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
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