a friendly way.

I grant that there are operational security needs for such a facility, no matter where you locate it. But I took a certain amount of pride that we'd done without the measures now in place, and done so without incident. Maybe we were insanely lucky, or maybe it was both luck and diligence in terms of policy and actions taken.

As to what might be done with the building if/when DND moves out, offices for other federal departments and agencies as well as private sector firms do seem the logical choices.

The earlier incarnation of the NHL Senators had a rink on that site at one time as well, if I remember my Ottawa hockey history properly. If the Pearkes Building absolutely had to be demolished for safety reasons, then perhaps we might consider looking back to that era, or alternatively to the hospitality sector for ideas.

[danishh]

correct.

Rink 1 - Canal-Waller-Theodore (now Laurier) block, current site of the Pearkes building.
Rink 2 (Dey's Skating Rink) - Bay and Ann (now Gladstone). Now in the heart of centretown filled with 2-story residential and mixed-use, this was once the edge of the city. Not to worry though, the arena was served by streetcars (imagine that! public transit to the rink!). There's a plaque commemorating the site right outside the enterance of majestic cleaners.
Rink 3 (The Arena) - Canal-Laurier. Now Confederation Park. I think there's a plaque around there somewhere too. Ottawa's really good at commemorating history with plaques.
Rink 4 (Ottawa Auditorium) - Argyle and O'Connor. Currently the site of the YMCA.
Rink 5 (Civic Centre) - the sens were gone, but ottawa needed a new rink. Set to re-open next year under the north stands at landsdowne.
Rink 6 (Palladium) - Out in kanata, at the 417 and huntmar. Some would say not in ottawa at all.


as for the pearkes building, yeah, when i was a kid in the 90's BOTH my parents worked there, so i fondly remember walking it's grounds and driving under it. My dad still works there but i havnt been inside for over a decade. Unfortunately, like the loss of lanes around the US embassy on sussex and mackenzie, this increased security seems to be the new normal in the post-911 world.

[canabiz]

I wonder if the areas surrounding this Nortel campus (Bells Corners, Crystal Beach) will see some sort of revitalization. They are pretty dead in terms of good restaurants and retailers as Kanata folks can simply go to the Centrum.

I also wonder if we will see some Orleans folks relocating to the West (Barrhaven, Kanata). I wouldn't want the daily commute if I were living in Orleans and working for DND and slated to move to this campus.

[1overcosc]

It's a shame because the preferred direction for growth in Ottawa should be east IMO. Relative to downtown Ottawa goes a lot farther west than it does east, something we should be trying to correct.

[Buggys]

Why not just accept that centretown is just creeping westwards? Little Italy and Westboro are quite vibrant, and could potentially be a part of downtown.

Also, in the East end of Ottawa sits the swampy Mer Blue. Why force development towards land that's not suited for buildings, and exists as a wildlife sanctuary?

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by Buggys

Why not just accept that centretown is just creeping westwards? Little Italy and Westboro are quite vibrant, and could potentially be a part of downtown.

Also, in the East end of Ottawa sits the swampy Mer Blue. Why force development towards land that's not suited for buildings, and exists as a wildlife sanctuary?

Where's the Mer Bleue situated? Ward 15 should be considered downtown, but I agree with 1overcosc about it moving East. Sandy Hill and Lowertown, Vanier and New Edinburgh are good areas for development.

[Buggys]

Mer bleue is the big patch of green south of Orleans and North of the 417.

[Capital Shaun]

Mer Bleu sits roughly between Russel rd & Navan rd:
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Mer+Bleue+...=0.094914,0.154324&oq=Mer+Bleue&t=h&z=12

Being a bog that land is basically undevelopable.

But there's still a lot of space in Orleans. I expect much of the land in the Innes rd, Navan rd, Trim rd triangle will be develloped in the coming decades.

[J.OT13]

Landlords need to start renovating as DND prepares consolidation: brokers

Mark BrownleePublished on February 28, 2014

The federal government’s plan to consolidate dozens of Department of National Defence offices will force landlords in the downtown core to spruce up their buildings in an effort to attract private-sector tenants, local brokers say.

The government announced in December of last year that it is going ahead with plans for whittling about 40 DND locations in the National Capital Region down to about seven over the next six years.

That includes moving en masse into the former Nortel campus on Carling Avenue that it purchased several years ago.

Government officials said at the time that some of the private-sector space DND is vacating will go to other departments, while the rest will end up released back into the private sector.

It’s unclear exactly how much space it will end up vacating, but local commercial real estate brokers say landlords of those buildings that are left empty will have some work to do in attracting new tenants.

“The landlords who own those older buildings are going to have to invest to get any kind of traction with them,” said Darren Fleming, managing principal at Cresa Ottawa.

He said several buildings in the downtown core – 25 Nicholas St., 141 Laurier Ave. W., 112 Kent St. – are in particular need of some work.

“These are not nice buildings,” he said.

