SOHO Italia [500 Preston St] | 96m | 30 fl | Completed

[AuxTown]

Great shots everyone! Can almost see this guy from Ruskin in behind the hospital. I'll take a shot as soon as it pokes above the trees.

[Harley613]

I did a very quick and possibly inaccurate count today as I drove by and I think it's up to the 16th floor now.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by SL123

This looks like a departure from the copy and paste that is Soho: Lisgar, Champagne and Parkdale. Either way I'm just glad the Icon wont be standing all alone at that corner.

I'm not certain that Lisgar and Parkdale don't exist in a Star Trek level temporal vortex and are in fact.. the EXACT SAME BUILDING.

The black panelling on the lower level so far is superb. It is laser beam straight and has no deviation or warping in the sunlight. The panel gaps and fitment it also on point.

No photos but I think the black panelling just about covers the so called podium. If what I see so far is any indication, this building is going to be very nicely finished.

I pass by here often, I will try to get you guys some photos of the cladding asap.

[Davis137]

I can see this building on the Horizon now from areas of my Neighborhood, as well as the Airport Parkway...it is going to make the southern boundary of Little Italy look awesome, and I actually look forward to seeing the other buildings in the area going up in the future.

[Harley613]

Today's Update. Materials are looking amazing. I have really high hopes this, like The Dale, will be one of those mystical unexpected 'Roderick Lahey Projects That I Think Are Actually Kinda Alright'.

20211020_134236 by harley613, on Flickr
20211020_134748 by harley613, on Flickr
DJI_0609 by harley613, on Flickr
DJI_0604 by harley613, on Flickr

[OTSkyline]

^Agreed. Really love the black and materials so far.

Good to have you back Harley, your aerial shots are amazing. Hope you had safe and fun travels - sure looked like it!

[Davis137]

I love the new vantage points you have gotten pictures from. This building seemed like it had a tiny footprint, but from the western views, it actually doesn't look so small. In fact, you can get a better sense of it's scale when compared to the adjacent low-rise buildings and stand-alone houses.

[JHikka]

Thanks for the pics Harley. Not sold on the black yet but the windows seem to look fine with it. It won't be grey or silver so it'll be something different, at least.

[Harry Goatleaf]

Not impressed with the concrete work on this building.
The underside of the floor slabs is full of surface cracks and the column capitals look deficient.

[GeoNerd]

Looks great. Hopefully the black panels can stand the test of time. The black panels on the ArtHaus already look 30 years old.

[AuxTown]

Playing around with one of Harley's shots and it's too bad this project doesn't have another 5-10 floors. 30 will actually look quite short beside Icon. I guess it won't be long before the next behomoth gets built though....

[SL123]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

Playing around with one of Harley's shots and it's too bad this project doesn't have another 5-10 floors. 30 will actually look quite short beside Icon. I guess it won't be long before the next behomoth gets built though....

Personally I like the height variation,I even think they should throw in a bunch of 9-10 mid-rise in their too . Make the skyline way more interesting than Downtown with its 25-27 floor tower

[Har13]

They are now on floor 23.

[Harley613]

24 floors complete, 6 to go!

DJI_0876 by harley613, on Flickr

[J.OT13]

Driving west on the Queensway, SoHo is still hidden behind the NRCan brown tower. I hope it will be tall enough to peak out above it.

[UrbOttawa]

[originalmuffins]

Originally Posted by UrbOttawa

I realized this area can really become something like the next Gastown or Distillery District if they really do build up that Booth street area to be a market near the old NRCan buildings. Cause honestly the cluster of buildings here will definitely bring a big enough population to allow people to keep the area alive and well. Also the Dow's Lake station being closeby is also huge for the area. Very smart decision making around here especially if the 60 story and the 55 story trio (Richcraft's The Sky.. here's hoping another developer picks it up) are on the way too.

Underrated area of the future? Here's hoping.

[SL123]

I'm really hoping they start building East of the Icon too, everything going up or planned right now its bunched up on the right side. The skyline is unbalanced lol

Originally Posted by UrbOttawa

[Harley613]

The tower up on the hill at Carling and Bronson and the Canlands towers would help balance this Little Italy skyline. It's interesting to see Ottawa finally building a skyline fit for it's population completely separate from the traditional 'downtown'. If everything proposed is built it will be pretty impressive. Ottawa has great density of highrises already, but they are all stumpy. A bunch of properly tall towers and a variety of heights outside of the Centretown/Byward Market Clumps will really spice it up.

[OTSkyline]

The Booth Street Complex would help rebalance the skyline with a few towers planned in that redevelopment.

Any updates on this? I get so tired of hearing about housing shortages, underbuilding, etc.. when we have some solid master plans with very slow to little progress (Booth Street, Tunney's, City Centre, etc).