Rideau Centre Expansion | Completed

[J.OT13]

If we are to only rebuild part of the façade, the best option is to only rebuild the 1907 façade (or 1916 with the full length 15 bay Nicholas façade). But again, I think keeping the whole building is not only possible, but likely not that much more expensive.

[Harley613]

i'm fairly certain the land registry office will be incorporated in any new building in this fashion, or even a building-inside-a-building like the Canada Currency Museum (on a much smaller scale)

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

i'm fairly certain the land registry office will be incorporated in any new building in this fashion, or even a building-inside-a-building like the Canada Currency Museum (on a much smaller scale)

That’s what I'm hoping for, but they wanted to move it behind Arts Court a few years ago;

http://iggzah.blogspot.ca/2008/09/ol...ce-ottawa.html

Of course, with the Arts Court expansion (although somewhat shelved for now), the Registry won't be moving to that site but, according to Downtown Rideau, they are looking to move the Registry's Office to a more "focal location within the district (such as William Street at Rideau Street)". (http://www.downtownrideau.com/index.php?page=179&sec=7 under BIA'S Strategies Supporting Vision ) Seems to me that Nicholas has great potential to become a focal point all its own with the Rideau Centre and Arts Court expansions and a possible new hotel (although I'm starting to lose faith in the idea).

As for the idea of moving it to William or Rideau, I say how the hell could that work? William isn't much wider than the building and Rideau has absolutely no room.

That being said, I don't have much confidence in Downtown Rideau anyway, they haven't updated parts of their site in years, there plans and visions are contradictory (unlock the heritage resources, but yet move historic buildings and tear down others) and the History section is full of holes and mistakes (this part takes the cake; Ottawa's main rail terminal, Union Station (2 Rideau St. and future home of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame), was completed in 1916. In that same year, the Chateau Laurier Hotel (1 Rideau St.), with a reputation as the most luxurious hotel in Ottawa, was built).

http://www.downtownrideau.com/index.php?page=181&sec=7

[J.OT13]

Oh and here's another thing about the Rideau Centre; for years they have been saying that they don't have space for H&M and they don't have space for Simons (after negotiations and Simons investing big money in the prospect of a Rideau store, they got booted in favour of Nordstrom), all along they had close to 100,000 sqft of empty space in the Ogilvy they could have used.

And again, with the prospect of H&M and Simons, it would be even easier to save the Ogilvy; by splitting the first three floors in two department stores and use the top two floors as office space, they would barely have any reconfiguration of the interior needed. If we compare the two possibilities; A. keeping the Ogilvy or B. tearing it down, the difference in price tag would likely be minimal;

A. Work needed;

- Attach the expansion onto the old building's existing steel frame
- Restore 3 façades; since the parking garage entrance and the expansion would be flush to the Besserer side, they could use materials from the second and third floors of the south façade to restore the rest
- Likely need new electrical, plumbing and heating systems
- Create openings on the blank wall as entrances to the 2 new department stores
- Basement could be used as storage, retail or community space, the later 2 could be connected to the subway
- Restore top 2 floors for office use, office lobby, with new elevators could be in the new part of the Centre, opening on to Rideau
- Old bird cage elevator (assuming it is still there, but if it was there in the 80s, I doubt Viking Rideau would have invested in new elevators in the 90s)
-If more parking is really needed (what would have been under the Ogilvy’s footprint), it could be built as an extra floor on top of the 2006 parkade.

Advantage;

- Cadillac Fairview’s sensitivity to history would be seen as admirable
- About 30,000 sqft of new office space in a prime location would bring in more money to the Centre in the long run
- Keeps more of a big city vibe to Rideau by having a taller historic building as opposed to more of a small town looking department store

Disadvantage;
-Higher capital cost
-Possible need to construct another floor to above ground parking garage

B. Work needed;
- Dismantle a massive old building brick by brick, steel beam by steel beam and store façades for what would likely add up to a year or two (more than the 1907 façade would be stored for spare parts)
- Dig new foundations all around site
- Build whole new frame for a completely new building
- Have knock off detailing built to restore 1907 façade

Advantage;
- Possibly a slightly cheaper capital cost

Disadvantages;
- Loss of huge part of history
- Dismantling such a large building would be a long and hard project
- Have to build a whole new frame when we already have a good part of a possible expansion's frame already in existence.

[kevinbottawa]

Jon Willing tweeted this today from planning committee about the Rideau Centre expansion:

John Smit, one of the top planning managers in the city, says the Rideau Centre is considering a residential component on the mall, too. But for today, it's just about the Ogilvy Building. And with that, the report is approved. It will be fast-tracked to council tomorrow.by Jon Willing 11/13/2012 4:07:14 PM 11:07 AM

[J.OT13]

Condo-Hotel maybe? They can't waste the opurtunity, they need to build a 500+ room hotel for the OCC.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Condo-Hotel maybe? They can't waste the opurtunity, they need to build a 500+ room hotel for the OCC.

