Rideau Centre Expansion | Completed

[Harley613]

a do-over on the facades and the bridges is so sorely needed. i'm excited to see Rideau street stimulated by the new Rideau Centre and all the new construction that will happen between King Edward and Cummings Bridge now that the utilities are being upgraded! All those abandoned and shoddy buildings lining Rideau are ripe for development once the infrastructure is there! Rideau should be the heart of the city, not the heart of the slum.

[citizen j]

Good to hear they are going to address the way the centre meets/interacts with Rideau Street. Having stores with at-grade entrances facing Rideau is a great idea; however, I hope they stipulate in the leases that those stores with Rideau St. entrances are required to keep them open and not simply lock them and stick a "use mall entrance" sign on the glass.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Harley613

a do-over on the facades and the bridges is so sorely needed. i'm excited to see Rideau street stimulated by the new Rideau Centre and all the new construction that will happen between King Edward and Cummings Bridge now that the utilities are being upgraded! All those abandoned and shoddy buildings lining Rideau are ripe for development once the infrastructure is there! Rideau should be the heart of the city, not the heart of the slum.

Should they remove the 3rd level bridges over Rideau and force all movements to street level? The downside there is that Hudson's Bay is no longer connected to the Rideau Centre at all and can only be accessed from the streets (or perhaps a basement tunnel). Then again, they are physically separate entities - I don't believe Cadillac Fairview owns the north side of Rideau Street.

[McC]

yeah, I think Ottawa (including the protected viewpanes) could deal with a 35-48 storey Shangri-La-type hotel/condo building either at the Nicholas St entrance, or above the old Registry building, as J.OT suggests, leveraging both the ConferenceCentre and LRT investments for some big development charges from an iconic building. In this Fantasyland, the city would then take a mulligan on the Arts Court tower, and plan it as a twin.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by McC

yeah, I think Ottawa (including the protected viewpanes) could deal with a 35-48 storey Shangri-La-type hotel/condo building either at the Nicholas St entrance, or above the old Registry building, as J.OT suggests, leveraging both the ConferenceCentre and LRT investments for some big development charges from an iconic building. In this Fantasyland, the city would then take a mulligan on the Arts Court tower, and plan it as a twin.

heck yeah

[archie-tect]

Originally Posted by citizen j

Good to hear they are going to address the way the centre meets/interacts with Rideau Street. Having stores with at-grade entrances facing Rideau is a great idea; however, I hope they stipulate in the leases that those stores with Rideau St. entrances are required to keep them open and not simply lock them and stick a "use mall entrance" sign on the glass.

Personally I do not hold out much hope for many additional entrances. I will really come down to the size of the retail space along Rideau in the addition. Bigger units means less entries. While more entrances would be best I just hope it's porous and as visually active as possible.

Hopefully we can avoid more lifestyle graphics.

[teej1984]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

That's weird? How is the Rideau Centre to the NCC? When is the meeting anyway?

Renders were shown and from what I hear, they're quite impressive.

[J.OT13]

NCC likes Rideau Centre facelift

The National Capital Commission likes what it sees regarding the upcoming facelift for the Rideau Centre.

The NCC board of directors unanimously approved Wednesday the first phase of a proposal which will see the mall, particularly the Rideau St. mall facade, getting a new and improved look.

The revamping of the mall will also facilitate the addition of an LRT station, set to open in 2018, and the arrival of new stores like Nordstrom.

Though a detailed construction schedule is still forthcoming, the NCC board signed off on the first part of the design plan so long as they receive the construction schedule as soon as possible, have a chance to review plans for planned roof terraces and that Parks Canada standards be followed as they relate to the nearby Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site, among other conditions.

Board members applauded the positive impact the the Centre will have on the surrounding areas.

“Rideau St. is really going to change, from that kind of hollow tunnel effect, to storefronts, entrances, window displays (and) lighting,” said board member Kay Stanley.

“This is a completely new approach for the Rideau Centre.”

So only new (or confirmed) information from this is the expansion of the rooftop terrace.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by teej1984

Renders were shown and from what I hear, they're quite impressive.

I don't know, if the NCC was impressed, I would be a bit worried.

[kevinbottawa]

Here's a rendering of the Rideau Centre from the Le Droit article below:

Le Centre Rideau fera peau neuve

Philippe Orfali Le Droit

De nouveaux grands magasins - dont un possible H & M. -, un nouveau cinéma, des façades entièrement refaites et des passerelles beaucoup plus attrayantes : attendue depuis des années, la revitalisation du Centre Rideau pourrait être l'électrochoc dont a besoin le coeur d'Ottawa.

Infrastructure commerciale mal-aimée, le centre commercial du centre-ville doit connaître au cours des prochaines années une cure de jouvence évaluée à quelque 250 millions de dollars. Un lifting tant intérieur qu'extérieur, qui coïncidera avec d'autres travaux majeurs à survenir rue Rideau, dont la construction d'une station du train léger et la réfection complète de l'artère, de la rue Dalhousie au secteur Vanier.