Avison Young broker Michael Church said the ultimate outcome of the DND consolidation will be more competition among landlords.

However, he said landlords that operate downtown are in a better position because at least they have assets in good locations.

“Good real estate that’s in good locations that’s been well-maintained will always lease,” said Mr. Church.

A big question that arises with the DND consolidation is what the federal government intends to do with a multibillion-dollar surplus it is projecting starting next year.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said he wants that money to go towards lowering taxes and paying off the debt.

But there are those in the commercial real estate community who feel the government may decide to start spending on programs after several years of cutting back on the size of the civil service.

Nathan Smith, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield, said landlords need to be ready in case the government decides to start hiring again.

“Buildings that landlords have not been renovating and updating and trying to constantly improve to meet the current government leasing standards, are buildings that will have a difficult time either keeping a government tenant or, more importantly, attracting a government tenant,” said Mr. Smith.

Sidebar

Defence downsizing

The Department of National Defence is reducing the number of office buildings it occupies in the National Capital Region from more than 40 to seven:

Gatineau:

555 de la Carrière Blvd. (Louis Saint-Laurent Building) and 455 de la Carrière Blvd.;

241 Cité-des-Jeunes Blvd.;

Portions of 45 Sacré-Coeur Blvd. (National Printing Bureau); and

105 Hôtel de Ville St.

Ottawa:

National Defence headquarters on Colonel By Drive (referred to as “offices in a downtown location” by the government)

1600 Star Top Rd.

Carling Campus (former Nortel complex)

http://www.obj.ca/Real-Estate/Non-reside...-DND-prepares-consolidation%3A-brokers/1

[rocketphish]

DND move to Nortel campus delayed because of structural issues with buildings

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 26, 2015, Last Updated: March 26, 2015 10:16 AM EDT

The Department of National Defence is delaying its move into the former Nortel complex because of structural problems in a number of buildings on the campus.

DND employees were supposed to start moving in to buildings at 3500 Carling Avenue site by the end of this year.

But that will be delayed for at least nine months as the federal government spends $30 million to fix the structural problems, the Citizen has been told by a senior government official familiar with the situation.

The government will also have to spend another $6 million on extending leases for DND offices around the Ottawa area as employees in those locations cannot yet move to the Nortel campus.

A structural analysis conducted in November revealed the seriousness of the problems with the outside walls of the four buildings, according to Public Works documents obtained by the Citizen.

The giant walls are made up of panels of glass windows. The seals on many of the windows have failed and the frames that support the glass are weak, according to the Public Works document.

All the windows will now have to be replaced. In addition, the company that provided the original materials went out of business in 2011, the documents noted.

The move of the first DND employees to the campus will now take place in the fall of 2016 because of the reconstruction of the outside glass walls, the government official said.

DND will eventually transfer 8,500 military and civilian employees to the Carling Avenue location. Despite the initial delay, the move is still expected to be finished by 2020.

The government spent $208 million to buy the Nortel complex; at a December 2013 briefing for journalists defence officials said it will cost another $506 million to refit the buildings and $41 million in “transition costs,” which are the costs of existing DND leases at other sites throughout Ottawa and Gatineau.

The campus consists of about 28 hectares that was owned by Nortel and 120 hectares leased from the National Capital Commission.

The move will eventually reduce the number of rented and leased DND locations in Ottawa-Gatineau from 47 to seven.

Government officials still insist the move of DND employees will save taxpayers $750 million over the next 25 years. The DND and Public Works have not released any information, however, to back up that claim.

Asked how the government can be sure it will have realized a saving of $750 million a quarter-century from now, a Public Works official noted during the December 2013 briefing for journalists that the department is the government’s real estate expert.

Internal DND documents provide some of the reasons for the move to Nortel: reduced cab fares, less need for commissionaires to guard offices and an atmosphere that allows people to work better together.

In 2013, the Citizen reported on concerns raised by former Nortel employees and security experts that electronic eavesdropping devices from past industrial espionage operations could still be embedded in the campus.

At the time the DND denied that was the case and Julie Di Mambro, spokeswoman for then defence minister Rob Nicholson, said the government received assurances from the department that no bugs or listening devices had ever been found.

But at the December 2013 press briefing, the DND officials admitted they had never conducted a full search of the campus for listening devices.

Some DND employees and Canadian Forces personnel have also voiced concern over the move, pointing out that many live in Orléans and the commute would be too long. A June 2011 briefing note for then DND deputy minister Robert Fonberg described the Carling Campus as a “relatively remote location.”

The department, however, has said it will provide some transportation for its employees and is looking at using shuttle buses from specific locations.

The latest problem with the outside walls of the Nortel buildings isn’t the first time the move has been delayed.

Department of National Defence staff were originally supposed to be at the Carling Avenue campus starting in January 2014, according to an internal DND document. That initial move was to be the first group of 3,300 employees.

DND has not explained why that move was delayed.

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http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/d...ause-of-structural-issues-with-buildings