If it's a condo/hotel, I hope it's a Four Seasons.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

If it's a condo/hotel, I hope it's a Four Seasons.

Yes, we lack when it comes to the more upscale hotels. All we have is the Fairmont and Westin. Rideau should be a high-class district. I would love to see something over 300 feet, a true landmark hotel.

[Harley613]

Is the Lord Elgin not considered upscale? How about the Arc hotel? I always thought they were...mind you I've never stayed at either...

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Is the Lord Elgin not considered upscale? How about the Arc hotel? I always thought they were...mind you I've never stayed at either...

Ya, I just forgot about them... sorry! I don't know how I forgot the Lord Elgin, but I guess I was thinking about the huge (Ottawa scale) hotels with 250-300+ rooms like the Mariott, Delta, Minto Suites...

[J.OT13]

John Willing on Ogilvy's; they want to start tearing it down next week.

-Hume says with the Rideau Centre renovation and expansion around the corner, the mall wants to get starting on the heritage building before the winter rolls in and before a site plan is approved by the city. They, along with the city, want to save those facades so they aren't damaged further.

-Leslie Maitland with Heritage Ottawa says the organization is concerned about the facades. She says just because using the facades on a new building doesn't mean it's heritage preservation. She hopes the committee will seek advice from the new built heritage advisory committee.

-The architect Barry Padolsky says the contractor is ready to start taking down the facades already next week.

-John Smit, one of the top planning managers in the city, says the Rideau Centre is considering a residential component on the mall, too. But for today, it's just about the Ogilvy Building. And with that, the report is approved. It will be fast-tracked to council tomorrow.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/11/13/...ents-on-agenda

[Radster]

The more I think about it, and read posts on here, the more upset I get about the plans for the Ogilvy building. Yes the render looks good, but it still leaves a sour taste, a feeling of what could have been had they restored the entire building.

As for Rideau Centre and chains like H&M and Simons, I am to this day puzzled how two popular chains like that are not present in Canada's capital. I was just in Sherbrooke this weekend, a city of about 100,000, and they have both, an H&M and a Simons, within an old/depressing-looking shopping centre. Whats wrong with Ottawa??? Are the property owners being too greedy, or not willing to negotiate? Or are the other stores lobbying against these chains opening as they will surely steal away their clientele? If I were a property owner of a big mall like Rideau, Promenades, St-Laurent, I'd be after H&M and Simons like crazy as they are both among the trendiest stores right now...

At this point I am hoping that the Bay at Les Promenades closes doors in the near future and a Simons moves in its space, as that Bay store is seriously hurting, I'd be very surprised if it was profitable.

[Radster]

Aha, I was right, I just read this article in French, and its what they say near the end:

«...Certains géants du commerce de détail peuvent en faire beaucoup pour ne pas nous avoir dans leur marché.»

Therefore some retailers at the Rideau Centre were against Simons moving in, and lobbied to have Nordstrom instead. Its too bad, as I am a bit skeptical of Nordstrom succeeding there, while Simons would have been a sure hit. Time will tell!

[AuxTown]

I'm not sure that Ottawa has the high-end market to sustain Holt, Harry, and Nordstrom. Simmons is much more representative of the price point in the Ottawa market. Oh well, they can move into the Sears locale once Nordstrom closes in 5-7 years

[kwoldtimer]

Unless Holt does something about their sorry Ottawa store, Nordstrom will blow them out of the water. As for "Harry", they never impressed me, so whatever.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Unless Holt does something about their sorry Ottawa store, Nordstrom will blow them out of the water. As for "Harry", they never impressed me, so whatever.

Holt Renfrew has little chance of surviving in its current location.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Holt Renfrew has little chance of surviving in its current location.

I hope they build a store on Rideau Street.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Holt Renfrew has little chance of surviving in its current location.

I've long thought this too but geez Sparks St. has been dead since the 1980s and Holt Renfrew has still maintained its location there through thick and thin. Maybe they are doing better than we think.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I've long thought this too but geez Sparks St. has been dead since the 1980s and Holt Renfrew has still maintained its location there through thick and thin. Maybe they are doing better than we think.

I suspect a store like Holt Renfrew is not aiming for walk-past impulse buyer market as they are very high end. Their customers come to their store very deliberately and would probably almost no matter where they are located (within reason).

Many (but not all) mall stores require a fair portion of customers to be people that were not planning on buying anything there that particular day. For instance I remember reading that during the bus strike Rideau Centre's business was down 40-something percent. Just people walking through deciding to buy stuff along the way.

[archie-tect]

Does anyone know what happened to the Demolition by Neglect by law that was being considered a few years ago? I don't think it ever made it through the bureaucratic process