Shown above is the first elevations of a six storey condo proposed for Scott Street. Small buildings like this are called boutique buildings. It will have about 30 units, with one commercial space on the ground floor. Since the lot has access only on the Scott frontage, the building face has the storefront, main entrance, then parking garage ramp, all in a row. Exterior is brick and stucco with glass balcony railings.
The building is proposed for the vacant lot immediately west of West Village Private, which joins Scott at the same intersection as does Lanark Avenue, near the Metropole condo tower. This condo is on the southwest side of Scott. When the West Village was being pre-sold about 4 years ago, the initial sales office was on this lot, and I vaguely recall that even then it was proposed as an apartment site. I also vaguely recall that Larco (the WestVillage developer) also owned the bank note printing plant behind the West Village that also faces Richmond Road at Kirkwood. I like the idea of condos there better than the original suggested new Cdn Tire which relocated to Carling in any case.
Condos in the area seem to sell like hotcakes. The Thieberge Homes building on Richmond between Island Park Dr and the Metro store are 80% sold in just the few weeks since they opened their sales office. Most units are smallish one bedrooms (500-600 sq ft @ $425+/sq ft). Buyers fall into two main groups: first timer DINKs; and older Empty Nesters.
Scott Street will be undergoing a community design plan (CDP) in the next year or two. Apparently some decisions have already been made, since the builder has been instructed by the City to move it right up to the lot front. Apparently when Scott is redone it is to be in the "traditional main street" format (like Preston, West Wellington, Bank Street)? This building is considerably shorter than the one facing Scott as proposed for the Westboro Collection, the McRae Avenue site behind and across from Trailhead.
It will be very interesting to see if the City can manage to develop Scott as a traditional main street format when it is presently a mish-mash of houses and commercial, some old, some new. They deserve credit for the attempt, in my opinion, since considerable redevelopment is expected all the street in the next decade and it is better to plan before development than after.
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The Theberge development and 111 West seem to be attracting a lot of investor types. When we visited the showrooms, the first question we were asked is whether we were an investor or wanted to live in it.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be an awful challenge to turn Scott street into a Mainstreet with buildings on only one side.
ReplyDeleteIt will be very interesting to see if the City can manage to develop Scott as a traditional main street format when it is presently a mish-mash of houses and commercial, some old, some new.
ReplyDeleteThat's about as traditional mainstreety as it gets. How is the mish-mash a challenge?
As Charles A-M says, the real challenge is the one-sidedness.
Picturing the entire length of Scott, portions of it are several blocks of 50' lots of single family houses. This density is so low it makes a rather unexciting pededestrian environment, especially with the cars whizzing by inches away. Similarly, some of the odds and ends of commercial development esp at Parkdale are "empty" spaces.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, an urban mainstreet look would have continuous streetscape of land uses acessible by sidewalks. Maybe ... as enough sites are redeveloped, it may become more main streety. I certainly prefer the mainstreet development style to a suburban one with parking lots set between the building and the street.
I think a one-sided mainstreet might work, provided the north side is "closed in" a bit by putting in curbs, sidewalks, and tall trees. As long the north side is now very open and set back it will encourage fast traffic movement.
Maybe part of the problem is with the term "traditional mainstreet". Scott isn't any sort of commercial or shopping street. Maybe in this case we are opting for an urban-style development vs a suburban style of development; but Somerset Street or West Wellington it ain't and isn't likely ever to be. It will have to be something else.
That land was owned by the Buddhist temple next to Trailhead. If my memory is correct was to be used for their parking. Most of the pavement arround the Temple was to be removed and landscaped.I could be wrong, but I think that is what they agreed to when they converted it to a Temple. The landscaping was never done, now they have sold (?) that lot...
ReplyDeleteThe lot is different from the one you are thinking of. It's the fenced lot beside the hydro station.
ReplyDeleteIt's better to develop it than leaving it empty with grass grown from the pavement cracks.
A good addon to Scott Street.
That's it. I am POSITIVE!!! that it was/is owned by the Temple. I do not have a issue with the development above. My concern is with the previous development (Temple) agreeing to do something (landscaping it) and not doing it. Dusty OLD pavement covering almost every inch of the Temple lot (now with a large steel shipping container on it) is not that visually pleasing either. What if the above project is approved, then the developer does something completely different with it. Do we just shrug our shoulders.?
ReplyDeleteComparison; What if Loblaws up the street was to sell all it's existing parking for new condo development. In exchange they would remove and pave all landscaping arround the building so you could park there and on the sidewalk. Sound good??
ReplyDeleteThe big crime at Loblaws was permitting the liquor store to build a one-storey box store, when it should have been the ground floor a six storey condo building. However, as long as the LCBO remains a govt owned monopoly it is immune to market realities and can spend its excessive "profits" on stand-alone stores. Typical of regulated monopolies, it emphasizes "service" and " shopping experience" and coincidentally builds an asset empire rather than lowering prices to the poor suckers who have few buying choices..
ReplyDeleteI have modified the orginal post to include a google view of the lot in question. It shows WestVillagePrivate in the immediate left foreground, the lot for the condo, the hydro station, the buddist temple in the background cross the next side street.
ReplyDeleteIf the Google view is questioning the ownership of the property, you might want check your research. During the Temple ownership it was rented for the sales office as previously mentioned, prior to that it was rented to a construction company. Prior to that it was owned by the RMOC and used as parking, going way back ir was owned by Ottawa Coal.(?)
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember when the Temple was Ottawa Coal. I am learning from readers that the condo site and Temple site may have once been bought and sold (perhaps informally considered ) as one parcel, with the condo site being the parking for the Temple.
ReplyDeleteIf the temple is selling it/sold it (and I have asked the developer to elaborate on this) then this raises the questions of where and how people park at the temple, and the volume of parking required.
It also suggests to me that maybe the Temple isn't planning to stay there if it has sold off its parking lot, and it too may turn into another condo.
I have also discovered (no details yet) that the city has two types of main street designations: the traditional main street which generally predates 1940s (WestWellington); and the "arterial main street" (Carling, Scott). Hmm.
Off topic; Back to Loblaws up the street, I think one easy change they could have made to that development would have been to put the parking under the building similar to the Loblaws on Rideau st., keeping the entrances at grade. Then the rest or the site could have been developed with buildings similar to the one above.? Maybe the Fairlawn Plaza redevelopment could use this idea with the building at the corner, with street level entrances and parking under.? I think that would be a tremendous improvement to that corner.
ReplyDeleteThe lot was acquired from the Buddist temple by the developer about 2 years ago. It was then and remains zoned for the six storey development proposed today.
ReplyDeleteFrom an interested reader, I learn today that the Buddist Temple may have acquired a large lot of land in Kanata. I would not be surprised if it eventually sells off its Scott Street lot for redevelopment.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Scott was designated a main street from Island Park Drive to Churchill and wondered at that designation but considered that it might encourage development along Scott. That seems to be happening, but I doubt that much retail will arrive. However there could be retail developped at the Transit station site; the city has talked about that in the past although nothing seems to have happened at the transit stations.
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