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

[drawarc]

Pics from August 17th, building has begun to be gutted.

[citydwlr]

Thanks for the pictures @drawarc!

I went by here yesterday as well and noticed the 1st floor interior of the building had mounds of insulation and ceiling tiles on the floor. Didn't think they'd start this early!

[kevinbottawa]

I went by here yesterday as well and noticed the 1st floor interior of the building had mounds of insulation and ceiling tiles on the floor. Didn't think they'd start this early!

They originally said they wanted to finish in time for the women's World Cup so they're probably under a tight deadline.

[amanfromnowhere]

so, what will they finally do? demolition or alteration?

[J.OT13]

I figure they're still waiting on the OMB's ruling. Regardless of whether they are re-vamping or re-building, they still need to gut the building first. If both options end up looking the same with only a varied height, I'm still hoping for a re-vamp.

[waterloowarrior]

Aug 26th

[Urbanarchit]

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[waterloowarrior]

It's from my friend's balcony at CPI. You can get a decent view from the Byward Market building parking garage http://goo.gl/maps/jO95v or the Real Sports Patio

[waterloowarrior]

Municipal board gives OK to Claridge plan for hotel on Dalhousie Street
BY DAVID REEVELY, OTTAWA CITIZEN SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

OTTAWA — The days of the historic but little-loved Union du Canada building on the edge of the ByWard Market are numbered, with its owner Claridge Homes’ having received permission from the Ontario Municipal Board to tear it down and replace it with a hotel.

The building at 325 Dalhousie St. was a monument to a major francophone financial institution until the Union du Canada insurance company went bust and the building was sold. Claridge originally wanted to strip it to its core and “reclad” it as a modern luxury hotel, 60 metres tall. Instead, it plans to demolish the building and replace it with one that has the same number of storeys but lower ceilings; that means it can be just 48 metres tall, only a bit higher than the Union du Canada building is now, and loom less starkly over the neighbourhood.

The plans, which also include a neighbouring condominium tower, were approved by city council but appealed to the OMB, which can overrule city council planning decisions. The case is being heard this week; the question of whether the condo tower is acceptable is still outstanding, but OMB member Marc Denhez ruled Wednesday that the shorter version of the hotel can go ahead.

Both versions of the plan have been acceptable to the city’s heritage experts (the Union du Canada building is on the edge of the ByWard Market and Claridge’s proposal needed heritage approval to make sure it didn’t unduly disrupt the historic character of the neighbourhood) and to its urban planners. The appeal, brought by nearby residents, suffered a setback when a now-retired heritage specialist who used to work for the city, whom the residents called as a witness, testified that the 48-metre version of the hotel would be OK with him.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Mu...641/story.html

and Laura Mueller ‏@LauraEMueller 6h
Negotiated settlement between Claridge/LT res will add 1.5 storeys to Union Du Canada for 48 metres - less than the 60 m the city approved.

[thepeps]

It'll be nice to see that old building gone/gutted/whatever - it's unfathomably ugly.

[J.OT13]

Too bad, it was a solid building. They'd better come up with a kick ass design for the new hotel then. I hope the condo building gets rejected.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Too bad, it was a solid building. They'd better come up with a kick ass design for the new hotel then. I hope the condo building gets rejected.

Maybe you've said on this thread before, but why in particular do you hope the condo tower is rejected?

[rocketphish]

As I was driving around this evening I saw the crane up, and the windows coming out:


Photo by me. October 10, 2013.

[J.OT13]

Tearing it down seems like a waste of time and money. If people care about the building's "heritage" so much, they would drop the OMB appeal and let Claridge work with the existing structure. Better to keep the bones and foundation than nothing.

[drawarc]

Photo by me.

[J.OT13]

Re-posted from General Update/Rumor thread.

Originally Posted by Skyway

Union Assurance building is now going down where the new hotel on the Byward Market will be built by Claridge.

[img]http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/240...0/513/4pnm.jpg[img]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I hope they come up with a damn good new design!

Not the same pic, but likely taken around the same time. Article attached;



Pics way too big, sorry...

http://urbangeography.wordpress.com/...ion-du-canada/

This blog complains about the City and Claridge claiming the structure of the building was going to be re-used and then backing away from their previous promise. They forget to state that the reason Ottawa/Claridge opted for a full demolition was because of height complaints. It's called a compromise; save the structure, more height or new structure, less height. I guess the NIMBYs should have pulled out their OMB application when the threat of demolition was looming.

Erasing Memory The Tragedy of Union du Canada

The ongoing demolition of the Union du Canada building in the ByWard market is a tragedy. Sanctioned by Ottawa City Council, the destruction of this architectural treasure is one more sign of consuming desire by developers to destroy significant cultural and architectural landmarks – and of city planners too willing to acquiesce to their demands.

In the case of the Union du Canada building, well-researched community-led research brought to light the historical and architectural value of this building. In face of this opposition to the condo-hotel project, the developer and city planners reassured the citizens that the new building would re-use the skeleton of the building and deploy design features that reflected its impressive International Style pedigree.

Despite such assurances, Claridge Homes, the local condominium behemoth, later forwarded an application to raze the building to the ground. This proposal, recently approved by city hall, shows a mean-spirited willingness to deceive local concerned residents and exemplifies how developers co-opt the planning process to maximize their profits and minimize their responsibilities. Intensification policies – once created to inject vibrancy into central cities ¬– are now being perverted by condominium developers to extract every bit of profit from every tiny parcel of land in the downtown core, with little or no concern for the long-term impact on the urban fabric. How are we to trust developers with such a volte-face? How are we to trust politicians who seem to be more willing to listen to those with money than those who elected them?

With demolition of Union du Canada, the city will lose one more piece of its heritage and a central marker of Francophone presence in the ByWard Market will be erased. In decades time we will look on this episode, as we do now with the Daly building, as a fool hearty destruction of architectural history for short-sighted planning goals in mind. Then modernist traffic engineering demanded the destruction of the building, today the demolition meets the demands of limitless intensification, and with it the erasing a part of our collective urban identity. Indeed, all that is solid does melt into air.

[Urbanarchit]

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[Urbanarchit]

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[Harley613]

I thought I wanted it gone but the demolition is stirring up some sort of latent sentimentality for me. I hated brutalist architecture my entire life until recently, but have somehow developed a strange appreciation for it.

[Urbanarchit]

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