3030 St. Joseph Blvd | 66m | 18f | Approved

[Dundas]

Amazing! This will really nicely fill up that void. A restaurant and 3 separate commercial units!

Hopefully the shitty looking commercial strip next door gets knocked down soon after this gets built.

[Kitchissippi]

I'm curious as to how people get into the two bike lockers in the bottom left. Is this first level parking for the commercial spaces? if so there doesn't seem to be an easy access without compromising the security of the residential tower.

[orleans_man]

Would love to see this get built. I would also like to see more of this type of development happening along St-Joseph. This part of Orleans has good bones to support intensification and mixed use development.

I do think it's an odd location though. Of all the spots along St-Joseph, it's not where I'd expect to see a 12 story development go in. But so be it.

However, I don't see how a restaurant would be successful at that location though? It's a bit of an odd spot. I don't think the parking arrangement works well and pedestrian access would also be difficult.

I also think the Orleans town centre could use some more intensification and could benefit from such a development...

[drizzo_613]

I imagine that someday in the near future St Joseph Blvd will slowly transform into a Westboro-style neighborhood. The whole corridor, starting at the Youville intersection all the way down to the Tenth Line, has a lot of potential for more developments like this one. If they do it right, they can stretch that idea all the way to Trim Rd.

A man can dream..

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Dundas

Amazing! This will really nicely fill up that void. A restaurant and 3 separate commercial units!

Hopefully the shitty looking commercial strip next door gets knocked down soon after this gets built.

Three retail spaces, reasonably small, and with sidewalk doors?? Jesus, this would be a good quality development in Centretown, let alone in Orleans!

[Dundas]

Bob Monette doesn't support the height on this. 12 stories is made out to be a big deal

[1overcosc]

The city better not screw this one up. It's very very VERY rare that any developer would propose such a transformative street-oriented project in the suburbs. They should not have any stupid obstacles thrown in their way.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

The city better not screw this one up. It's very very VERY rare that any developer would propose such a transformative street-oriented project in the suburbs. They should not have any stupid obstacles thrown in their way.

The cerebral local councillor doesn't like the height. I think I've met/spoken with about 1/2 the Councillors on the current City Council and Monette has to take the cake for the closest to a hayseed that we have as a Councillor. I think he is one, along with Marianne Wilkinson, who said they would only run for 2 terms and then lo and behold as their 2nd term ended they claimed people were clamouring for them to run again etc.

[Dundas]

The zoning is 8 stories but the argument for the extra height is that it's 600meters away from the future Place d'Orleans LRT station.

[J.OT13]

That's the trade-off Monette; you want the O-Train, you get the height and density. Funny how he opposes an additional 4 floors near the rail line yet voted in favour of the Vanier Salvation Army even though it went against every main street principal.

This is a great project. hope it goes through.

[Dundas]

Poster is up. Just a matter of time to see if it goes through at 13 stories.

[kwoldtimer]

Good to know who to contact if you'd like to see it approved .....

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Good to know who to contact if you'd like to see it approved .....

Interesting that the wording on that sign directs you on how to keep your appeal rights. I'm sure that is new wording.

[Arcologist]

I don't often write to the City of Ottawa development officer / planner, but in this case, I feel the proposal is such a good one, both in terms of design and scale, that I took a moment and wrote to both Steve Belan and Julie Lebrun to express my support.

I really hope this gets built. Monette can suck a lemon.

[MaxHeadroom]

This is going to be a battle. The folks that own the homes on the top of the escarpment with great views to the north are upset. And it would be the tallest building in Orleans by a large margin.

[1overcosc]

While I don't like spot rezonings to accomodate specific projects, I've long maintained that a truly exceptional project that shows extraordinary commitment to the urban realm by the developer can justify one. This is one of those cases.

The choice of sidewalk-oriented small space retail probably won't make the developer as much profit as a large car-oriented big box space retail could, so the developer already made a sacrifice in the interest of making the area better. My worry is that if the NIMBYs force a height reduction, that sacrifice disappears to make the numbers work.

[BlueJay]

Originally Posted by MaxHeadroom

This is going to be a battle. The folks that own the homes on the top of the escarpment with great views to the north are upset. And it would be the tallest building in Orleans by a large margin.

