Developers propose six-tower apartment complex at former dairy factory in Ottawa

Ontario Construction News staff writer

Developers are seeking City of Ottawa planning approval to convert a former dairy factory along Highway 417 into a project with six highrise towers and more than 1,900 units.

City planning staff have recommended councillors on the planning committee vote to approve the application by Claridge Homes for land on Clyde Avenue, behind the Canadian Tire store on Carling Avenue, at its meeting tomorrow (Sept. 23), The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) reports.

Doodh Milk Inc. currently owns the land, currently zoned for buildings nine or 10 storeys high. Claridge wants to build six towers ranging fro 22 to 39 storeys on the site.

The developer describes creating a “self-contained neighbourhood” that also includes six-storey buildings and townhomes, and a new city park on Clyde Avenue.

Originally, the six towers would all have been similar heights, but Claridge agreed to make each one a different height to “create a more dynamic and interesting skyline,” city staff wrote in their report.

Staff say the plan would use an underdeveloped brownfields site and would add hundreds of units without disrupting immediate neighbours because there are none, CBC says.

saputo claridge

Claridge has agreed that 10 per cent of the units (about 193) will be affordable for 20 years. About 15 per cent of the apartments will be two or three bedrooms, while more than half of the units will be single bedrooms, and as much as a quarter will be bachelor apartments.

The city typically targets projects with  tall towers to be within a short walk of rapid transit stations, but this project is 2.2 km away from the nearest future light rail station at Dominion, the broadcaster reported. Staff indicated that Carling Avenue is a “transit priority corridor.”

“The next official plan will lay out how and where the city plans to put much of this density, and that important final draft heads to a joint committee meeting on Oct. 14, with an open house taking place beforehand on Sept. 29,” CBC reported.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.