Somerset House [352 Somerset St] | 15m | 4f | U/C - Page 10

passwordisnt123 · #**181** Posted **Jan 28, 2023, 12:31 AM**

Mayor and council do have the power to make this guy's life more miserable though. The only person I ever saw who made any nontrivial efforts to do that was Catherine McKenney.

SL123 · #**182** Posted **Jan 28, 2023, 5:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

Mayor and council do have the power to make this guy's life more miserable though. The only person I ever saw who made any nontrivial efforts to do that was Catherine McKenney.

Just read a few post earlier in this thread and you'll see that the previous council tried exactly that and yet the owner didnt give a —.

harls · #**183** Posted **Jan 28, 2023, 5:32 PM**

Hard to believe this was 15 years ago..

Mine.

J.OT13 · #**184** Posted **Jan 30, 2023, 4:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SL123

The problem isnt the mayor or the council! its the owner

Watson's attitude was "we don't want to set a bad precedent by expropriating" when not expropriating did exactly that. So yeah. I the Mayor and Council should get part of the blame.

I don't see the new cohort being any better when it comes to heritage preservation.

harls · #**185** Posted **Feb 7, 2023, 3:48 PM**

Found another old photo on my flickr account.

J.OT13 · #**186** Posted **Feb 8, 2023, 3:33 PM**

I don't get why developers buy a heritage property just to let it rot for decades. This seems way too common.

AuxTown · #**187** Posted **Feb 8, 2023, 5:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I don't get why developers buy a heritage property just to let it rot for decades. This seems way too common.

This guy is a particular brand of stupid mixed with spiteful. He refuses to play ball with the city AND has absolutely zero clue how to re-develop a heritage building/property like this one. I suspect I will live my entire adult life with this building in decay.

acottawa · #**188** Posted **Feb 8, 2023, 5:50 PM**

I wish the city would just expropriate and fix it themselves.

DarthVader_1961 · #**189** Posted **Feb 8, 2023, 7:02 PM**

I was under the impression this is — in court actions/litigation

J.OT13 · #**190** Posted **Jun 12, 2023, 3:15 PM**

Submitting yet another proposal. Docs aren't up yet.

https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D07-12-22-0003/details

rocketphish · #**191** Posted **Jun 13, 2023, 4:16 PM**

Despite the DevApps description of "Demolition and reconstruction of the three storey heritage building and the addition of six residential storeys.", I see only 4 floors, 15m, and sketchy details with no renderings yet.

J.OT13 · #**192** Posted **Jun 13, 2023, 6:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Despite the DevApps description of "Demolition and reconstruction of the three storey heritage building and the addition of six residential storeys.", I see only 4 floors, 15m, and sketchy details with no renderings yet.

On par for the course.

DarthVader_1961 · #**193** Posted **Jun 13, 2023, 6:53 PM**

I am truly puzzled as to why things are still dragging with this

Mousel · #**194** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 6:49 PM**

New planning rationale now up on devapps: https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D07-12-22-0003/details

From the planning rationale:

The proposal is for a mixed-use development consisting of a single low-rise building, comprised of a heritage renovation of the existing three storey structure and the construction of a three storey addition on a 592m2 parcel of land.

The proposed development will include one basement level and three above grade levels. The basement will contain a retail tenancy and building service rooms. The ground floor will include a retail tenancy (which could be subdivided into two tenancies, one of which would be contiguous with the basement retail floor area) as well as the apartment lobby for the 2 floors of renovated and reconstructed space on the second and third floors for apartment uses. The residential floors will contain 14 residential units, arranged in studio, one and two bedroom configurations.

Photos from the planning rationale:

rocketphish · #**195** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 7:21 PM**

Thanks for the update Mousel, and welcome to the forum!

J.OT13 · #**196** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 8:13 PM**

Well here we are. A reasonable proposal. Considering the basement level will not be parking, I'm assuming the proposal actually maintains the building, eg. not facadism.

Mousel · #**197** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 8:18 PM**

Thanks rocketphish! I've been a longtime lurker but since this building is one that I have been watching for years now I decided to finally make an account and post.

As for whether this consists of facadism or not, I'm not really sure it matters considering how little is left of the building? I think it's basically just an facade right now!

J.OT13 · #**198** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mousel

Thanks rocketphish! I've been a longtime lurker but since this building is one that I have been watching for years now I decided to finally make an account and post.

As for whether this consists of facadism or not, I'm not really sure it matters considering how little is left of the building? I think it's basically just an facade right now!

You might already know already if you've been lurking for a while, but I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to full retention v. facadism.

For me, the foundations and entire structure are worth keeping. For the engineering of the day, better build quality, the environmental factor (reuse over completely new structure and materials). Ogilvy is the one that stinged the most for me.

Mousel · #**199** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 8:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.OT13

You might already know already if you've been lurking for a while, but I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to full retention v. facadism.

For me, the foundations and entire structure are worth keeping. For the engineering of the day, better build quality, the environmental factor (reuse over completely new structure and materials). Ogilvy is the one that stinged the most for me.

Haha that's very valid. I actually agree, I'm big on historical preservation and if they could keep the stone foundation visible in the basement that would be great. Having read some of the other documents in the devapps it seems that the condition of the bricks are severely deteriorated and may not be fully structurally sound so I'm guessing that in this case it may become necessary to replace a bunch of them and perhaps resort to facadism for structural soundness.

Ogilvy was a particularly egregious example.

AuxTown · #**200** Posted **Jun 19, 2023, 8:52 PM**

I don't see why everyone is so down on Ogilvy. It took an old and underused structure, maintained its heritage character and made it a hub of activity again. I think it's one of the nicest building on Rideau (doesn't say much I guess...) and I hope to see similar with Somerset House. As long as they maintain the facade along both Bank and Somerset streets it will once again be the focus of this dying street corner.

https://goo.gl/maps/noEnwTzybMUPjtgE9