359 Kent St, 436-444 MacLaren St | ?m | 27f | Approved

[SL123]

New proposal 359 KENT/436 MACLAREN/444 MACLAREN

"Applications to construct a 34-storey high-rise mixed-use landmark building. The development proposes an eight-storey podium along Gilmour Street and retains and integrates the two existing residential heritage buildings, at 436 and 444 MacLaren Street."

The documents are not yet uploaded on DevApp but should be appearing by tomorrow
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...1-0015/details

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by SL123

New proposal 359 KENT/436 MACLAREN/444 MACLAREN

"Applications to construct a 34-storey high-rise mixed-use landmark building. The development proposes an eight-storey podium along Gilmour Street and retains and integrates the two existing residential heritage buildings, at 436 and 444 MacLaren Street."

The documents are not yet uploaded on DevApp but should be appearing by tomorrow
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...1-0015/details

What is this, Christmas morning? I have been dreaming of taller buildings in Centretown for ages, the area is ripe for it and outside of the protected viewplanes in The Great Clump. 34 floors would be a great start!

Sidenote: Will Diane Holmes show up with her massive pitchfork and scowl now that she is long retired?

[SL123]

I'm very intrigued by the use of LANDMARK BUILDING in the description section on DevApp.

[OTSkyline]

Excited to see this tomorrow, and yes, the height would be perfect to break the monotony of the CBD. Of course many will complain that it is too tall next to single family homes (although in my opinion, that's more fitting that SFH don't necessarily belong in prime central districts vs. high-density towers not being fit for the area).

Is this the same lot or nearby of the other "landmark" building that was proposed a while back (of which the first iteration had 2 dowers and a skybridge)?

[GeoNerd]

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure the owner (Kent/MacLaren Street Ltd.) is Taggart. I will wait to see the plans to pass judgement. Taggart's development team seems practicality focused and has a history of low-grade designs. They also consider their 267 O'Connor proposal a "landmark development" and it's just two Hobin designed boxes that look like you could find anywhere. However, it is nice to see the 27 floor tabletop pierced, if only so slightly.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by GeoNerd

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure the owner (Kent/MacLaren Street Ltd.) is Taggart. I will wait to see the plans to pass judgement. Taggart's development team seems practicality focused and has a history of low-grade designs. They also consider their 267 O'Connor proposal a "landmark development" and it's just two Hobin designed boxes that look like you could find anywhere. However, it is nice to see the 27 floor tabletop pierced, if only so slightly.

It's not really going to pierce the Downtown tabletop because it's firmly in Centretown, but it would definitely draw attention away from the tabletop and hopefully inspire taller developments in Centretown. I would love to see the buildings get progressively taller as they approach the Queensway.

Here's a very rough idea of what we are looking at here. I don't know exactly where the lot it is but it's on that block.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by Harley613

It's not really going to pierce the Downtown tabletop because it's firmly in Centretown, but it would definitely draw attention away from the tabletop and hopefully inspire taller developments in Centretown. I would love to see the buildings get progressively taller as they approach the Queensway.

Here's a very rough idea of what we are looking at here. I don't know exactly where the lot it is but it's on that block.

It doesn't have to pierce the tabletop as long as it draws some attention away from that horrendous sidescraper on Maclaren!

Excited to hear more details on this one....

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

It doesn't have to pierce the tabletop as long as it draws some attention away from that horrendous sidescraper on Maclaren!

Excited to hear more details on this one....

Maclaren Towers looked perfectly unobtrusive and of it's period before they covered the red brick with charcoal and beige panels.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by GeoNerd

Hmmm, I'm pretty sure the owner (Kent/MacLaren Street Ltd.) is Taggart. I will wait to see the plans to pass judgement. Taggart's development team seems practicality focused and has a history of low-grade designs. They also consider their 267 O'Connor proposal a "landmark development" and it's just two Hobin designed boxes that look like you could find anywhere. However, it is nice to see the 27 floor tabletop pierced, if only so slightly.

I think they have a pretty good track record. Their Wellington St development fits right in, Central is nice, the new rental on Bank is much better than most new rental buildings. I agree the towers are nothing special for 267 O'Connor but the podium looks great.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Excited to see this tomorrow, and yes, the height would be perfect to break the monotony of the CBD. Of course many will complain that it is too tall next to single family homes (although in my opinion, that's more fitting that SFH don't necessarily belong in prime central districts vs. high-density towers not being fit for the area).

Is this the same lot or nearby of the other "landmark" building that was proposed a while back (of which the first iteration had 2 dowers and a skybridge)?

