Element [190 Richmond Rd] | 21m | 6f | Completed

[rocketphish]

Apartments could swallow chunk of Westboro Superstore property

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 3, 2016 | Last Updated: May 3, 2016 7:29 PM EDT



Loblaws wants to build a six-storey apartment complex on the site of its Real Canadian Superstore in Westboro.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper said Loblaws filed a development application with the city this week.

The grocery store would stay, but the southeastern portion of the large property would be redeveloped. Leiper said Loblaws’ plan is to build 193 units geared toward seniors near the corner of Byron and Kirkwood avenues at 190 Richmond Road.

The development would face Kirkwood Avenue. So far, Loblaws isn’t planning vehicular access across the Byron linear path, which was something that was controversial in the Ashcroft redevelopment of the convent property just east of the grocery store.

Some of the grocery store parking would be gobbled up by the development, but Loblaws is planning an underground parking garage for the apartment complex.

Leiper said he has already been canvassing the neighbourhood to get people’s opinion on Loblaws’ plan. Some brought up a previous blueprint that talked about townhouses, not apartments, on the property.

The original proposal to build a large-scale grocery store in Westboro was hugely controversial about 16 years ago. People still remember the chatter about the prospects for a residential component.

“There are those residents that said, ‘The bargain with Loblaws was townhouses. Let’s stick to the plan,'” Leiper said.

Others are resigned to accept residential intensification on the site, Leiper said.

“There were folks who are very open-minded,” he said.

Leiper and the developer are hosting an open house Wednesday at the Churchill Seniors Centre at 345 Richmond Road. It runs between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...store-property

[rocketphish]

Resized the original image:

[cr872190]

So wait Loblaws is the developer for this building? Shoppers Drug Mart branded retirement home?

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by cr872190

So wait Loblaws is the developer for this building? Shoppers Drug Mart branded retirement home?

Talk about vertical integration! A President's Choice Senior's Residence atop a Shopper's Drug Mart. Guaranteed clientele

[Skipper]

I will give credit to councillor Leiper. He is consistent in his rejection of all new developments. He says that he's in favour of smart growth. I guess that building a seniors residence on a parcel of aparking lot that has been vacant for over 10 years is not smart growth in his eyes, what is???? Would appreciate if he used a constructive approach instead of shutting down all proposals.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Skipper

I will give credit to councillor Leiper. He is consistent in his rejection of all new developments. He says that he's in favour of smart growth. I guess that building a seniors residence on a parcel of aparking lot that has been vacant for over 10 years is not smart growth in his eyes, what is???? Would appreciate if he used a constructive approach instead of shutting down all proposals.

What is he shutting down? The article says he's canvassing residents in advance of an open house meeting. Sounds like a city councillor doing his job to me.

[Skipper]

Here is article backing up my post


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Welcome to the Kitchissippi Ward newsletter!



,

Development proposed for Superstore property

On Wednesday night, we held an open house with Loblaws to give residents a sneak peek at the proposal you've likely read about by now for a two-six-storey-tower, 193-unit seniors rental development facing Kirkwood and Byron. The company formally applied for the necessary zoning permissions this week, but documents are not yet online. I was out on Tuesday door-knocking in the area to let people know about the proposal, and have been receiving a lot of mail already on it. So far, I can only say I'm listening to feedback. Unlike other proposals where I can often say I'm supportive or not fairly quickly, the feedback I've been getting and my own reaction to the proposal is very mixed. I want to recognize that this is a very different proposal from what the community was promised as part of the contentious approval process for the Superstore. The building as proposed would be unacceptable to me personally without some greater set-backs at the fifth and sixth level and greater articulation to break up the solid building face. I'm concerned about the potential for a "looming" effect on Byron park. And, I do not want to see Byron become a secondary traditional mainstreet with a built form resembling Richmond. But, and I've also heard this from many already, six storeys is not necessarily an overintensification of this very large lot. The potential for more rental housing in the area has intrigued many.

It looks like I'll be listening for several weeks to come. To help me gather more public feedback, I've retained Milieu to conduct an extra level of online consultation. Take a look at their site here. Their tool allows for online commenting, voting, and a more intuitive presentation of materials. As things like shadow studies and the planning rationale become available, we'll use this site - in addition to the City's - to make it available for viewing. I hope you'll give it a test run. Whether you're for or against this development, I'd like to hear from you.

