289 Carling Ave [John Howard Society] | ?m | 6f | Completed

[FutureWickedCity]

From The Ottawa Citizen, October 25, 2016:

"With council’s blessing, the city will apply to buy a piece of vacant federal land between the Glebe and Little Italy to build new social housing units.

The property at 289 Carling Ave., located just west of Bronson Avenue on the northeast side of Bell Street, has been used as a surface parking lot since the 1960s, but staff say the land is suitable for a five- or six-storey building comprised of 45 to 55 bachelor apartments.

The federal government will sell the surplus land to the city for $1. The land would then be transferred, again for $1, to a housing provider selected by the city, which would ultimately develop the site. The city would contribute about $7 million to the initiative.

The building’s eventual height and size, as well as the developer and prospective occupants all remain unknown at this point as the housing services branch is only at the first step — getting approval to file an application to the federal government."

[OTSkyline]

Really only 5 or 6 story building? Isn't Ottawa in a glut of social housing with a long waiting list? There is a 7 story and a 9 story building on each side of this lot and it is on Carling Avenue (large arterial with transit access).

I don't propose building a 30 story tower but surely they could've done something alone the lines of 9 stories... Therefore increasing the number of units without a significant additional investment...

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Really only 5 or 6 story building? Isn't Ottawa in a glut of social housing with a long waiting list? There is a 7 story and a 9 story building on each side of this lot and it is on Carling Avenue (large arterial with transit access).

I don't propose building a 30 story tower but surely they could've done something alone the lines of 9 stories... Therefore increasing the number of units without a significant additional investment...

The lethality of social housing storeys is several times greater than for regular condo buildings. An extra three storeys of low-income housing would equal the equivalent of like 12-15 extra neighbourhood-ruining, child-killing, sun-blocking storeys in a regular condo building.

[waterloowarrior]

Could be wood-framed construction (max 6 floors) to save costs.

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Really only 5 or 6 story building? Isn't Ottawa in a glut of social housing with a long waiting list? There is a 7 story and a 9 story building on each side of this lot and it is on Carling Avenue (large arterial with transit access).

I don't propose building a 30 story tower but surely they could've done something alone the lines of 9 stories... Therefore increasing the number of units without a significant additional investment...

You said it all in your post. There is a 7 storey and 9 storey "CONDO" on each side of this lot.

"Don't you dare block MY views of Dow's Lake with your trashy building!" Says all the NIMBY's who are about to scurry out of the darkness and carry away the Mayor to their dark lair.

[waterloowarrior]

there is an RFP out for this project that closes Oct 17th
https://ottawa.ca/en/building-affordable-housing

[Jayday23]

A new render has been posted to the Glebe Annex Community Association Page



http://glebeannex.ca/archives/1936

[waterloowarrior]

Site plan
http://ottwatch.ca/devapps/D07-12-19-0147

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Site plan
http://ottwatch.ca/devapps/D07-12-19-0147

The proposed development is a six-storey mixed-use building containing 40 affordable housing units, main offices for the John Howard Society (JHS) of Ottawa, and client-support offices. The building consists of a two-storey podium containing primarily office uses, and a four-storey tower, containing the majority of the residential units. The affordable housing is provided in the form of independent studio and one-bedroom dwelling units, including accessible units. In recognition of the additional support that some residents will require, the third storey contains program space for JHS staff.

One of the most significant challenges posed by the subject site is the significant grade change, from the site’s low point at the Carling Avenue and Bell Street intersection, rising to the north and east. The design responds to these site conditions and the Arterial Mainstreet context and policies by creating an active entrance court at the Carling/Bell corner of the site, with the entrance to the residential lobby and the active entrance to the client-support offices both addressing the corner condition. Secondary accesses are located along both frontages.

In order to accommodate the required vehicular parking, given the site’s slope and size, the building is proposed to have two internal parking levels, each with fewer than 20 parking spaces and accessed separately. The parking levels are pulled back from the front and corner side of the building, to ensure that active uses are located adjacent to the façade. The required bicycle parking is provided in the lower parking level, and waste management is provided on the upper parking level.

