General Update/Rumour thread [Urban Ottawa] - Page 281

J.OT13 · #**5601** Posted **Dec 19, 2018, 1:50 AM**

Quote:

Regional Group buys Ottawa Citizen, Sun building on Baxter Road

Ottawa Business Journal
December 18, 2018

Regional Group announced Tuesday it has acquired the Postmedia building currently home to the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun.

The 186,000-square-foot Postmedia building at 1101 Baxter Rd. sits adjacent to Highway 417, which the Regional Group press release calls a “path of future growth” with opportunities for development. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Employees of the two local publications will not be moving from their current workplace, according to the release. However, office space inside the building will be consolidated to allow for 25,000-to-35,000 square feet of space, which Regional Group intends to lease.

Sender Gordon, director of investments and leasing at Regional Group, said in a statement that keeping the building’s current tenants was imperative to the acquisition.

“The Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun newspapers are local mainstays, and we were happy to work out a plan that allows them to transition through this change,” Gordon said.

Bernie Myers, senior vice-president of real property for Regional Group, said in the press release that through a long-term lease-back, the company is able to “assist Postmedia secure its current location and allow for flexibility as their space requirements change.”

Postmedia has gone through several rounds of layoffs in recent years, including a 10 per cent payroll cut announced in June 2018. It also shut down six newspapers this year as part of the cuts.

Since 2010, the national media organization has gone from 5,400 employees to fewer than 3,000, CEO Paul Godfrey told BNN Bloomberg in November. The company’s revenue fell to $676.3 million in 2018 compared to $754.3 million in 2017.

https://obj.ca/article/regional-group-buys-ottawa-citizen-sun-building-baxter-road

TransitZilla · #**5602** Posted **Dec 22, 2018, 3:28 AM**

Was at South Keys today and noticed that demolition of the old Denny's was underwa6. The building has been removed. I have not heard anything on what is planned there.

I did notice an article indicating a new Starbucks coming to 1800 Bank St between the Swiss Chalet and Pizza Hut. This will apparently include a walkway to the future Walkley O-train station.

Catenary · #**5603** Posted **Dec 22, 2018, 10:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradnixon

Was at South Keys today and noticed that demolition of the old Denny's was underwa6. The building has been removed. I have not heard anything on what is planned there.

I did notice an article indicating a new Starbucks coming to 1800 Bank St between the Swiss Chalet and Pizza Hut. This will apparently include a walkway to the future Walkley O-train station.

I noticed the Denny's being gutted last week, but forgot to post it. Will be interesting to see what they put on that pad.

I'm surprised to see a Starbucks there, considering the one at South Keys Chapters is relatively close. Starbucks at Bank and Hopewell closed back in September, and the sign on the door still indicates South Keys Chapters as being a substitute location.

Vixx · #**5604** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 6:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catenary

I noticed the Denny's being gutted last week, but forgot to post it. Will be interesting to see what they put on that pad.

I'm surprised to see a Starbucks there, considering the one at South Keys Chapters is relatively close. Starbucks at Bank and Hopewell closed back in September, and the sign on the door still indicates South Keys Chapters as being a substitute location.

Pretty sure it may have to do with that Starbucks in South Keys being one of, if not the busiest, in the city. I've heard this from multiple employees working at the Chapter South keys location and from a couple of other Starbucks locations in the city. Anecdotally, I've noticed that particular Starbucks always being a gong show so makes sense to have another one close by to relieve some of the congestion.

Acajack · #**5605** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 11:11 AM**

I assume a new stand-alone Starbucks would have a drive-thru, something the Chapters location does not.

That's a different clientele they'd probably want to capture.

S613 · #**5606** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 2:54 PM**

Hi, first hand the Petite Chicago site has no plan to be developed in near future. I do confirm, that the new owner will be looking for a new tenant/ create their own venue on ground floor. Most likely professional office space above.

J.OT13 · #**5607** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 3:31 PM**

Thanks for the info and congrats on your first post! Were they evicted or was the lease over?

S613 · #**5608** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 3:45 PM**

I believe it was tenants ultimate decision to not renew.

Acajack · #**5609** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 3:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by S613

I believe it was tenants ultimate decision to not renew.

That is not what the tenant is saying. And I was with him this week.