If you don't take into account Brigil's Petrie Island condo(s), then yea it will be the tallest building west of Trim Rd.

[McC]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

The choice of sidewalk-oriented small space retail probably won't make the developer as much profit as a large car-oriented big box space retail could, so the developer already made a sacrifice in the interest of making the area better. My worry is that if the NIMBYs force a height reduction, that sacrifice disappears to make the numbers work.

The small scale retail can also just disappear if they rent multiple units to one tenant, see the CIBC occupying what could have been 5 storefronts at Richmond and Patricia, for example.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by McC

The small scale retail can also just disappear if they rent multiple units to one tenant, see the CIBC occupying what could have been 5 storefronts at Richmond and Patricia, for example.

True, and true in most cases - but planning for small scale retail (access corridors and doors, infrastructure for utility accesses and metering, wiring arrays etc) allows conversion back to small scale when the bank/drugstore type tenants move on to the next newest development.

[kevinbottawa]

Hypocritical response from Monette. Now that LRT is coming to his neck of the woods he doesn't like height.

Orléans residents perturbed over proposed 13-storey 'flatiron' building

Jon Willing

Published: December 4, 2017
Updatedecember 4, 2017 4:45 PM EST

Residents in an Orléans community are perturbed by a Toronto developer’s plan for a 13-floor “flatiron” building on a triangular chunk of land across from Place d’Orléans — creating a rare tall-building controversy in the eastern suburb.

The Torgan Group, planning this project under the name Orléans Heights Developments, wants to construct the building at 3030 St. Joseph Blvd. in the community of Queenswood Heights, which is considered a gateway landmark property for the commercial strip. The grassy, steep-sloped land is across the street from Place d’Orléans mall.

The developer would need city council’s permission to change the zoning for the land and allow a building of that size.

The zoning allows for a maximum of 25 metres in height, or about eight storeys.

The development application filed at city hall says the proposed building would be 41 metres in height from the base of St. Joseph Boulevard, or an average height of 35 metres when considering the change in grade on the property.


The number of units proposed for the building still needs to be finalized, but the developer estimates there could be 144 units and ground-floor commercial space.

An email list of concerned residents is circulating in the community.

Bob Fletcher, who lives on Kennedy Lane West at the top of the hill, said residents of Queenswood Heights are rallying against the development because of the proposed height and possible ground impacts.

“The citizens are quite up in the air about this,” Fletcher said.

“Some people have been in the area for more than 50 years, and it’s normal for cities to grow up around communities, but this one is a little more sensitive.”

Orléans Coun. Bob Monette is in a tricky spot.

He has supported tall-building rezoning applications in other parts of the city. Now, he faces a controversial development application in his own ward.

Monette said he’s sticking by the community.

“I have been quite vocal about my opposition to the height that they are requesting,” Monette said.

“This entrance is a gateway entrance to Queenswood Heights and should not be welcoming a 13-storey condo building. This property also has had a severe landslide and I would be very concerned with moving ahead with such a proposal. I would welcome this proposal in other areas of my community but not at this location.”

Homeowners at the top of the hill worry that constructing a large building with three underground parking levels at Duford Drive will compromise the ground conditions and threaten their properties. The local community association says there were two landslides in 1965.

However, a geotechnical investigation completed by the developer’s engineering consultants concludes the site is “adequate for the proposed development.”

Access to public transit is another argument in the developer’s favour.

The city likes to build high-density residential buildings within 600 metres of rapid transit stations. The bus rapid transit station on the north side of Place d’Orléans is within 600 metres from the proposed development. The station will be part of the eastern LRT extension, scheduled to open in 2022.

The balconies on the building would be a minimum of 60 metres from the backyards on Kennedy Lane West, so there’s no impact to privacy, according to the planning rationale filed with the application.

And, the unique flatiron design is befitting of a gateway property, the planning rationale says.

Some in the community would rather see the grassy hill remain untouched.

“The community’s goal is to have no building there at all,” Fletcher said. “It’s a matter of making a moral argument, a credible argument.”

The planning committee is on track to consider the application in January.

jwilling@postmedia.com

twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawasun.com/news/local-news...6-f20b0e9be3bb