265 Catherine St [Former Greyhound terminal] | 110/117/127m | 32/34/36f | Site Prep

[McC]

News article in the Citizen, no images posted (yet):

Developer presents his dream for Ottawa bus station site


BY NECO COCKBURN, THE OTTAWA CITIZEN SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

2

OTTAWA — A contingency plan consisting of apartments, stores and office space that might be built at the Catherine Street bus terminal should Greyhound ever leave the site is to be discussed on Tuesday by council’s planning committee.

The bus station’s owner, Crerar Silverside Corp., has applied for rezoning to allow a new development that doesn’t necessarily include a bus depot on the land bounded by Catherine, Lyon and Kent streets and Arlington Avenue.

Although there is a proposal on paper for such a development, Greyhound is expected to remain at the station “for the foreseeable future,” said Stewart Robertson of Crerar.

“Our expectation is that Greyhound is going to stay and operate out of this terminal,” Robertson said, adding that details of an agreement are still being worked out.

Greyhound has operated out of the terminal on a month-to-month basis for at least the past 10 years, Robertson said, “so our goal is to have them there on a long-term basis, and to improve the terminal.”

The contingency proposal calls for four buildings, including two 25-storey towers, built around a courtyard area.

“It’s a beautiful plan, in my opinion. We’re excited about it, but we’re also excited about retaining Greyhound,” said Robertson.

The site’s current zoning allows limited transportation-related uses such as a bus station, parking garage, parking lot and train station, along with accessory uses such as a restaurant, retail store and convenience store.

The proposed zoning would permit a mixed-use development “with site-specific provisions to allow for a bus station as a permitted use,” says a staff report to go before the planning committee. That means the bus station could remain.

“The rezoned plan is for a bus terminal and mixed-use rezoning. It could be one, the other, or both, and when we look out into the future, none of us has a crystal ball, so you simply try and plan for as many contingencies as possible,” said Robertson.

Under the proposal to go before the planning committee, the two tower buildings would face Catherine Street.

One tower building on the western portion of the site would consist of two storeys for office and retail space and a 23-storey apartment building. The other building, to the east, would have a 19-storey apartment building built on top of six storeys of retail and office space.

The two remaining buildings would face Arlington Avenue “with ground-oriented residential units,” the report says. The buildings would front Arlington with three storeys and step back to seven storeys, it says.

Crerar began the rezoning process last year after former mayor Larry O’Brien talked about having Greyhound move into the train station on Tremblay Road in order to create a transportation hub that would combine intercity bus and train service with Ottawa’s planned light-rail line.

City staff say in their report that any relocation of Greyhound “has not been formally determined,” and that the planning department has not been notified of any plans to develop an intercity bus terminal anywhere else.

A VIA Rail spokesman says there are no current talks with bus operators about such a hub arrangement. A spokeswoman for Greyhound did not provide information by Wednesday afternoon.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busines...#ixzz1Xpg5YKXm

[kwoldtimer]

Makes it sound like some elaborate plan to get Greyhound to sign a lease.

[McC]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Makes it sound like some elaborate plan to get Greyhound to sign a lease.

no kidding.

[gjhall]

Approved by Planning Committee. Apparently Greyhound has signed a long term lease since they originally filed.

[TransitZilla]

Post by Eric Darwin about this: http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/...ad-thankfully/

I tend to agree with him...

[amanfromnowhere]

Bus terminal to stay put on Catherine Street

Tuesday, 13 September 2011
By Rob Nettleton

Published in : Centretown News, Breaking News

Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes announced today that Greyhound bus lines has renewed its lease at its current location on Catherine Street for an undisclosed period of time, stopping dead in its tracks redevelopment of the site for now.

There had been speculation about the possibility of relocating the bus terminal once Greyhound’s lease had expired.

In speaking to city council’s planning committee, Holmes’s remarks suggested that the renewal of the lease would last for a number of years, but did not give a specific number.

However, the notice of renewal did not stop the committee from carrying a motion to rezone the land from being exclusively a transportation-only zone to one of mixed-use.

Being rezoned to a mixed-use property enables any redevelopment of the site to include either retail, residential or office buildings. With the green light given by the planning committee and pending approval at City Counil, the owner of the site now has more flexibility in what to do with the land should Greyhound not renew its lease in the future. But for some, the decision was not welcomes by all.

“If you rezone this land you are immediately increasing its value as something other than a bus station,” said David Jeanes, of Transport Action. “You are therefore giving an incentive to the owner to pursue those other uses.”

Holmes, who supported the motion, said that residents of the area do not want to see the terminal moved.

“I’m hoping the bus station will be there forever,” said Holmes. “It has great access and there are no other places really for it to move to. It blends in with the community. It lives with its neighbours.”

A redevelopment plan proposed four separate buildings along with up to two retail outlets. Two of the buildings facing Arlington Avenue would be residential, peaking at seven storeys. Two other 25-storey buildings would be largely residential and would face Catherine Street.