[gjhall]

Never thought I'd be defending Jeff Leiper on SSP, but we live in strange times.

In this piece you posted I see the Councillor at pains to describe feedback heard and issues on both sides, and even labels his own position, which isn't opposition either. Looks like a very responsible communication on a major application on a site with a complicated history and local context.

Personally, I agree that further setbacks on 5 and 6 would improve the project, though I disagree about needing to break up the façade, which I think is already addressed with the change in materials and framing of recessed balconies.

While I don't think townhouses would be the right approach to the site, we can't simply discard it, as it was part of a fraught process in approving Superstore in the first place.

Jeff, I think you owe me a beer for that.

[Kitchissippi]

I could never see how townhouses would work in that property as it was first proposed anyway. They would have had to face the Byron linear park and interrupt it with multiple access points, and possibly create conflict between private front yards with public space. The spirit of the deal was 1/3 of the site is supposed to be residential, and utilizing the Kirkwood frontage is a far better solution than townhouses along Byron IMO.

[rocketphish]

Want to comment on the proposal?

http://www.milieu.io/dev_sites/1822

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Never thought I'd be defending Jeff Leiper on SSP, but we live in strange times.

In this piece you posted I see the Councillor at pains to describe feedback heard and issues on both sides, and even labels his own position, which isn't opposition either. Looks like a very responsible communication on a major application on a site with a complicated history and local context.

Personally, I agree that further setbacks on 5 and 6 would improve the project, though I disagree about needing to break up the façade, which I think is already addressed with the change in materials and framing of recessed balconies.

While I don't think townhouses would be the right approach to the site, we can't simply discard it, as it was part of a fraught process in approving Superstore in the first place.

Jeff, I think you owe me a beer for that.

Setbacks?

Why?

(Will never undertand Ottawa's setback fetish.)

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by gjhall

While I don't think townhouses would be the right approach to the site, we can't simply discard it, as it was part of a fraught process in approving Superstore in the first place.[/I]

What's the history here? Is the grocery store new and did people actually oppose it being built?

[m0nkyman]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Setbacks?

Why?

(Will never undertand Ottawa's setback fetish.)

Setbacks on upper floors make perfect sense. Are you confusing those with the senseless ground floor setbacks.

[jleiper]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Jeff, I think you owe me a beer for that.

Heh - thanks, Geoff. Just trying to hang on till August, then let's hit a patio!

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

What's the history here? Is the grocery store new and did people actually oppose it being built?

Oh yes. You can start here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/omb-ru...aring-1.282001

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

What's the history here? Is the grocery store new and did people actually oppose it being built?

I have lived a couple of blocks from the location of the Westboro Superstore for 20+ years.

20 years ago it was an abandoned cardboard box factory.. and the land was actually zoned light industrial. Westboro was a bit of a dump. Loblaws bought the property, and since it was industrial, the rezoning to commercial was supposed to be relatively problem free. The vast majority of my neighbours were quite in favour of the project.... and I can say in addition to MEC, Superstore is one of the anchors that helped create the Westboro we know today.

However the very vocal Westboro NIMBYs latched onto this one in full force. These are the types of people who vehemently opposed the expansion of the Island Park bridge to 3 lanes, as they feared that would "flood area (Westboro) roads with traffic from Quebec".

One of the concessions to the NIMBYs, was the addition of the ridiculous "traffic calming" speed-bumps and bulb-outs to Kirkwood (see traffic calming thread for more details on the frustrations of that one).

I must say though that the attention did bring some positive changes... One of the original proposals I saw was a generic yellow box with a large parking lot on Richmond Rd.... and through the process it became the "stylish" brick storefront with parking in the rear that you see today.

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I could never see how townhouses would work in that property as it was first proposed anyway. They would have had to face the Byron linear park and interrupt it with multiple access points, and possibly create conflict between private front yards with public space. The spirit of the deal was 1/3 of the site is supposed to be residential, and utilizing the Kirkwood frontage is a far better solution than townhouses along Byron IMO.

I agree completely with this... but the traffic calming on Kirkwood must go.

[rocketphish]

Seniors' homes planned for Westboro Superstore
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper is using a new online consultation tool, Milieu, to wade through the feedback on this formerly controversial property.

