UO Prez Hints of NewStudent Rez on or Near Lees AV

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

This is an excerpt from an interview with the uOttawa prez published by the Fulcrum.

It is the part which should be of interest to this forum.

For me, I am surprised to learn that the university has purchased some more land near the Lees Campus. I have not heard of this before and have no idea which parcel of land they purchased . Does anybody reading this know?

Rock said the university has purchased land near the Lees campus that is zoned for dense development.

Housing

Rock said the new land at Lees campus would lend well to a residence building.

There is insufficient on-campus housing, making it necessary for students to rent in surrounding areas. City council rejected a proposal by developer Viner Assets to build a 180-unit student residence at the intersection of Laurier Avenue and Friel Street in a 14–9 vote on March 26.

Because the U of O has grown by about 10,000 students since the year 2000, it has been unable to accommodate all the students who need to live in residence. The university is seeking to create additional off-campus housing in the downtown region by converting private properties to house students, as well as building a new residence on Henderson Avenue.

Residents of Sandy Hill have complained that the growing number of students would have a negative impact in the historical neighbourhood.

Rock said construction is starting on a new residence on Henderson Avenue, behind the Advanced Research Complex, and that the university administration is looking at other short-term measures that have not yet been made public because they are in negotiations.

“Fact is, it’s urgent we get more residence places for this university,” Rock said. “There are a couple of important reasons. One, we like to guarantee first-year students a place in residence if they want it. That is becoming more and more difficult to guarantee. Second, one of our great challenges at this university is the quality of student experiences, the sense that you belong. We don’t do well in that department, and it’s been my major preoccupation since I got here.”

Rock added that the quality of student experience at other universities, where a higher number of students live on campus, is “through the roof.” He said he wants to double the number of students living on campus, to 6,000 from 3,000, in the coming years

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Now that I have thought about this for a bit , I wonder if the university bought the former Iranian Cultural Center? It can be said that it is near the Lees Campus, and it is within the Lees LRT Station TOD, so is zoned for high density.

It is only month or so since the court ordered a forced sale of this land. However, uOttawa knew for some time that this case was before the courts and could have prepared an offer to be proffered immediately upon the court decision. It seems likely the appellants in this case would want to get their money from this court victory as soon as possible.

If so , the combination of this land , plus the small parking lot in the Nicholas-Mann Gateway Precinct that the university already owns, would give them a significant footprint in the Precinct.

[c_speed3108]

Another possibility would be the half-circle land parcel at 1 Robinson. Sandwiched between Lees and Robinson.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

Another possibility would be the half-circle land parcel at 1 Robinson. Sandwiched between Lees and Robinson.

The university does not have to purchase 1 Robinson, The city is giving it to them, just as they gave them the land at 190 Lees for parking lots G4 and G-3, payment for use of university lands during LRT and associated projects.

This info from TOD Plans, draft, Nov27 2013

See item 3 for 1 robinson

. 1.The Sandy Hill Arena Lands contain the arena itself, the parking lot used by the arena, the baseball field and a corner parking lot owned by the University of Ottawa. The property is 2.74 hectares. The Arena and the baseball field are mainly owned by the National Capital Commission with a boomerang sliver of land (referred to as the Home Plate lands) owned by the City.

2. The Mobin Lands at 2 Robinson Avenue contain a one-storey maintenance building that has formerly been used as an NCC Works building and an Iranian Cultural Centre. The property is 2.27 hectares. At the present time, the building is not being used. The property contains two parking areas and grassed open spaces.
3. The “Bowl” Lands (1 Robinson Avenue) are the vacant semi-circular parcel of land bounded by Highway 417 and Lees Avenue. The property is 1.57 hectares. It was used by the City as a snow storage area. Ownership of the land is being transferred from the City to the University of Ottawa.

The TOD Plan says that the Bowl Lands, are in the zone for very tall buildings

Given the proximity of some of the Potential Development Areas to the Lees Light Rail Station and the distance between these lands and established neighbourhoods, it is deemed appropriate to have tall and very dense buildings on these sites, some of which could be very tall landmark buildings with a density above 550 units per hectare. These areas include the Station Lands (6), the Bowl Lands (3) and the west half of Lees Campus (7). These areas are therefore designated as TD3 with a maximum height of 30-storeys with exceptional spot heights of 35 and 45-storeys assigned as shown on the Density Range and Maximum Building Height Map. Buildings taller than 30 storeys, if proposed as part of future development, would be subject to a special design review process under the Urban Design Review Panel. The building design should demonstrate how it contributes positively:

[c_speed3108]

Interesting. I was not aware.

Thanks for digging that up. That virtually bridges the two campuses together. The Iranian lands would be a perfect fit!