1451 Wellington St W | 39m | 12f | U/C

[MoreTrains]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Hearing starts today (Monday).. the developer is being criticized in Toronto for demolishing a building while the City was looking into a heritage designation. They received a demolition permit on Friday and demolished any significant heritage features over the weekend.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/...before-heritage-designation-decided.html

Maybe the city shouldnt have released the demo permit before the heritage inquisition was completed. Not the developers fault.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by MoreTrains

Maybe the city shouldnt have released the demo permit before the heritage inquisition was completed. Not the developers fault.

Building department is legally bound to give the permit.

[waterloowarrior]

story on day 1 of the hearing from the Sun
http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/01/19/omb-hears-controversial-island-park-condo-plan

[J.OT13]

Wait, what? So as the City was looking into a possible heritage designation, they gave the developer the O.K. to demolish?

[MoreTrains]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Wait, what? So as the City was looking into a possible heritage designation, they gave the developer the O.K. to demolish?

Precisely. And apparantly since there was nothing wrong with the application the city had no choice but to give the permit.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Wait, what? So as the City was looking into a possible heritage designation, they gave the developer the O.K. to demolish?

Rather, it sounds to me like the City only decided to look into heritage status after he applied for the demolition permit. As much as I like older buildings, this one has been altered over the years and isn't much to look at now.

Streetview:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.670162,-7...1!3m2!1szy39nNmumisa91m_uc82Jg!2e0?hl=en

Mizrahi Developments bought the property last October and it got lots of press then. That should have been enough to get the heritage ball rolling if anybody really wanted to do that.

http://www.thestar.com/business/real_est...s_buys_stollerys_at_yonge_and_bloor.html

This is the City's problem, not Mizrahi's.

[rocketphish]

Wellington West condo debate reaches municipal board

Michael Woods, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: January 19, 2015, Last Updated: January 19, 2015 5:34 PM EST


Initial proposal by Toronto's Mizrahi Developments for 12-storey condo tower at Wellington Street and Island Park Drive. The design has since been revised with lower ceiling heights.

A controversial proposed condo development for Wellington West came before the Ontario Municipal Board on Monday, its last chance at survival after being rejected by city council eight months ago.

Toronto developer Sam Mizrahi’s proposal for the northeast corner of Wellington Street and Island Park Drive was rejected by Ottawa city council last May.

He appealed council’s decision to the OMB, the provincial tribunal that rules on city council planning decisions. The five-day hearing started Monday.

The recently-developed community design plan (CDP) for the area calls for a building of no more than nine storeys on the site.

Mizrahi has said building a nine-storey building isn’t feasible because the site is contaminated and requires a costly cleanup.

“This is another Ottawa height case, let there be no question about it,” said lawyer Alan Cohen, who is representing Mizrahi, in his opening remarks.

Cohen outlined a number of questions that he said the board should consider, mostly related to the city’s planning vision and the level of contamination at the site from previous light-industrial uses.

But Tim Marc, the city’s head planning lawyer, argued in his opening statement that the lands in question were subject to a CDP process not long ago, and those questions were dealt with then.

“The relevant questions were asked, and they were answered,” he said. “The vision that was arrived at through that process,” that of a six or nine-storey building, “is not a vision that should be departed from.”

Since appealing to the OMB, Mizrahi has made further revisions to the proposal, reducing its height from about 44 metres to about 39 metres. This was achieved by shortening the individual floors from three metres to 2.7 metres each and reducing the height of the main floor.

Mizrahi is a prominent developer in Toronto — his company recently bought the iconic Stollerys store and adjacent lands at Yonge and Bloor streets in Toronto. The Wellington West proposal is his first foray into the Ottawa market.

Board adjudicator Marc Denhez expressed some astonishment that the issue has got this far given how much it has been discussed.

“I’m quite frankly surprised, with the calibre of minds in the room, that no common ground has been found yet,” he said.

The proposal is one of intense interest to the Wellington West community and other surrounding neighbourhoods.

Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper was there for the start of the hearing on Monday. Mizrahi was there for the duration of the session.

Much of the afternoon was spent hearing from architect Henry Burstyn, whose firm designed the 12-storey proposal. Another firm designed a 10-storey version, but area residents preferred the 12-storey tower, the board heard Monday.

Burstyn said the design of the building satisfies all the principles set out in the community design plan.

Marc, in his cross-examination of the architect, suggested that those goals could be met by a nine-storey building as well.

“All these objectives would be achieved by the first nine floors of your proposal,” he said.

The issue of contamination was also raised on Monday, with an expert from consulting engineering firm Paterson Group testifying that it would cost more than $2 million for Mizrahi to clean up the land.

