Greystone Village development [Main St] | up to 28m | up to 9f | U/C

[kwoldtimer]

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[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Glenlivet Ave

I visited the sales centre and found their prices are expensive for what they're offering, even compared to the domicile project next door.

I thought so too, although the model suite had some very nice design elements (and some elements I didn't care for).

[movebyleap]

Is it just me or is this a rather unattractive project?

[FutureWickedCity]

The townhouses and walk-ups by the river are actually quite nice, but the condos fronting Main Street are about as cheap and unflattering as it can get. They call it "The Greystones" and then cover everything with tacky two-tone bricks or cheap glass and cladding. This could have been a really lovely development.

[On Edge]

Let's hope Lebreton doesn't end up as dreary and junky as this development looks. I agree it looks quite low-end suburban so far.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by On Edge

Let's hope Lebreton doesn't end up as dreary and junky as this development looks. I agree it looks quite low-end suburban so far.

I'm trying to think of a reason why it wouldn't and I'm coming up empty. In local terms, Greystone Village is a relatively high end development.

[dougvdh]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

The townhouses and walk-ups by the river are actually quite nice, but the condos fronting Main Street are about as cheap and unflattering as it can get. They call it "The Greystones" and then cover everything with tacky two-tone bricks or cheap glass and cladding. This could have been a really lovely development.

The condos facing Mainstreet are a separate project and developer (Domicile) than Greystone (Regional).

[FutureWickedCity]

Originally Posted by dougvdh

The condos facing Mainstreet are a separate project and developer (Domicile) than Greystone (Regional).

Oh, I didn't realize that. Thanks for the clarification : )

[harls]

Link to the project.

[rocketphish]

Neighbours fear taller building will dwarf former monastery
Developer behind Greystone VIllage in Old Ottawa East asking for 9 storeys

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Mar 27, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Some residents of Old Ottawa East are fighting a recommendation by city planners to allow three extra storeys on a building going up in front of a former monastery.

Until now, residents say the developer has respected their community's design plan, which theoretically restricts building heights to six storeys, as it redevelops a large property between Main Street and the Rideau River that was once owned by the Fathers of the Oblate Order.

But now The Regional Group, under its Greystone Village Inc. subsidiary, is asking for permission to add an extra few floors to one apartment building. The 119-unit building would stand behind another six-storey building on Main Street with commercial tenants on the main floor and 125 rental units above.



"The community is quite upset about that change," said Ron Rose, who watches planning files closely for the Ottawa East Community Association.

At public meetings last year, the city heard from residents who were concerned the buildings will cast long shadows and create a wind tunnel effect.

But Rose said he's most concerned that the taller building on the former lawn of the Deschâtelets building will diminish the heritage structure behind it.

"[The heritage building] is the focal point of this development. The early plan was that buildings in front of the Deschâtelets were going to be substantially lower," he said.

Rose isn't as concerned about the nine-storey River Terraces II condominium because it's being constructed beside the Deschâtelets building, not in front of it.



The community association does worry about the precedent the rezoning request might set for any new development at the site of a nearby convent recently vacated by an order of nuns.

Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard noted in a city report that the nine-storey request represents a "departure from the collegial work" that the community and developer have so far enjoyed, adding that residents who bought new condos across the street did so expecting a six-storey neighbour.

Both the city's planners and Greystone Village Inc. believe the request is in line with city planning policies.

The planning committee will deal with the matter on March 28.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ning-1.5072068

[TMA-1]

oblate-D829114 by Chuck Clark, on Flickr

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Neighbours fear taller building will dwarf former monastery
Developer behind Greystone VIllage in Old Ottawa East asking for 9 storeys

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Mar 27, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Some residents of Old Ottawa East are fighting a recommendation by city planners to allow three extra storeys on a building going up in front of a former monastery.

Until now, residents say the developer has respected their community's design plan, which theoretically restricts building heights to six storeys, as it redevelops a large property between Main Street and the Rideau River that was once owned by the Fathers of the Oblate Order.

