Zibi Ottawa Ontario | U/C

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Where else in the city are you on an island in the middle of a river sandwiched between a wall of government buildings and a giant field?

Sandwiched between a wall of government buildings and a giant field describes most of central Ottawa (Escarpment District, Centretown West (including Chinatown and Little Italy) Claridge LeBreton, Mechanicsville...) All lack basic services. A handful are served by, or near, transit stations.

That said, I have more confidence in the Zibi partners finding much needed basic needs tenants than I do in nearly any other developer.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

Same here. Cold, damp and an effort to walk in and out of to get anywhere else. If there was a streetcar, or by some miracle a subway station, I'd feel very differently

Ah, the interprovincial streetcar loop that nobody will ever fund, but is a key to make all central locations easily accessible and to make them attractive to potential new residents. What we will get after many years or decades is a very disjointed system and next to nothing through the Zibi development itself. Even though near downtown, urban amenities are mostly out of reach unless you are an ardent urban cyclist. Our transportation plan is so poor that it will make it difficult for residents to exit and for visitors to arrive to support businesses.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Where else in the city are you on an island in the middle of a river sandwiched between a wall of government buildings and a giant field?

There is more to a location than beautiful views. The poor sales is showing us that there is a problem. We have no plan to make the location easy to access. Something I have noted with disappointment since it was first proposed. We are opening up the waterfalls to the public but how do you actually get there? And when it is fully built, will there be any parking, since it appears that there will be little public transit especially from downtown.

[bartlebooth]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

There is more to a location than beautiful views. The poor sales is showing us that there is a problem. We have no plan to make the location easy to access. Something I have noted with disappointment since it was first proposed. We are opening up the waterfalls to the public but how do you actually get there? And when it is fully built, will there be any parking, since it appears that there will be little public transit especially from downtown.

From what I've heard so far, Zibi doesn't appear to be suffering from poor sales and there is a lot of activity on site - one building now occupied, one close to being done, another under construction, infrastructure upgrades happening, and several renovations of existing buildings underway.

The new condos on the Ontario side are a 10 minute walk from Pimisi, I've done the walk. Yes, amenities are missing but that will come as more of the site is developed. I can see this being further along than the Claridge section of LeBreton in the next 4-5 years.

[zzptichka]

I walked along Booth yesterday. As of right now, they have the following:

Block 13 - done (6-floor residential)
Block 05 - done (sales centre)
Blocks 02 and 03 - almost done (2-floor commercial)
Block 205A - almost done (6-floor residential)
Block 10 - digging the foundation
Block 211 - crane just went up
Block 208 - steel frame is done

Block map for reference:

[J.OT13]

Thanks for the update!

[zzptichka]

Blocks 208 and 205A:



Block 211:



Block 10 and 03 (in the back):

[zzptichka]

What really grinds my gears, they supposedly spent $20M or something to fix Chaudiere crossing, and there is really zero improvements for pedestrians.
They couldn't even install lights on the bridge or hire snow plows to clear the sidewalk. It's dark as hell and slushy puddles are ankle-high in places.
Cyclists are also screwed because the dark causeway on the Hull side is not wide enough to install bike lanes and you have to mix with cars.
It's essentially status quo between the War Museum and Block 10 on the Quebec side.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

What really grinds my gears, they supposedly spent $20M or something to fix Chaudiere crossing, and there is really zero improvements for pedestrians.
They couldn't even install lights on the bridge or hire snow plows to clear the sidewalk. It's dark as hell and slushy puddles are ankle-high in places.
Cyclists are also screwed because the dark causeway on the Hull side is not wide enough to install bike lanes and you have to mix with cars.
It's essentially status quo between the War Museum and Block 10 on the Quebec side.

The Feds are looking to replace the Alexandra Bridge sometime in the next 5-10 years, but it's the Chaudière that needs a complete replacement. It's a mash-up of several old bridges dating back all the way to 1827, its not nearly as iconic as the Alexandra (though still an interesting design) and of course, not at all adapted to active transportation.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Feds are looking to replace the Alexandra Bridge sometime in the next 5-10 years, but it's the Chaudière that needs a complete replacement. It's a mash-up of several old bridges dating back all the way to 1827, its not nearly as iconic as the Alexandra (though still an interesting design) and of course, not at all adapted to active transportation.

There is something in the works to rehabilitate and add cycle tracks the various structures.

[Kitchissippi]

I just want a revolving restaurant

[ServiceGuy]

LOL! Fantastic suggestion.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I just want a revolving restaurant

I would love a Millennium Falcon restaurant. Looks like it might be Quebec based, though. We will have to make sure the French description is more prominent.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by harls

I would love a Millennium Falcon restaurant. Looks like it might be Quebec based, though. We will have to make sure the French description is more prominent.

That would be sick! Possibly out of context but awesome nonetheless.

[skisail_ott]

Originally Posted by zzptichka

What really grinds my gears, they supposedly spent $20M or something to fix Chaudiere crossing, and there is really zero improvements for pedestrians.
They couldn't even install lights on the bridge or hire snow plows to clear the sidewalk.

I understand your frustration, and I’m not sure this will resolve all those problems, but they are not finished yet. Might want to wait until summer. I do believe there will be two pedestrian lanes, one in each direction. And lights.

[OTownandDown]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

That would be sick! Possibly out of context but awesome nonetheless.

Faucon millénaire has a good ring to it.

The road is four lanes before and after the bridge, and two very large awkward lanes over the bridge.

I may be wrong, but if a road goes from four and down to two, and back to four, then two lanes would be the maximum traffic flow, right? So... reduce the entire thing down to two lanes only (Expanding, naturally, to 50 lanes at each end's traffic lights to allow for flow).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Faucon millénaire has a good ring to it.

.

And it's just distant enough from the original name to make it more of not-too-subtle wink as opposed to something that is totally blatant.

That said I share the skepticism of others about the appropriateness of having something like this based on an American sci-fi franchise at such a pivotal location in the heart of the country's capital region - be it on the Ontario or Quebec side of the river.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by Acajack

And it's just distant enough from the original name to make it more of not-too-subtle wink as opposed to something that is totally blatant.

That said I share the skepticism of others about the appropriateness of having something like this based on an American sci-fi franchise at such a pivotal location in the heart of the country's capital region - be it on the Ontario or Quebec side of the river.

Actually it's not the Millennium Falcon, I just placed a scaled 3D model of Bratislava's SNP bridge across the Danube in Google Earth

[Skynet]

Originally Posted by skisail_ott

I believe that's going to be a 14-storey rental apartment building.

There definitely seems to be a shift towards rental apartment buildings in Ottawa these days!

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Skynet

There definitely seems to be a shift towards rental apartment buildings in Ottawa these days!

Just about nothing had been built in terms of rentals since the early 90s. The market was sustained with investors buying, and then leasing out, condos. With the rise of Airbnb type platforms eating up rental properties, we're now in dire need of new rental properties for those who actually want a place to live.