The Beckett [192 Bronson Ave] | 61m | 19 fl | Completed

[J.OT13]

Darwin's take on the project.

http://www.westsideaction.com/new-de...ts-on-bronson/

[waterloowarrior]

site plan
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__9TEMWH

rezoning
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__9TENUR

[gjhall]

Retail entrance on the side instead of on Bronson is a bit weird...but check out those terraces on the 4th floor.

[Urbanarchit]

I like its shape and the juxtaposition of materials (and colours). It's a great-looking building and will hopefully make Bronson look nicer, as well as bring a much needed grocery store there (if they do have a grocery store in the podium).

Of all of the projects in Ottawa, stuff by Brad Lamb is probably some of my favourite in terms of design. They also seem to be a bit more realistic (at least, in comparison to Claridge, in terms of height and number of units).

That being said, yes!

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Looks like it was inspired by the SoBa condo project.

[MountainView]

I'm not the best at reading these reports. Does anyone know what the current zoning is for the site? I read they are proposing an 18 storey plus a mezzanine. I'm wondering why they aren't going for something in the 22-25 range seeing how those Gloucester Street apartments are only a block or so away and are much higher than 18. OR... I guess they are happy with building at 18. The design looks nice to me!

[J.OT13]

Much better than the August 7th version. Defiantly inspired by SoBa but not identical and not next door, so I'm fine with it.

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

site plan
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__9TEMWH

rezoning
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__9TENUR

On page 52 and page 54 of the Planning Rationale, it shows the grocery store as being a Whole Foods...Though, I'm not sure Whole Foods would open a 2nd location in Ottawa given Canadian cities tend to only have one Whole Foods each. I welcome it, but I think that might be overly optimistic on their part...

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by citydwlr

On page 52 and page 54 of the Planning Rationale, it shows the grocery store as being a Whole Foods...Though, I'm not sure Whole Foods would open a 2nd location in Ottawa given Canadian cities tend to only have one Whole Foods each. I welcome it, but I think that might be overly optimistic on their part...

Does Whole Foods even fit in with that neighbourhood? I'd could see Whole Foods in Westboro or Wellington West close to Island Park, but not on Bronson.

[rocketphish]

New condo tower proposed on bluff over LeBreton Flats

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN November 28, 2013 7:00 PM

OTTAWA — Toronto condo king Brad Lamb is proposing another tower in Ottawa, a 19-storey building at the north end of Bronson Avenue, overlooking LeBreton Flats.

The proposal would mean the forest of condominiums in northwest Centretown would hop west across Bronson for the first time. The new building would take up a whole lot from Bronson to Cambridge Street, the next street to the west, with a four-storey podium that would include retail and townhouse-type units on the ground floor and condos above, before tapering to a skinnier tower up above. It would top out at 61 metres, on a site currently zoned for a maximum of 19.

According to the application for the rezoning the 209-unit project would need, the idea is to give some life to a stretch of Bronson that’s underdeveloped now, full of too many parking lots, and make it into a “traditional main street.”

Sort of, anyway. Says the application: “The Bronson Avenue facing façade will be vertically divided to create the perception of multiple retail units and narrow street fronts typically found along other more established mainstreets.” It would actually have only one store, which could be either “a large community-serving retail unit” or a smaller retail space and more townhouses.

Renderings by Toronto’s Core Architects firm show some sort of grocery there, though even the larger version, at about 9,500 square feet, would be too small for a full-service market, which typically would need at least double that much room. The building, which would be close to both the LeBreton and Lyon light-rail stations, would have 170 spaces of underground parking. The plans also include a public walkway along the side of the building, connecting Bronson and Cambridge.

The application for the rezoning has just been filed and there are no dates set for public meetings or a vote by city council’s planning committee.

Lamb, who started out as a real-estate agent before moving into building the units he sells, has two Ottawa projects on the go already: the “Gotham,” also in northwest Centretown, and “Soba,” on Catherine Street near Highway 417. This project doesn’t have a name yet.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busines...912/story.html

[umbria27]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Darwin's take on the project.

http://www.westsideaction.com/new-de...ts-on-bronson/

My favourite quote from the Darwin writeup:

"Recall that Bronson functions so badly that the City discourages commercial development along the road, most recently trying to close out an already-open doctor’s office because it might aggravate traffic congestion. Highrises won’t cause any congestion, however, because the City says so."

No wait, maybe this one. It's so hard to choose.

"Presumably the garage entrance will be off quieter Cambridge, since the City prioritizes commuter traffic over local access. This will give new residents a sort of video-game experience with the wheel chair bound residents of St Vincent Hospital"

It's a nice looking development and I'm generally in favour of ground floor retail beneath condos, but Bronson is seriously bipolar. Commuter demands always seem to trump local requirements (see the "new" sidewalks for evidence). What's the strategy here? Keep adding residential and commercial density until it naturally chokes out the commuter traffic?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by umbria27

My favourite quote from the Darwin writeup:

"Recall that Bronson functions so badly that the City discourages commercial development along the road, most recently trying to close out an already-open doctor’s office because it might aggravate traffic congestion. Highrises won’t cause any congestion, however, because the City says so."

