Andaz Hotel [325 Dalhousie St] | 56.3m/70m | 15fl/23fl | Phase 1 complete

[J.OT13]

This should be entertaining. I predict that the NIMBYs who wanted to preserve the old building for its architecture won`t say a damn thing because what they really wanted was to prevent additional height.

Demolishing seems pretty damn idiotic to me. This is a big building redeveloped as the exact same mass. As others have mentioned, seems way cheaper to use the existing and add floors then demolishing and rebuilding. Although who knows, they might have found structural problems.

That said, I would expect a better design if rebuild from scratch. And again; condo building blows!

[rocketphish]

Claridge asks to demolish Union du Canada building rather than renovating it

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen July 4, 2013 5:06 PM

OTTAWA — Having received permission for a major renovation to turn the Union du Canada headquarters on the edge of the ByWard Market into a hotel, Claridge Homes is instead asking to tear it down.

The developer hopes to squeeze about the same number of rooms into a shorter building and head off an appeal of the project from neighbours angry that it’s too tall, according to a report bound for the city’s committee on heritage buildings.

The stark concrete-and-glass office tower at 325 Dalhousie St. was the monumental home to an icon of French-Canadian finance, until the Union du Canada insurance company went bust in 2012. The building itself is undeniably unique in its neighbourhood, though it is a matter of opinion whether it’s a charming and historic oddity in the Market district or an eyesore that looms menacingly over the area.

Either way, Claridge received approvals this spring to “re-clad” the 11-storey building and add four storeys to turn it into a luxury hotel, part of a two-building project that includes a condo tower on the same block. But nearby residents appealed the city council decision to the Ontario Municipal Board, at least partly on the grounds that the proposal is too tall and out of keeping with other buildings on Dalhousie.

“The project architect analysed the programming requirements and existing heights of the building, and concluded that, because the floor-to-ceiling heights required for an office building are higher than those required for a hotel, the height of the proposed building could be reduced and the needs of its clients met, if an entirely new building were to be constructed,” the new heritage report says. The current building tops out at 45.8 metres, it says, and a brand-new one would rise to 52.4 metres. Claridge’s approved renovation would take it to 67 metres, so the difference is four to five storeys.

Otherwise, the report says, the architectural style would be similar to the version city council has already approved. And the 22-storey condo building would remain unchanged.

Officially, the Union du Canada building is of negligible heritage value, interesting only because the whole ByWard Market is a heritage conservation district, so the city’s heritage staff have no problem with Claridge tearing it down.

The city council committee, a mixed group of councillors and heritage experts, is to vote on the idea July 11.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Cl...#ixzz2Y86MfnzJ

[archie-tect]

Not overly exciting ... Check out the Standard Hotel in LA (hotel conversion of an old office building). Demolishing the whole building seems like a big waste. Maybe they needed more parking? Anyway I wonder if this will be another one of those LEED buildings where they had to demo a large building like the Lorne.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by archie-tect

Not overly exciting ... Check out the Standard Hotel in LA (hotel conversion of an old office building). Demolishing the whole building seems like a big waste. Maybe they needed more parking? Anyway I wonder if this will be another one of those LEED buildings where they had to demo a large building like the Lorne.

You would think that RE-USING a building would win LEED points, not demolishing. What a waste.

Mostly, I'm ticked off to see the "new" building has the exact same bland, but slightly shorter, design as the re-purposed proposal. The design was fine of you are restricted by an existing structure, but if you start from scratch, one has the opportunity to design something amazing, especially in a high class hotel in an area like the Byward market.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

You would think that RE-USING a building would win LEED points, not demolishing. What a waste.

Mostly, I'm ticked off to see the "new" building has the exact same bland, but slightly shorter, design as the re-purposed proposal. The design was fine of you are restricted by an existing structure, but if you start from scratch, one has the opportunity to design something amazing, especially in a high class hotel in an area like the Byward market.

It's an ugly building, and there may be structural issues as well. I'd have built it shorter and with a more designer look.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

It's an ugly building, and there may be structural issues as well. I'd have built it shorter and with a more designer look.

If they can come up with a good design for a new build, you know, put some effort into it like they've been doing along the O-Train Track, then I fully support the demolition.

[DEWLine]

If there are indeed structural issues, then those ought to be brought forward for review and possibly remediation. No?

[Urbanarchit]

*

[J.OT13]

Turns out demolishing the building is plan B in case the OMB rules with the Market NIMBYs calling for a shorter building. Once again, it's too bad the NIMBYs aren't going after the horrid condo tower, but the news gives me hope that the design of plan B was just whipped up quickly for the application and that if the OMB does rule for a shorter building, Claridge will then put in the effort for a better designed Hyatt Hotel.