But now The Regional Group, under its Greystone Village Inc. subsidiary, is asking for permission to add an extra few floors to one apartment building. The 119-unit building would stand behind another six-storey building on Main Street with commercial tenants on the main floor and 125 rental units above.



"The community is quite upset about that change," said Ron Rose, who watches planning files closely for the Ottawa East Community Association.

At public meetings last year, the city heard from residents who were concerned the buildings will cast long shadows and create a wind tunnel effect.

But Rose said he's most concerned that the taller building on the former lawn of the Deschâtelets building will diminish the heritage structure behind it.

"[The heritage building] is the focal point of this development. The early plan was that buildings in front of the Deschâtelets were going to be substantially lower," he said.

Rose isn't as concerned about the nine-storey River Terraces II condominium because it's being constructed beside the Deschâtelets building, not in front of it.



The community association does worry about the precedent the rezoning request might set for any new development at the site of a nearby convent recently vacated by an order of nuns.

Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard noted in a city report that the nine-storey request represents a "departure from the collegial work" that the community and developer have so far enjoyed, adding that residents who bought new condos across the street did so expecting a six-storey neighbour.

Both the city's planners and Greystone Village Inc. believe the request is in line with city planning policies.

The planning committee will deal with the matter on March 28.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ning-1.5072068

The building in question is the one that most interests me in terms of a future condo purchase. Best location in the development, imho.

[gosouth]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

The building in question is the one that most interests me in terms of a future condo purchase. Best location in the development, imho.

I'm interested as to why you think that condo building is the best location in the development. That building won't have a view of the river, and it's on a street that is the main entrance to the development, so it will be probably have lots of traffic. Compare that to the Terraces condo building which would have a view of the river, and is on a street with low traffic volume. Terraces is a much better location imho.

[Multi-modal]

Originally Posted by gosouth

I'm interested as to why you think that condo building is the best location in the development. That building won't have a view of the river, and it's on a street that is the main entrance to the development, so it will be probably have lots of traffic. Compare that to the Terraces condo building which would have a view of the river, and is on a street with low traffic volume. Terraces is a much better location imho.

Maybe living next to the grande allee is appealing to kwoldtimer??

[rocketphish]

Planning committee defers proposal for nine storeys on Oblats Avenue

By: OBJ staff
Published: Apr 11, 2019 3:34pm EDT



A proposal for a nine-storey apartment complex in front of a former monastery in Old Ottawa East has been put on hold while the developer seeks an official plan amendment.

The city’s planning committee voted Thursday to approve the Regional Group’s plan to build a six-storey mixed-use building with 125 rental units and 18,000 square feet of retail space at 175 Main St. under its Greystone Village subsidiary. But the committee agreed to defer the developer’s proposal for a nine-storey building with 119 apartment units at nearby 10 Oblats Ave. that would stand in front of the Deschâtelets building, a former monastery on land once owned by the Fathers of the Oblate Order.

Under the plan, the Deschâtelets building would be converted into a community centre and daycare facility with an affordable housing component. But residents said they feared the new nine-storey apartment in front of it would “overcrowd” the heritage structure, cast shadows over it and create a wind-tunnel effect.

Opponents argued that while the builder’s original proposal for a six-storey apartment on the site complied with the community design plan, its request for an additional three storeys violated those guidelines. In a city staff report, Capital Coun. Shawn Menard said residents bought homes nearby with the understanding that the apartment would be six storeys rather than nine.

City planners said they believed the development adhered to the secondary plan for the neighbourhood and did not require an official plan amendment.

But the Regional Group’s director of commercial and multi-family development, Kelly Rhodenizer, told the planning committee the developer has filed a request for an official plan amendment “out of an abundance of caution” in a bid to clarify height limits for the property.

Ron Rose of the Ottawa East Community Association, which has concerns about the height of the nine-storey proposal, said his also group supports the call for an official plan amendment.