Many neighbours are in favour of the proposal despite the extra height, saying Mizrahi consulted heavily with the public to come up with the design.

However, figures such as Mayor Jim Watson and former planning committee chair Peter Hume spoke out against it, saying residents need certainty about development.

The Wellington Village Community Association also opposed the design.

[email protected]
twitter.com/michaelrwoods

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/wellington-west-condo-debate-reaches-municipal-board

[waterloowarrior]

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/01/19/dirty-site-turns-off-past-owners

latest design

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/01/19/dirty-site-turns-off-past-owners

latest design

It looks so much shorter now, like, only barely over 9 stories!

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

It looks so much shorter now!

It's just soooooo dumb. 9 foot ceilings are ok... but 10 foot ceilings will cause neighborhood children to drop dead of Vitamin D deficiency...

Do people even know what they're complaining about anymore ??

[rocketphish]

Dirty site turns off past owners

By Jon Willing, Ottawa Sun
First posted: Monday, January 19, 2015 08:24 PM EST | Updated: Monday, January 19, 2015 08:29 PM EST

There have been several suitors for the contaminated property now owned by Mizrahi Developments but everyone has feared the cleanup cost.

Environmental and geotechnical engineer Carlos Da Silva knows the property at 1441 Wellington St. well.

Multiple companies asked him to investigate the ground conditions at the corner lot at Island Park Dr.

He told an Ontario Municipal Board hearing Monday that multiple owners previous to Mizrahi couldn't get the economics to work to build at the property.

The costs were too high.

But Mizrahi's 12-storey residential plan was "a little more innovative than anyone else," Da Silva told the hearing.

Da Silva said much of the ground contamination likely came from a fuel depot across the street. The contamination might not even have stopped at the Mizrahi property.

"It may be possible it has migrated beyond that," Da Silva said.

The estimated cost to remediate the site eyed by Mizrahi for development is more than $2 million, he told the hearing.

The contamination has affected the soil and bedrock.

The reason why Mizrahi wants to build at 12 storeys instead of at the nine-storey maximum is because of the cost to clean the land.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/01/19/dirty-site-turns-off-past-owners

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

It looks so much shorter now, like, only barely over 9 stories!

Looks that way because they changed the 11th floor from masonry to set-back glass. Don't know if they actually lowered the ceilings.

[waterloowarrior]

Since appealing to the OMB, Mizrahi has made further revisions to the proposal, reducing its height from about 44 metres to about 39 metres. This was achieved by shortening the individual floors from three metres to 2.7 metres each and reducing the height of the main floor.

Ceiling were lowered and overall height lowered by 5m

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Ceiling were lowered and overall height lowered by 5m

Thanks. Equivalent of roughly a floor and a half.

I think I actually prefer the new design. Less faux-historic, a little more modern. The lower height (both real and the illusion) also makes for an overall better look IMO.

[Urbanarchit]

Mizrahi may end up building Canada's tallest building in Toronto according to this article. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toro...-tallest-most-expensive/article23409281/

You'll recognize Bloor and Yonge, where they were granted permission to demolish the building by the city, and then after the permit was issues and they were starting someone tried to have the building designated heritage. This would be the site for this project, designed by Norman Foster.

[1overcosc]

Mizrachi is proving to be a highly ambitious developer. Tallest building in the country, phew, not bad. (This proposal is over double the height of Icon).

[McC]

Decision, but not decisive.
http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/e-decisions/pl140611-May-07-2015.pdf

From the Councillor's Blog
https://kitchissippiward.ca/content/board-turns-down-mizrahi-building-now

Board Turns Down Mizrahi Building - For Now

A long-awaited decison (kind of) in the appeal by Mizrahi seeking to overturn the City’s decision against its 12-storey building at Island Park and Richmond Road is finally out. It’s good news – sort of.

The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) has rejected the developer’s appeal in a lengthy decision, but on the basis that Mizrahi hasn’t designed such a “landmark” building that it would qualify for extra height.

But, rather than close the door to the development, the Board has drawn a roadmap for changes that could allow it to proceed. It has outlined (non-exhaustively) nine characteristics of a “landmark”, “scenic” and “picturesque” building that, while loosey-goosey, could eventually be met to go ahead with the project.

The alternative to a major redesign to fit those criteria, says the Board, is to allow the project to go ahead as proposed, but lopping off the top three storeys. It writes:

“It is the extra storeys at the top for which an incentive is being sought, under the rubric of complementing overarching planning objectives. The Board would have expected more substantial evidence, to confirm that the extra storeys contributed to its ‘landmark’ or ‘scenic’ character, and hence qualify for the desired exceptional treatment.” It adds with respect to the City's policies on landmark architecture that the "intent of those provisions was to foresee a project with what, in the vernacular, the Board would call an element of 'wow'."