Des esquisses du nouveau centre Rideau, dévoilées hier lors d'une rencontre du conseil d'administration de la Commission de la capitale nationale permettent d'espérer une meilleure intégration du centre commercial avec son milieu.

Cadillac Fairview, propriétaire de l'édifice, entend notamment ouvrir son centre d'achat aux piétons. Tous les magasins sis le long de la rue Rideau auront désormais une entrée directe sur rue, à l'image du magasin Forever 21, installé face au mail Freeman depuis quelques années.

L'entreprise voit grand : possibilité d'ériger une tour de condos ainsi qu'un hôtel, un cinéma répondant aux normes modernes de l'industrie, réfection de l'ensemble des parois extérieures de l'édifice et nouvelle apparence intérieure figureraient notamment au menu. On envisage également de convertir la rue Nicholas en mail piétonnier entre les rues Rideau et Besserer, une option qui doit toutefois être étudiée par la Ville d'Ottawa.

Le magasin Simons devrait se retrouver à l'angle des rues Rideau et Nicholas, lieu de l'ancien édifice Ogilvie, dont la façade, tombée récemment sous le pic des démolisseurs, sera reconstruite en utilisant les briques d'origine.

Certaines esquisses montrent également un magasin H & M, mais aucune entente n'aurait été conclue entre le centre et l'entreprise suédoise, qui a récemment annoncé qu'elle s'installera au centre commercial Bayshore.

« Ça va faire du bien »

Ottawa a changé, il était temps que le centre Rideau change aussi, a souligné hier le conseiller municipal du secteur, Mathieu Fleury. « On est heureux qu'ils aillent de l'avant. Ce n'est plus tout le monde qui vient faire tout son commerce à Rideau. Ça va faire beaucoup de bien pour l'ensemble du centre-ville. »

http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/econ...peau-neuve.php

[McC]

I read the article and was about to post it, and bold the exact same sections as you did, Kevin! Anyway, not much to go on, but first impression: sharp.

[Kitchissippi]

I hope they do a good job of reconstructing the Ogilvy, better than the reconstruction of the Caplan (Rideau façade of 90 George) which somehow seems so soul-less.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

I hope they do a good job of reconstructing the Ogilvy, better than the reconstruction of the Caplan (Rideau façade of 90 George) which somehow seems so soul-less.

If they're reusing the original brick, it should be a lot better than 90 George.

[kevinbottawa]

I like the idea of the pedestrian mall on Nicholas between Rideau and Bresserer. It'll make it harder to get around by car, especially to find parking, but I think it's worth it.

Is that a restaurant or coffee shop on the ground floor of the Ogilvy building?

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

I like the idea of the pedestrian mall on Nicholas between Rideau and Bresserer. It'll make it harder to get around by car, especially to find parking, but I think it's worth it.

Is that a restaurant or coffee shop on the ground floor of the Ogilvy building?

It appears to be. I don't think it will have that much impact on drivers, they can just use Dalhousie instead to access the Nicholas parking entrances.

Did no one else notice that they're keeping the two elevated walkways. While convenient for me walking from the Market where I live to work, it's a shame as it really ruins site lines up Rideau Street.

There are a lot more renders on the Le Droit page now, including new entrance canopy at Rideau/Sussex, redo of the elevated walkways, and new facade between the heritage facade and the Westin, which looks pretty good!

[McC]

Originally Posted by gjhall

There are a lot more renders on the Le Droit page now...

Originally Posted by McC

... hotel/condo building either at the Nicholas St entrance, or above the old Registry building, as J.OT suggests ...

or "do both"! looking at the new "site plan" sketch (currently image 8 of 15), it shows a "Future Condo" at the Nicholas/Besserer entrance and "Future Hotel" around the Registry Office.

[teej1984]

Originally Posted by McC

or "do both"! looking at the new "site plan" sketch (currently image 8 of 15), it shows a "Future Condo" at the Nicholas/Besserer entrance and "Future Hotel" around the Registry Office.

I'm curious about this future condo... would it replace or go over top of the recently built parking structure? Cant quite picture it!

Awesome renders on Le Droit's website!

http://www.lapresse.ca/le-droit/econ...#Slide-7-box-1

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by gjhall

Did no one else notice that they're keeping the two elevated walkways. While convenient for me walking from the Market where I live to work, it's a shame as it really ruins site lines up Rideau Street.

The walkways are crucial to the viability of the third level as it keeps pedestrian traffic fluid and interconnects the anchor stores. Even parts of the second level were problematic before they got Old Navy to take up a dead end.

[kevinbottawa]

Yay!!! Shoppers Drug Mart is staying!!!

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Yay!!! Shoppers Drug Mart is staying!!!

No, It's moving to where the food court is.