Also Thursday, the committee approved a plan for a new six-storey building with 77 apartment units at 263 Greensway Ave., near the intersection of Montreal Road and the Vanier Parkway.

https://obj.ca/article/planning-comm...-oblats-avenue

[harls]

Originally Posted by TMA

March Progress

That photo gave me a bit of vertigo, I don't know why.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by harls

That photo gave me a bit of vertigo, I don't know why.

Sort of blurry, which makes it kind of trippy.

[rocketphish]

Residents 'betrayed' by city as 9-storey building on former Oblates land gets OK
Thursday's planning committee decision 'a squandering of goodwill,' Old Ottawa East residents say

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Jun 27, 2019 3:46 PM ET | Last Updated: 11 hours ago



A group of Old Ottawa East residents say they've lost any remaining faith in the planning process at city hall after a developer was given the go-ahead to build a nine-storey apartment block in front of a heritage building in the heart of their neighbourhood.

"We really feel betrayed," said Phyllis Odenbach Sutton, president of the Old Ottawa East Community Association.

Residents who turned up at Thursday's planning committee said the community plan they developed with city staff and Regional Group for its Greystone Village development used to be held up as a rare example of co-operation between a community and a developer, but that's all been dismantled now.

"This is a squandering of the goodwill that Regional had earned," said John Dance, a former community association president. "We worked well with them, but they're just blowing it and they can't be trusted."

At Thursday's meeting, a few dozen residents wore bright-coloured T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "respect approved plans."

Residents said the apartment building, which will be three storeys higher than originally zoned but with no extra density, will distract from the heritage building formerly used by Oblate fathers.

What bothers the neighbourhood more, however, are changes to wording made to the secondary plan that governs what gets built in their community, to allow buildings ranging from three to nine storeys.

The planning committee approved both elements Thursday, siding with city staff in an 8-1 vote. Coun. Jeff Leiper registered the only vote against. The city councillor for the area, Shawn Menard, isn't a member of the planning committee and therefore had no vote.



After the vote, Menard said he no longer feels he can encourage residents to participate in city planning exercises.

"I can't tell them to go do that anymore because it's not worth the paper it's written on," a defeated Menard said as he left the committee room to commiserate with residents.

City planner Erin O'Connell characterized the changes as fixes to a "clarity problem" with the proposal, but residents saw it as staff bowing to a developer's whims.

Now, residents including Jeff O'Neill fear further changes to the development are inevitable.

"That policy, like a thread on a sweater, is being pulled and we're worried it will unravel and lead to more deviations from the original vision," O'Neill said.

Regional Group had a different take on the secondary plan, believing it allowed them to build nine storeys instead of stopping at six, said consultant Murray Chown.

The company's lawyer and architect pointed out other Greystone Village buildings had dropped from six storeys to three without fuss, and said the space between the heritage building and the new apartment building could fit a football field.

Few councillors weighed in on the file, but Coun. Jan Harder, who chairs the planning committee, commended the developer for investing in Old Ottawa East and highlighted the benefits including a new a linear park along the Rideau River, the cleaning up a brownfield and major road improvements on Main Street.

But Menard said his residents had already made many compromises, to no avail.

"A brand new plan is going to be changed. For what? Not community benefit, not Ottawa public benefit, but the benefit of one proponent," Menard said.

The zoning change still needs the approval of city council on July 10.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...nges-1.5192164

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Multi-modal

Maybe living next to the grande allee is appealing to kwoldtimer??

Sorry, I did not see your message at the time you posted. Yes, this is why it appeals to me.

[waterloowarrior]

The opponents need to come up with better arguments than "there should not be amendments to the plan" The secondary plan is 8 years old and amendments are permitted after 2 years in the Planning Act. So the City must consider the amendments. Especially after Bill 108 they are fighting a losing battle. No plan is perfect and the amendment process is there to consider new ideas.