Mizrahi has therefore been invited to move forward with a re-design, and the City has been invited to specify how a new design would “objectively” meet the nine critera.

So, for now, the case is adjourned, not finished, pending indication of whether the developer wants to move forward with a nine-storey building or pursue a revised proposal. The Board says it expects that direction within six months of this decision.

For those familiar with the protracted history behind the City’s most recent Infill I rules, there are some similar features. In that case, the City was challenged by the Board to demonstrate how it could regulate character. The rules that the City proposed, and eventually adopted, proposed a way to objectively define character through such features as parking, landscaping and others.

In challenging the City to “objectively” define a “landmark” feature, the Board has kept the door open to regulating subjective characteristics that don’t always lend themselves well to quantification. It refers specifically to the Infill I case when it says, “[a]rchitectural objectives and assessments are not a forbidden topic.”

This decision just came out this morning, and I’ll be studying it further in the days to come. It’s unknown whether Mizrahi will pursue the re-design route. If he does, I will be seeking the most transparent and consultative process possible as the City determines how it will measure whether a building is “landmark” or not.

I’ll be sure to provide updates as warranted.

[rocketphish]

Wellington condo tower capped at 9 storeys — unless made more 'distinctive' — OMB says

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 11, 2015, Last Updated: May 11, 2015 5:17 PM EDT


Mizrahi Developments' proposal for 12-storey condo tower at Wellington Street and Island Park Drive has been rejected by the Ontario Municipal Board.

The Ontario Municipal Board has upheld city council’s rejection of an upscale condominium building proposed for Wellington Street, but hasn’t completely slammed the door on a Toronto developer’s proposal.

Sam Mizrahi’s proposal to build a 12-storey tower on the northeast corner of Wellington Street and Island Park Drive was rejected by council last May. He appealed the decision to the OMB, the provincial tribunal that rules on city council planning decisions, and a five-day hearing was held in January.

The recently developed community design plan (CDP) for the area calls for a building of no more than nine storeys on the site.

Mizrahi has said a nine-storey building isn’t feasible because the site is contaminated and requires a costly $2-million cleanup.

His 12-storey building would consist of three parts — a base, a main upper part and a top-most recessed two-storey portion, which would be finished in glass in an effort to blend in with the sky and be as discrete as possible.

In a written ruling released last week, the OMB says the dispute boils down to the height of “landmark architecture” proposed at one of the most prominent intersections in the city. A landmark building is named such when its architectural form is deemed to be “highly distinctive.”

Mizrahi’s proposal, in its current form, doesn’t meet that test, the OMB says.

But it could if his architect made some changes to the top three storeys.

“Although angular planes are usually intended to mitigate shadow and bulk, they can also add architectural flourishes. A redesigned top for this project, which uses angles while maintaining a distinguished appearance, may potentially advance that overall ‘landmark’ status significantly,” the OMB decision says.

Alternatively, the developer could choose to reduce the project to nine storeys.

Since appealing to the OMB, Mizrahi has made some revisions to the proposal, reducing its height from about 44 metres to about 39 metres. This was achieved by shortening the individual floors from three metres to 2.7 metres each and reducing the height of the main floor.

Mizrahi is a prominent developer in Toronto — his company recently bought the iconic Stollery’s store and adjacent lands at Yonge and Bloor streets. The Wellington West proposal is his first foray into the Ottawa market.

Some neighbours are in favour of the proposal despite the extra height, saying Mizrahi consulted heavily with the public to come up with the design.

However, Mayor Jim Watson and former planning committee chair Peter Hume spoke out against it, saying residents need certainty about development.

The Wellington Village Community Association also opposed the design.

[email protected]
twitter.com/mpearson78

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...ys-unless-made-more-distinctive-omb-says

[Norman Bates]

I hope mizrahi hangs in there and makes this happen. OMB is basically laying down a challenge to them to come up with something really spectacular on that three storey podium and they can have whatever height they want. That is if it includes a 60-40 degree view plane.

As I say, I remain hopeful that mizrahi will accept the challenge.

[cr872190]

Originally Posted by Norman Bates

I hope mizrahi hangs in there and makes this happen. OMB is basically laying down a challenge to them to come up with something really spectacular on that three storey podium and they can have whatever height they want. That is if it includes a 60-40 degree view plane.

As I say, I remain hopeful that mizrahi will accept the challenge.

Hell if I was Mizrahi I would be running for the hills. The City's approval process is a joke, all these very loosely worded regulations. Even the OMB can't make heads or tails of the term 'landmark'.