Builder can demolish Union du Canada building, heritage panel rules

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN July 11, 2013

OTTAWA — Claridge can tear down the old Union du Canada insurance building at 325 Dalhousie St. but only if it replaces it with a shorter hotel than it previously wanted to build, the city’s committee on heritage buildings decided Thursday.

The developer already has permission to renovate the 11-storey landmark on the edge of the ByWard Market and to add several floors to turn it into a hotel in concert with a condo project on the same block. But instead, facing an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board from neighbours irate about the height of the buildings, Claridge asked if it could demolish the office building instead. The ceilings are higher than a hotel needs, according to the company, and a new building could make a workable hotel 15 metres shorter than the original plan, topping out at 52.4 metres.

That’s still taller than the Union du Canada building, but only a little.

The city’s heritage planners don’t see great historic value in the concrete-and-glass structure; it’s distinctive, and designed by moderately famous architect Louis LaPierre, but it’s officially only of heritage interest because it’s in the Market. The planners were fine with the renovation and are equally fine with demolition.

But the group put conditions on Claridge’s plan: The company can tear the building down only to construct the shorter version of the hotel. It can’t mix-and-match plans, demolish the building and construct the taller replacement. Claridge vice-president Neil Malhotra agreed to the condition, saying the taller version is still on the table because the OMB appeal hasn’t been settled and it’s not yet clear whether the shorter hotel will head it off.

The condo project, which shares parking with the hotel, remains at 22 storeys.

City council’s planning committee and the full council both get to vote on the decision before it’s final.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ot...640/story.html

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Turns out demolishing the building is plan B in case the OMB rules with the Market NIMBYs calling for a shorter building. Once again, it's too bad the NIMBYs aren't going after the horrid condo tower, but the news gives me hope that the design of plan B was just whipped up quickly for the application and that if the OMB does rule for a shorter building, Claridge will then put in the effort for a better designed Hyatt Hotel.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ot...640/story.html

I hope you're right! Hopefully they don't go with Neuf Architects again...I haven't been overly pleased with their work, to be honest (certainly not the Claridge Plaza project). They have an opportunity right now to make a really interesting building at this location; not just for the hotel, but for the condo as well...I would assume that any hotel company they are courting (Hyatt, in this case) would have some say in the final design, no?

[rocketphish]

Anguish over the Union du Canada building

Posted by: David Reevely
July 15, 2013. 5:24 pm

Marc Aubin, the president of the Lowertown Community Association, is not at all pleased about a the anticipated decision by city council’s planning committee Tuesday to let Claridge tear down the Union du Canada building on Dalhousie Street.

(The views in this letter are not official views of the Lowertown Community Association)

Marc Aubin,
205-100 Boteler Street,
Ottawa, ON K1N 8Y1

Councillors,
City of Ottawa,
110 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1

Monday, July 15, 2013

RE: Union du Canada Building - Demolition Proposal – Epic Fail

Dear Councillors,

In my capacity as the president of a community association, I have been privy to a lot of what is going on at city hall. Rather than a clear, accountable, compassionate, and fair system, I see mixed messages about our city’s policies, lack of accountability, small-minded vision, backroom deals, conflict of interest, political expediency, and just a plain failure of this city’s democratic system. This most recent case involving the Union du Canada building is a good example of how this city is failing to live up to its potential and why so many people have grown cynical about city hall.

Development and Intensification – EPIC FAIL

Today’s “intensification” is nothing like many years ago when the city had a very positive “restore the core” policy that encouraged reasonable and harmonious intensification in the downtown. Today’s “intensification” is on a whole other destructive scale. I see it being used now by developers and politicians as a catch-all word for giving blanket authority to put up garbage developments that destroy the urban landscape. Even worse, we have developers who have no interest in engaging and working collaboratively with communities where they have decided to build. Over and over again, I have seen certain developers treat residents as an afterthought and like second-class citizens. Instead, many developers have sown seeds of discontent and continue to bully politicians, city planners, and residents. There is no reason for this. Developers need to grow up and realize that their business model of stripping the entire landscape on the periphery of the city and remolding it for maximum profit does not work the same in the urban area. There are, no doubt, good examples of intensification, but there are also too many terrible examples as well. Instead of destroying the well-planned and historic parts of this city, why do you not encourage this brand of intensification in the ring of failed business parks circling the downtown (e.g. Conventry Road)? Why not retrofit the failed suburbs instead of punishing the urban core?