[citizen j]

Holmes claims: “I’m hoping the bus station will be there forever, [...]. It blends in with the community. It lives with its neighbours.”
Diane, I think you and I need to sit down and talk about your criteria for "blends in" because what this looks like is "high rise bad, low rise good" even when the low rise comes with surface parking, a blank street wall, bland/featureless architecture, noise polution, and diesel fumes. Sure it lives with its neighbours. So does a gas station and a drive-thru Timmys.

[Harley613]

she's honestly becoming a caricature of herself. we all know how she's going to respond before we even read it...quite hilarious actually.

[S-Man]

A hog fat rendering plant and lax maximum security jail for violent sex offenders with a broken front gate would be preferrable in her opinion as long as it wasn't tall.

Nothing destroys a city like tall buildings in the downtown area. With height comes featureless walls, concrete, noise and pollution, and vagrants.

Now a bus station on the other hand...

[Urbanarchit]

Just to collect all documents here. Design brief

I wish this would have gone through.

[ortelius]

Does Greyhound own the station?
Our station is sad. I usually take the train but once I took the bus, and to my surprise, the station in Toronto was also depressing. But then again, Greyhound is mediocre too.

Last time I heard about this file was when the idea of putting it near the train station was circulating.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by ortelius

Does Greyhound own the station?
Our station is sad. I usually take the train but once I took the bus, and to my surprise, the station in Toronto was also depressing. But then again, Greyhound is mediocre too.

Last time I heard about this file was when the idea of putting it near the train station was circulating.

[url=http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-story/3800386-greyhound-site-could-remain-as-bus-terminal/]The Ottawa Community News article[url] said that Greyhound rents this site from Cerar-Silverside Corp., so it may still be the case?

The article also suggests it could have remained a bus terminal with the development.

Toronto's and Ottawa's is not very pleasant and desperately needs an update. Montreal's is quite nice, though! The terminal was complete a few years ago, but the development atop with UQAM fell through (nearly bankrupted the school) so that's left unfinished. There's a proposal that construction will resume soon. But if you ever visit Montreal by bus, you'll notice their terminal is amazing.

It has high ceilings, nice new washrooms, lots of space, even some decent stores (there's a bulk candy store for long trips).

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by ortelius

Does Greyhound own the station?
Our station is sad. I usually take the train but once I took the bus, and to my surprise, the station in Toronto was also depressing. But then again, Greyhound is mediocre too.

Last time I heard about this file was when the idea of putting it near the train station was circulating.

Toronto is getting a new bus station at the ground level of a new skyscraper, directly across from Union Station. I believe construction is starting this spring.

[HighwayStar]

Originally Posted by ortelius

Last time I heard about this file was when the idea of putting it near the train station was circulating.

The fundamental problem is that integrating transit hubs makes sense.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by ortelius

Does Greyhound own the station?
Our station is sad. I usually take the train but once I took the bus, and to my surprise, the station in Toronto was also depressing. But then again, Greyhound is mediocre too.

Last time I heard about this file was when the idea of putting it near the train station was circulating.

The bus terminal is owned by Crerar Silverside Corporation and leased to Greyhound. See Post #81

[Radster]

I like what they did in Montreal, the station including the bus parking, departures and arrivals are all inside an office building if I am correct. I have seen a similar setup in Perth, Australia. Not only is it smart mixed use development, but it also helps with passenger comfort, mainly by being protected from the elements.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by Radster

I like what they did in Montreal, the station including the bus parking, departures and arrivals are all inside an office building if I am correct. I have seen a similar setup in Perth, Australia. Not only is it smart mixed use development, but it also helps with passenger comfort, mainly by being protected from the elements.

It's as-of-yet incomplete, but it was supposed to be a student residence for UQAM, but they cancelled the project partway through due to nearly going bankrupt, so Greyhound completed their terminal portion.


Greyhound Montreal by Shel DeF on Flickr

[1overcosc]

Renderings of Toronto's future coach terminal at Bay & Front:



(Sources: Ivanhoe Cambridge, the developer)

Would be awesome if we could do the same. Downtown hub location with office tower on top. Of course it couldn't quite be the same because we don't have a downtown train station (this Toronto terminal will be immediately adjacent to the train station & have an indoor link to it).

[Arcologist]

Originally Posted by defishel

Just to collect all documents here. Design brief

I wish this would have gone through.

This is the first time I see these. Not too shabby!

Is the project completely dead? Or is there still hope this might be done?

[Hybrid247]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Would be awesome if we could do the same. Downtown hub location with office tower on top. Of course it couldn't quite be the same because we don't have a downtown train station (this Toronto terminal will be immediately adjacent to the train station & have an indoor link to it).

That would be great but I think the idea of building it next to tremblay train station has great potential as well. If this same concept of building the station at the base of a tall building is used for that location, it could spring some TOD contruction which would bring more use to the oc transpo station, which is currently under-utilized IMO. Not to mention the benefit it brings to have the bus station immediately adjacent to the train station. It's not like the trip downtown on board the new LRT will be long either (less than 10 mins).