Envie & Capital Hall [101-105 Champagne Ave] | 78m + 68m | 28f + 22f | Completed

[McC]

Mastercraft-Starwood held the option to develop the old Ottawa Humane Society shelter site on Champagne Ave (the lot north of their SoHo Champagne site), but according to Eric Darwin, it looks like they've let their option lapse, Ashcroft has picked it up. Whoever winds up developing this site, it looks like it's in play now, so I thought I'd open a thread to kick of discussion.

http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/...e-record-that/

Did someone record that?
Posted on March 9, 2011 by westsideaction

It isn’t enough to carry around a camera. A tape recorder would be useful too. And, while we are at it, a pause button to allow me to get it out and capture what I just heard.

Such were my feelings last fall, just before the municipal election, when Planning Committee was discussing the proposed development Soho Champagne. This condo complex will soon be underway by Starwood Mastercraft, at the corner of Champagne and Hickory Street by the O-Train.

Neighbours were there to object to the size and height of the proposed condo building. I forget how high the original proposal was, but by time it came before planning committee it was scaled down a bit to a 20 storey and 16 storey condo on top of a 3 storey podium building.

Immediately to the south is the 853 Carling site owned by Arnon (Mike Casey), now before the OMB, who want twenty-some floors of office or condo development. I hear Charlesfort (Doug Casey) is now working up a proposal for another of their signature buildings here.

At the meeting the assigned planner for the Soho site droned on and on, jargon mixed with terminology and a mumbled jumbo of planning voodoo. But, a sudden moment of clarity! Some plain English! (this is the point where I wished I had a tape recorder). Because at this moment the planner said the Soho buildings were compliant with a good planning practice (and quite coincidentally the city’s written plan, too), a gradient of heights descending from high at Carling (the Arnon site) to the 20 storey Soho tower and further down to the 16 storey second Soho tower. And that they should continue to get lower as one went north, away from Carling, and further into the community.

The reason my bunny ears perked up wasn’t just because he mis-spoke in plain English for a moment, but because I knew that Starwood-Mastercraft had an option on the doggy-shelter site immediately north of their Soho Champagne site. A similar size to their first site, I expected them to later want another 20 and 16 storey towers on a podium for the Humane Society site. But the planner was clearly saying the next lot would have to have shorter buildings, as the height gradient continued downslope from Carling. Hmm.

Mastercraft then let the option on the Humane Society site lapse. It has now been picked up by … Ashcroft. Now the doggy site isn’t of the Our Lady of the Condos caliber; there are no giant willow trees; there will be no well-organized Island Parkers seeking to preserve it as greenspace.

But when Ashcroft comes up with plans for high rises, I do wish we had that Planning Committee tape, those vital 18 seconds, wherein the planners said good practice, and the city’s plan, was for a declining gradient away from Carling, and we all heard the Planning Committee members nodding their heads in solemn agreement.

[J.OT13]

Just keeps getting better with Ashcroft.

Not good considering the continued housing shortage, especially affordable housing.

Ottawa tenants told to leave mould infested building as court approval sought for ‘mass eviction’

By Katelyn Wilson, CTV Ottawa
Published: July 28, 2025 at 4:37PM EDT

Dozens of tenants at an apartment building in Ottawa’s Little Italy say they’ve been left scrambling after receiving notice they may be required to vacate by the end of August, due to widespread mould and a pending court decision.

The building at 101 Champagne Avenue South has been under court-ordered receivership since February, after its owner Ashcroft Homes Group ran into financial trouble.

Now, a buyer is on the table, but the new owner wants vacant possession of all 185 units by August 31 to begin full remediation of the property.

One of those tenants is Yaasir Hosenie, who says he’s been living with visible mould in his unit for more than two months, including behind baseboards, in his bathroom and along the bedroom wall.

“I sent them photographic evidence of mould in this specific spot in my apartment, but they said they cannot do anything right now,” he said.

His unit was among 57 flagged in May following inspections. Later air quality testing confirmed elevated mould spore levels in some of those units and in common spaces like the gym.