I've expressed the opinion in the past that there should be a transition to the fully residential neighbourhood to the southwest, but I wouldn't extend that to this block between Bank and Kent (I also don't think that there actually homes occupied by single families on that block). We've already earmarked that N-S corridor for higher development and there are lots of existing examples of highrises there (as well as the ones east to Elgin), so I don't see any legitimate objection to a taller building in that location.

Ideally I'd like to see Bank St. at 4-6 storeys south of Somerset, with taller buildings on the side streets to either side. This moves in that direction. It will be prominent from the south, so hopefully Taggart comes through with a quality design.

[originalmuffins]

Pretty tall for centretown, let's see what it looks like. I like the height, but who knows how it is proposed.

[SL123]

Here some renderings

[SL123]

It looks good I like it! But calling this a landmark building is a stretch! There is no way this would be considered Landmark in any other G7 capital city

[rocketphish]

Taggart Realty Management is proposing the redevelopment of the subject property at 359 Kent Street, 436 and 444 MacLaren Street with a 34-storey, high-rise residential apartment building with 26,756 square metres of gross floor area and 405 total residential units. The proposed development retains and integrates the two converted detached dwellings along MacLaren Street into the revised design and proposes to demolish the existing office building. The proposed development includes plans for a significant public institutional use within one of the retained detached dwellings along MacLaren Street. Currently, discussions with the Boys and Girls Club have been taking place as a potential user for the space. The intention is to create a significant civic use on the site. As the application progresses, Taggart will seek out important and contributing tenants that meet a need in the community or will function as an asset or draw to the building. including space for a proposed civic use such as the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.

The ground floor features a range of uses. The retained converted detached dwellings are proposed to be retrofitted as space for a local organization such as the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, and the other converted from the existing commercial use to retail space. The retail building is proposed to be linked to the lobby and lounge area of the new building along Kent Street through a new glass link. The ground floor of the new construction features large lobby/lounge areas for residents, as well as service areas. The main entrance and lobby are in the southwest corner of the building, fronting Gilmour Street. On Gilmour Street, a small commercial space is provided for service retail uses. Further along Gilmour Street, live/work spaces front Gilmour Street and benefit from direct access to the sidewalk.

The parking garage is accessed via a single ramp from Gilmour Street. Gilmour is a one-way street eastbound and the parking garage access is located at the far easter edge of the site. Five (5) levels of underground parking are proposed providing a total of 332 vehicular parking spaces including 43 for visitors and 289 for residents.

Bike parking is provided at-grade and within the parking garage. A total of 409 bike parking spaces are provided through a combination of two-level (stacked) horizontal spaces and vertical spaces. An additional 200 storage lockers are provided within the underground garage for residents.
Amenity space within the tower will be provided through a combination of private balconies, indoor communal spaces, and an exterior rooftop terrace. The provided amenity spaces will be further refined through a future Site Plan Control application.

Architect: Hobin Architecture


Development application:
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...2-0071/details

Location:




Siteplan:






More Rendering:

[Harley613]

108.7 metres tall
Hobin designed

It's funny to think of a little tower like this as a 'landmark' when it would be completely lost in the skyline of a similar sized Canadian city like Calgary or even Edmonton. Sure looks nice for Ottawa though, where anything over 29 stories with materials that don't include charcoal brick really will stick out.

[Matt1]

Wow this is very nice for Ottawa! Tho NIMBY will probably butcher this proposal... If they can't build it there, they should do it in Lebreton flats, replace one of the RLA/NEUF copy and paste

[Harley613]

Calgary has 40 towers taller than this one, 8 taller under construction, 7 Approved, and 10 proposed.

Ottawa has 3 towers taller than this one, 1 taller under construction, 3 Approved, and 10 proposed.

Just for a little perspective on how easy it is to call a 34 story building a 'Landmark' in Ottawa

[OTSkyline]

I like the ground floor and podium, the height, balconies and what looks to be wooden overhang.

Not sure about the tower itself, hard to say by the renders that have been released. Is that mix-matched barcode panels?

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by Matt1

Wow this is very nice for Ottawa! Tho NIMBY will probably butcher this proposal... If they can't build it there, they should do it in Lebreton flats, replace one of the RLA/NEUF copy and paste

If Diane Holmes was still in politics she'd raise an army to fight this. This tower will be a great litmus test to see what the NIMBY response to a tall tower in Centretown is like with Catherine McKenney at the helm.

[originalmuffins]

I mean wow. That is a nice freakin' building. Build that ish ASAP!!!