In the case of the Union du Canada building, we are looking at one of the most sensitive historical, touristic and residential/commercial assets that this city has – the Byward Market. The two currently proposed Claridge condos have absolutely no relation to what is valued in terms of architecture and size in the Byward Market. Ottawa will likely be a city of 25 million people one day. Should we not be planning this particular part of the city in way that we can not only preserve this asset that is the Byward Market, but so that we can also extend it down George and York streets (i.e. to these sites where development is proposed)?

Heritage – EPIC FAIL

In Montreal, the serious developers would look at the Union du Canada building, which is in a heritage district, and see its potential. We are in the middle of a mid-century modern revival of sorts. In Montreal, developers would embrace the Expo 67 style building that is the Union du Canada building. They would add special lights and other sympathetic features to the building and make it a hip example of a mid-century modern building. They would design an interior that also revives the mid-century style that we see appearing in so many metropolitan boutique hotels today. Instead, in Ottawa’s small-minded vision and mentality, we are proposing tearing down yet another unique example of architectural history. In its place, we are going to put up a boring glass office building that we are selling as a hotel. I am saddened by the lack of vision demonstrated by this city. Love it or hate it, the Union du Canada building is a monument to French-Canadians in Lowertown and a testament to the struggles of small French-Catholic minorities in Canada. While most members of city council will never be able to understand the significant persecution and emotional damage done to French-Canadians in Ontario, this minority group did overcome. The Union du Canada building is an example of the pinnacle of French-Canadian minority ascendency outside Quebec. This is a significant and important layer in the story of Lowertown and the Byward Market. The lack of sympathy for that story on the part of city council is astonishing and eye-opening. It is as if we are still in the Charlotte Whitton anti-French-Canadian dark age of this city and province. I am appalled by the lack of integrity in the application of the Heritage Act. The spirit of the Heritage Act is to protect places of historical importance to people – not politicians, not city planners, and certainly not developers. While city planners can advise, politicians can have their opinions, and developers can have their eyes on profit, heritage starts with the heart and it ends with assessment criteria. Instead of assessing the Union du Canada building’s contribution as an important layer to the story of Lowertown and the Byward Market, the developer and planners have made excuses and used loopholes to let the building go. Even worse, the city is turning a blind eye to the fact that this building has not been individually assessed for its heritage value under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. Issues of heritage should not be determined by political whim, but I believe that is the case in Ottawa. I think there are really only three options for the Union du Canada building:

1) It should be refurbished and sympathetically improved with lighting and other features;
2) If demolished, an exact replica of the façade should be built;

If demolished, consideration should be given to recreating the original architecture of the former Union du Canada building, which would be consistent with the architecture for which the Byward Market is currently known.

Accountability – EPIC FAILURE

In the past 3 years since the last municipal election, Lowertown has been without an accountable city councillor to represent its concerns on development files. The only three major development proposals have been from Claridge. We are privileged to have Councillors Hume and Harder stepping in for Councillor Fleury, with all their years of experience, but we continue to suffer greatly from lack of accountability. Whether these councillors represent us well or not will not make a difference for them in the next election. In addition, these councillors have their own wards and heavy responsibilities in addition to Claridge files in Lowertown. I think it has been very convenient that we do not have an elected official representing us and who is accountable to us, working with us, and fighting for better development in our ward. Instead, I have seen residents in Lowertown struggling to the brink of burnout to ensure that their concerns are somewhat reflected in decisions at city council. Even as the president of their community association, I have struggled significantly on these files while trying to focus on more positive community development initiatives. It should not be this way.

Democracy – EPIC FAILURE

There are rumours going around that this hotel is a pet project of powerful politicians at city hall and that they are intervening in the backrooms of city hall. While I hope that this is not true, the general evidence I have seen in the past few years is that everything is now done in the backrooms of city hall. I seldom see any councillors presenting opposing values in public forums. What I see, from my vantage point, is that we are losing the very basis of true democracy in this city. Important issues, like intensification, like heritage, like the future of areas like the Byward Market, are being decided behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny. The promise of amalgamation – saving money - failed, and the fear that democracy would be damaged has come true. Today, I see councillors struggling to represent downtown wards, because they are completely overwhelmed with the demands of their constituents. Worse than that, we have some wards in this city that have almost half the constituents of other wards. How is this at all democratic or fair? I was told that there was no hope on Earth that a downtown councillor will ever be able to run a city committee, because they have so much work to do. This imbalance is a threat to the democratic rights of downtown residents and shows the epic failure of democracy in this city.

Yours truly,
Marc Aubin

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/...nada-building/

[Harley613]

This honestly seems like it was written by a 14 year old. EPIC FAIL!!!