S613 · #**5610** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 5:02 PM**

I believe new terms/conditions were offered but not agreed upon. It is a shame to see the establishment potentially go.

roger1818 · #**5611** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 5:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catenary

I noticed the Denny's being gutted last week, but forgot to post it. Will be interesting to see what they put on that pad.

I'm surprised to see a Starbucks there, considering the one at South Keys Chapters is relatively close. Starbucks at Bank and Hopewell closed back in September, and the sign on the door still indicates South Keys Chapters as being a substitute location.

In Kanata, there is a Starbucks in the Chapters at Centrum and another (with a drive through) in the Canadian Tire Gas Bar on the other side of Terry Fox, so it isn’t unprecedented. If it also “include a walkway to the future Walkley O-train station,“ that will generate a lot of foot traffic that the Chapters location may not be able to capture.

kevinbottawa · #**5612** Posted **Dec 23, 2018, 5:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by roger1818

In Kanata, there is a Starbucks in the Chapters at Centrum and another (with a drive through) in the Canadian Tire Gas Bar on the other side of Terry Fox, so it isn’t unprecedented. If it also “include a walkway to the future Walkley O-train station,“ that will generate a lot of foot traffic that the Chapters location may not be able to capture.

Same situation at Ogilvie and Blair. You have the Starbucks at the Chapters and the standalone Starbucks on the other side of Ogilvie near the CSEC building.

Jayday23 · #**5613** Posted **Dec 24, 2018, 5:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayday23

as per the Claridge website:

2 new developments coming soon:

The Royale condos - will be somewhere on Rideau. Sales start early 2019.
Moon - no info know at this time.

https://claridgehomes.com/coming-soon

A new addition to the Claridge “coming soon” space - Claridge District

https://claridgehomes.com/coming-soon

eltodesukane · #**5614** Posted **Dec 26, 2018, 5:26 PM**

Population trends: (info from http://www.mapto.ca/maps/2017/2/20/census-gl)

danishh · #**5615** Posted **Dec 27, 2018, 2:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayday23

A new addition to the Claridge “coming soon” space - Claridge District

https://claridgehomes.com/coming-soon

I suspect Claridge District is their next lebreton flats stage. If not (that has been marketed so far as 'east flats'), then the development by Lyon station.

actually, with the RVL group imploding, the market for Zibi, Claridge@Lebreton, and Trinity@Bayview should look even more attractive than ever. I wonder if that would be a factor in Claridge pushing ahead at Lebreton while they're the only store in town.

OTSkyline · #**5616** Posted **Jan 1, 2019, 2:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eltodesukane

Population trends: (info from http://www.mapto.ca/maps/2017/2/20/census-gl)

So I suspect the Ottawa-part must be officially over 1M by now? What this ever celebrated?

corynv · #**5617** Posted **Jan 1, 2019, 3:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

So I suspect the Ottawa-part must be officially over 1M by now? What this ever celebrated?

Not entirely quite, that thing in that figure is the population of ALL of the ontario side of the CMA, not just ottawa itself. I think ottawa itself has about 960ish k.

J.OT13 · #**5618** Posted **Jan 1, 2019, 2:07 PM**

I unfortunately cannot find a source, but the City was saying sometime after the election that Ottawa will reach 1 million this year (2019) or maybe this term of council. But I'm pretty confident it was this year. That was based on City of Ottawa stats, not Stats Can.

acottawa · #**5619** Posted **Jan 1, 2019, 8:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I unfortunately cannot find a source, but the City was saying sometime after the election that Ottawa will reach 1 million this year (2019) or maybe this term of council. But I'm pretty confident it was this year. That was based on City of Ottawa stats, not Stats Can.

That seems unlikely to me. The population was 934k in the 2016 census and the growth rate here is rarely much over 1%. Maybe the city counts people differently.

roger1818 · #**5620** Posted **Jan 2, 2019, 5:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by acottawa

That seems unlikely to me. The population was 934k in the 2016 census and the growth rate here is rarely much over 1%. Maybe the city counts people differently.

The city's own website says the population in 2016 was 934,243 (ref). It also says the growth rate over the previous 5 years was 5.8%, which works out to 1.134% per year (compounded annually). To get to a population of 1 million, it would require a growth of 7.039%, so that works out to just over 6 years from 2016, so 2022 (assuming population growth remains constant).