To respect the existing amenity space to the east of the subject site, which is located above a parking structure, the tower portion of the building is proposed to be set back approximately 8 metres from the side property lines. The north-south orientation of the tower minimizes shadowing impacts, while framing Carling Avenue with an appropriately massed built form that reflects existing buildings along the street.


Streetview:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.4001551,-...3D58.093086%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Siteplan:

[rocketphish]

John Howard Society plans new Ottawa HQ with affordable housing units above

By: OBJ staff
Published: Sep 11, 2019 12:38pm EDT



A non-profit organization that promotes fair treatment for incarcerated Canadians and others involved in the justice system is working with a local construction firm to build a new head office on Carling Avenue that will include 40 affordable housing units on the floors above.

The John Howard Society of Ottawa is proposing a six-storey mixed-use building on the site of a city-owned parking lot at 289 Carling Ave. The city donated the land on the condition that it be used for affordable housing, and the John Howard Society was selected as the development partner after a bidding process. Local construction company PBC Group is the contractor.

A two-storey podium will house the non-profit group’s headquarters, while a four-storey tower above will contain a mix of independent studio and one-bedroom affordable housing units. The third storey will also include programming space for JHS staff.

The proposed building would have 29 indoor parking spaces for vehicles as well as 24 spots for bicycles. The development complies with existing zoning bylaws.

The site plan application notes that although the project is just outside a 600-metre radius of the Carling LRT station, it is served by three bus routes on Carling Avenue as well as three routes on nearby Bronson Avenue.

https://obj.ca/article/john-howard-society-plans-new-ottawa-hq-affordable-housing-units-above

[rocketphish]

from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ci...ble-housing-capital-spend-2021-1.6156014

[vtecyo]

They've started adding the prefab apartment blocks for the upper 4 floors. I'll try to take a few pictures the next time I'm nearby.

As of now they've only added one - and based on it's size I'd guess each contains 2 out of the 40 small apartments.

In theory they could add the remaining 4 stories to that building in only a few weeks.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by vtecyo

They've started adding the prefab apartment blocks for the upper 4 floors. I'll try to take a few pictures the next time I'm nearby.

As of now they've only added one - and based on it's size I'd guess each contains 2 out of the 40 small apartments.

In theory they could add the remaining 4 stories to that building in only a few weeks.

Oh, so this isn't a traditional build. I was wondering why it didn't have a tower crane.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Oh, so this isn't a traditional build. I was wondering why it didn't have a tower crane.

Coming home from the Sens game last night we came across this absolutely massive mobile crane in the middle of Bell street and couldn't figure out what they were doing. My guess was the biggest HVAC unit ever, but now this explains it. I find it interesting how close to completion they brought the podium - brick, windows etc. - before starting on the upper floors.

[vtecyo]

Yeah - that's definitely a big crane.

[Harley613]

Wow, they really dumbed the design down on this one. I guess the buy-one-get-one-free charcoal brick sale is still on in Ottawa too.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Wow, they really dumbed the design down on this one. I guess the buy-one-get-one-free charcoal brick sale is still on in Ottawa too.

The brick is actually a pinkish-purple colour, so a bit different from the Ottawa standard.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by phil235

The brick is actually a pinkish-purple colour, so a bit different from the Ottawa standard.

Subtle, but it's there.


Spandrels in that corner curtain wall are a big larger than depicted and some mullions are silver instead of black, but otherwise, pretty much bang on so far.

[vtecyo]

In the last week they've installed a story and a half - it looks like 12 modules so far - 8 per floor. If they keep this pace up they'll be done stacking them up before the end of the month.

I wonder if the prefab modules are a lot cheaper per sq/foot - or if the savings is mostly due to how much faster install them on site?

The city could use a lot more ~4-6 floor apartment building for infill, and this could be one way to speed that up.

[DEWLine]

Looks like the John Howard Society found a winning way of getting this built, then! Not bad at all!