No wait, maybe this one. It's so hard to choose.

"Presumably the garage entrance will be off quieter Cambridge, since the City prioritizes commuter traffic over local access. This will give new residents a sort of video-game experience with the wheel chair bound residents of St Vincent Hospital"

It's a nice looking development and I'm generally in favour of ground floor retail beneath condos, but Bronson is seriously bipolar. Commuter demands always seem to trump local requirements (see the "new" sidewalks for evidence). What's the strategy here? Keep adding residential and commercial density until it naturally chokes out the commuter traffic?

I've been driving (Queensway to Somerset) and walking on Bronson (Somerset to Laurier) for the last few months and I just can't see why people think there's any sort of traffic problem on that street...

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I've been driving (Queensway to Somerset) and walking on Bronson (Somerset to Laurier) for the last few months and I just can't see why people think there's any sort of traffic problem on that street...

Because they're not the only car on the road, and that's a problem for them.

[umbria27]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I've been driving (Queensway to Somerset) and walking on Bronson (Somerset to Laurier) for the last few months and I just can't see why people think there's any sort of traffic problem on that street...

With regards to driving I don't disagree. City traffic engineers have done a good job smoothing the way for cars. I believe they widened it a few feet north of the Queensway.

The city resisted improvements for pedestrians and cyclists though, which is what the neighborhood lobbied for. Of course, you can walk on Bronson, but it's not a pleasant experience. I'm more familiar with the Canal to Queensway section, which has chronically narrow sidewalks. Cycling on Bronson is just plain scary.

I don't want to give the wrong impression. I support more height, greater density, more residential and more commercial all along Bronson. I do believe at some point that this development will start to impinge on commuter traffic. I hope that the city has the guts to say to commuters: Yes, that's the reality of a more dense city. Choose other commuting options.

[AuxTown]

Looks pretty good. I like the box-on-box design and the podium placement up to the sidewalk. The random balconies is a welcome change to the usual symmetry and Cold War blandness that most of Centretown brings.

[gjhall]

A residential site located at 33 Cambridge Street North & 192-196 Bronson Avenue was purchased by Bronson Ltd. from the Ottawa Construction Association for
$4,600,000 or $176/square foot. It is improved with a two and one-half storey, 13,278 square foot office building plus surface parking, occupied primarily by the Ottawa
Construction Association. The site was purchased for future residential condominium development. The developer is proposing to construct a 19-storey mixed use tower with two options for the ground floor - either 9,456 square feet of retail space with
access from Bronson Avenue and Cambridge Street North, or seven two-storey townhouse units. Gareme Webster, Marc Morin and Charles Mirsky from District Realty were the brokers involved in this transaction.

http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/ne...2014/index.php

[Harley613]

Definitely no Farm Boy here...so hopefully the SOBA rumours are true!

[waichuntull]

Check out the news, event on another forum on a similar development in Calgary,
6th AND TENTH



http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...08815&page=418

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...96#post6602096

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...92#post6602092

[rocketphish]

Plan Revisions, September 2014

Application Resubmission:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/...appId=__9TENUR

The proposed revisions to the plans address technical comments provided by Municipal Staff between December 2013 and January 2014, summarized in a letter dated March 10, 2014. The following is an inventory of more significant revisions to the proposal:

- The total number of residential units proposed within the development has increased from 209 to 212;
- The overall gross floor area of the development has been reduced from 14,040 square metres to 13,553 square metres;
- The building height for the development has been increased from 60.9 metres (19 storeys) to 68.32 metres (21 storeys);
- The front yard setback on the west side of the building (i.e. adjacent to Cambridge Street North) has increased from 3.8 metres to 4.1 metres;
- The interior side yard setback from the north property line (adjacent to 190 Bronson Avenue and 29 Cambridge Street North) has been increased from 5.5 metres to 9.2 metres;
- Amenity space areas have been adjusted to include:
- a reduced interior communal amenity area of 234.8 square metres (previously 249.2 square metres);
- an increased exterior communal amenity area of 258.7 square metres (terrace) and 681 square metres (park) (previously 125.5 square metres total); and,
- an increased private amenity space area of 2,783.8 square metres (previously 1,794 square metres);
- The number of residential parking spaces has increased from 139 spaces to 175 spaces.
- The number of retail/visitor parking spaces has been reduced from 31 spaces to 17 visitor spaces and 0 retail parking spaces.
- The number of bicycle parking spaces has increased from 109 spaces to 135 spaces; and,
- The locations where the building previously encroached into the right of way have been removed.

Renderings:

[Urbanarchit]

It's a decent redesign. I like the choice of materials, though the best part is the podium. The rest looks like the Mondrian. It's nice, and will definitely be the highlight of Bronson.


Mondrian by Shel DeF on Flickr