'punishing the core'. What an idiot. High density developments bring life and animate the core and help businesses immensely.

'Ottawa will likely be a city of 25 million people one day.' Seriously?! Are we really planning for the year 2193 right now?

' If demolished, an exact replica of the façade should be built'. I think 99% of people would agree that this building has very little heritage value.

'If demolished, consideration should be given to recreating the original architecture of the former Union du Canada building, which would be consistent with the architecture for which the Byward Market is currently known.'
What the hell?!?! This building sticks out like a sore thumb and has zero relation to the architecture in the market.

[J.OT13]

Again, where was this idiot when Ogilvy was torn down? Why can't people tell what a historic building is in the city?

[c_speed3108]

Coventry Rd a failed business park? Looks pretty full of active businesses to me except for the baseball stadium and one empty building (which would get torn down if the mall ever gets it's expansion done). Is the area nice...no, but I would hardly call it failed.

Second I really love people that seem to feel everyone else should love somewhere else. Here's an idea for this guy. If the new apartment/condo buildings bother you so much take your own suggestion and move to the Coventry road area. While there is no residential on Coventry there is plenty just north in Overbrook. Mostly low rise too. Probably cheaper than where he is living now. Walking distance to Canadian Tire and Best Buy. Bet he doesn't have those amenities now!

I am not even going to waste my time arguing the absurd idea that anyone would consider the Union du Canada building a monument to anything.

[J.OT13]

Pet project for politicians? That's not that big of a project compared to everything else going on around town, not to mention it ain't pretty. If he keeps fighting the OMB against the extra height, it will be torn down. If you care about a building so much, better an overhaul than a total tear down. And again, with all the historic buildings at risk in this city, and recently torn down, why fight for this one?

[Shalaby]

We are in the middle of a mid-century modern revival of sorts. In Montreal, developers would embrace the Expo 67 style building that is the Union du Canada building. They would add special lights and other sympathetic features to the building and make it a hip example of a mid-century modern building.

This building is ugly as sin and anyone who thinks it is exemplary of mid century modern architecture needs there head checked.

Although maybe with some special lights...

[Harley613]

His whole letter sounds like he's trolling, but he's not! He's actually serious! How do people this out of touch, infantile, and uneducated get involved in a community?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Harley613

'Ottawa will likely be a city of 25 million people one day.' Seriously?! Are we really planning for the year 2193 right now?

Assuming the past 30 years of about 7% population growth in every five-year census period, and that this rate continues indefinitely, the Ottawa-Gatineau metro area will hit 25-million in about the middle of the 23rd century.

Mind you, at typical Ottawa semi-suburban densities, that 25-million strong metropolis will sprawl from Alfred in the east to Perth in the west and south to the St. Lawrence River, and will long since have formed a conurbation with the Communauté urbaine de Montréal, so if we are willing to wait it out, the STCUM will just build us a damn metro already.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Assuming the past 30 years of about 7% population growth in every five-year census period, and that this rate continues indefinitely, the Ottawa-Gatineau metro area will hit 25-million in about the middle of the 23rd century.

Mind you, at typical Ottawa semi-suburban densities, that 25-million strong metropolis will sprawl from Alfred in the east to Perth in the west and south to the St. Lawrence River, and will long since have formed a conurbation with the Communauté urbaine de Montréal, so if we are willing to wait it out, the STCUM will just build us a damn metro already.

Alright! We just have to wait two and a half centuries for the Bank-Rideau-Montreal Subway. We won't have to visit the ruins of Lansdowne by bus anymore.

[rocketphish]

Claridge gets final permission to tear down Union du Canada headquarters

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN July 17, 2013 6:05 PM

OTTAWA — Claridge Homes can tear down the Union du Canada building at 325 Dalhousie St. on the edge of the ByWard Market, city council agreed Wednesday.

The company already had permission for major renovations to the former headquarters of the bankrupt insurance company that was an icon of French-Canadian finance for decades. Claridge wants to turn the building into a hotel and had intended to add four floors to the 11-storey structure, taking it to a height that angered nearby residents. Instead, Claridge now says, it can fit enough rooms into a shorter building with lower ceilings to make its plan viable, but only if it can build from scratch.

Council imposed a condition saying that if Claridge goes ahead with the demolition instead of the renovation, it has to build the shorter building and not demolish the office tower and replace it with a tall building anyway.

Neighbours have appealed Claridge’s plans to the Ontario Municipal Board, so either they and the company will reach a deal or the OMB will get the final say.

Orléans Coun. Bob Monette dissented from what was otherwise a unanimous council decision.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa
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