At the time, management told tenants they were fixing the issue. But on July 23, residents received a new letter, this time warning of what Hosenie describes as a “mass eviction.”

“I was not contacted [about remediation], and then what happened is that on July 23, we just received a notice about a mass eviction happening,” he said.

The notice outlines a pending court motion, which will be heard Thursday, asking the court to grant the receiver the authority to take the “required steps to have the sheriff provide vacant possession” of the property if tenants refuse to leave voluntarily.

“For us, it’s a 39-day notice period,” said tenant Jayendra Kurukulasekara. “It’s incredibly hard to find a decent place at a similar price at such short notice.”

“This is coming during a time where you see the rental market hyper inflated and you can’t really find relatively affordable places to live.”

He says many of the building’s residents are international students or young professionals, some of whom have already left for the summer.

The court is also being asked to approve lease termination agreements, offering tenants two months’ rent and the option to take furniture from their furnished units.

However, in signing, tenants must also waive their rights to file future complaints or legal claims.

Kurukulasekara says mould is just the tip of the iceberg and things have been falling apart for months.

“One of the elevators had broken down and it wasn’t repaired for six to seven months,” he said. “There used to be a front desk person posted at all times essentially until at least 5 p.m. but for the past few months, there hasn’t been.”

In a brief statement to CTV News Ottawa, Varsity Communities, which manages the building under the direction of the court-appointed receiver, said:

“We recognize that this is a time of uncertainty for tenants and are committed to being a reliable source of information and assistance throughout the process.”

The company declined further comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings.

Tenants are now organizing with the help of advocacy group ACORN, which says it will be going door to door this week to inform residents of their rights.

“They can’t increase rent more than 2.5 per cent, and for me personally, I think that it is a case of renoviction,” said Hosenie.

The court hearing is scheduled for Thursday. According to the building’s general manager, formal written notice, including timelines and instructions for vacating, will be issued if the judge approves the receiver’s request.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/articl...mass-eviction/

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Envie in little Italy sounds like a disaster and the building is not very old. What used to be Envie on Rideau (street) is now called Alma. I guess it was sold to someone, but I am not sure who.

[ServiceGuy]

Isn't that the building that caught fire during construction? If so, it would have been soaked throughout during fire fighting efforts.

[qprcanada]

Originally Posted by ServiceGuy

Isn't that the building that caught fire during construction? If so, it would have been soaked throughout during fire fighting efforts.

105 Champagne is the building that caught fire during construction, it is the building closest to the street. It doesn't have a mould problem and is not managed by Ashcroft.

101 is the building behind 105 and closer to the train line.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by qprcanada

105 Champagne is the building that caught fire during construction, it is the building closest to the street. It doesn't have a mould problem and is not managed by Ashcroft.

101 is the building behind 105 and closer to the train line.

I had wondered the same thing myself.

I went back and looked at the construction photos on page 13/14. The amount of work done between Sept. and April is insane. Went from 5/6 floors of just concrete super structure to fully topped out and cladded with windows.

I was wondering if this building was precast panels which it isn't. I then wondered if there was a gap in construction leading to weather infiltration which doesn't seem to be the case.

So what the heck happened?

I would really like to see better reporting. So 57 units have mould. Where are these unit located in the building and is the mold mostly present on exterior walls etc. I'd love to see more investigated journalism and less story of the day reporting. This feels like it should be a class action lawsuit. The building is 7/8 years old.

Is the problem with the exterior envelop? cuz that is going to be a job and a half. I remember some of the Claridge Plaza buildings having some issues with their fire stacks or something freezing and pouring water everywhere so I have to wonder if it is something internal to the building.

I also feel like you can completely gut and flip a single unit in two months if you really wanted too. Small units as well. Move peoples furniture into a storage and pay for a short term hotel stay before moving them back in.

“They can’t increase rent more than 2.5 per cent, and for me personally, I think that it is a case of renoviction,” said Hosenie.

I guess this building was just finished before Doug went full nuclear on the common folk.

I feel terrible for everyone living in this situation.

Anyone want to place bets if the remediation is limited to 24 inches of drywall and new floors/baseboards?