By: Lucy Scholey Metro, Haley Ritchie Metro Published on Mon May 09 2016

Longtime Westboro residents will remember the development controversy behind the big Loblaws grocery store.

Now, almost 16 years later, an Ottawa city councillor is piloting a new online consultation tool to hear what people think about an additional seniors’ residence planned for the site on 190 Richmond Rd.

Choice Properties REIT, which owns the Real Canadian Superstore property on Richmond and Kirkwood avenue, is proposing two connected six-storey towers for that site. The plan includes 193 rental spaces for seniors, including assisted living. It would front onto Kirkwood Avenue, with room for 109 below-ground parking spaces and 48 bike spots.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper has enlisted Milieu, a new Ottawa-based consulting firm, to create a website and gather feedback on the development. The $5,000 pilot project is coming out of his office budget.

It’s partly for Leiper’s own sake. While the outspoken councillor is usually quick to say whether or not he approves a development plan, he has yet to make up his mind on this proposal.

“I don’t have a sense, right now, of what the mainstream thinking is about this development,” he said, adding that he has heard from residents who are both wary of the height and intrigued by the idea of a seniors’ residence in the neighbourhood.

“We know that density is coming in Westboro,” said Leiper. “We know that intensification is coming and the challenge is to keep the scale that is appropriate for the neighbourhood.”

Leiper will also send the feedback from the site to city planners working on the file.

That Loblaws site has a complicated history. In 2000, councillors voted in favour of the controversial store, which was seen by many as a giant grocer in a then-sleepy neighbourhood. At the time, there was a residential component on the plate, albeit in the form of townhouses. Some neighbours say the seniors’ homes should be kept to the original scale.

Leiper said Choice Properties has submitted the application for the proposal, but the project likely will not go before the planning committee until the fall.

Kim Lee, Choice Properties’ vice president of investor relations, said the plan could still be tweaked before then. Last week, community members met at the Churchill Seniors Recreation Centre to hear more about the plan. A second public consultation is tentatively planned for June.

Lee said the project “expands the community’s offering of living alternatives within a vibrant neighbourhood.”

What is Milieu?

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper is test-driving a new online tool called Milieu to get feedback about the new development at 190 Richmond Road.

He enlisted Milieu to do an “extra level of online consultation” and make the development application materials in a more easy-to-read format.

The city partly relies on a development application search tool to post its planning documents. Leiper said it can be difficult for ordinary citizens to use.

“There’s not a lot of pointers for people about what the various different documents mean,” he said. “I’m trying [Milieu] out as a way to create a bigger conversation online.”

The app, available on desktop and mobile, allows residents to view a long list of on-going development projects, which are mapped by neighbourhood.

The project was co-founded by Carleton University graduates Luisa Ji and Lee-Michael Pronko and was created by a larger team in Ottawa.

Clicking on a development will take you to a page showing the address, images and status of the development and planning documents from city hall.

The idea is to open up the traditional consultation process of open houses and public hearings, which take a time commitment not all residents are able to give to municipal planning issues.

“By incorporating citizen feedback from pre-consultation we aim to facilitate rapid, participatory and effective decision-making in planning and development,” reads the website.

The app also allows people to leave comments and vote in polls to give feedback to councillors and planning staff.

Leiper is using the tool as part of a pilot project, but the platform has already won awards from the American Planning Association, the City of Ottawa and Ontario’s big city mayors.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/...uperstore.html

[Arcologist]

I really like this proposal, though like many have said, with setbacks for floors 5 and 6.

Just because townhouses were proposed over 10yrs ago doesn't mean that's the best option anymore. Intensification is a real necessity (just take a look at how fast, and how far, the burbs are expanding outward!), and I believe this proposal accomplishes that better than townhomes would, and does so respectfully (6 storeys seems fair. They could have asked for 30 like many developers do, just to settle on an eventual 15....)

Anyways, hope to see this one go through, with setbacks on 5-6. And a mandatory green roof and grey water collection system.

[zzptichka]

Would be great to add some kind of public/green space on top of the parking lot. So not only seniors but also neighborhood residents could use it.
If I were to get a place there I personally wouldn't want to live with a view of a grocery store parking lot.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

What's the history here? Is the grocery store new and did people actually oppose it being built?

It was perhaps the Mother of All NIMBYism; the first of many absolutely ludicrous debates about redevelopment in the Near West End.

People still have scars.