235 King Edward Ave (Holiday Inn) | 27 m | 9 fl | U/C

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

What if the LCBO stays as the anchor tenant of a ground floor retail component?

Both a grocery store and LCBO would likely be an important component of any new building, but the trick would be to build 4-5 floors of podium retail under two 30-40 storey towers to accommodate not only the existing amenities but possibly high class retail like Holt Renfrew or something.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

Moved to where?

Hasn't that been a big question mark for a long time? I certainly don't have the answer and I don't want to start another debate about it.

[gjhall]

The one thing that really bothers me about this site is how it treats the side facing east, the 'back' from King Edward Avenue perspective. This is, as they note, a gateway, and the facade on that side is almost as important as the King Edward side, and should be addressed appropriately.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Both a grocery store and LCBO would likely be an important component of any new building, but the trick would be to build 4-5 floors of podium retail under two 30-40 storey towers to accommodate not only the existing amenities but possibly high class retail like Holt Renfrew or something.

4-5 is probably a little ambitious, but 3 I think is totally doable. Put a Target or similar on 2 and 3 with a street entrance with escalators up, and small store fronts on ground. Alternatively, you could do that just on 2, and have a separate street oriented escalator set straight up to 3 which could be something like Winners or Homesense, like they did with Loblaws on Queen West in Toronto.

Also, if you look at the Official Plan, the heights are regulated by the viewplane along Rideau, so it will probably top out at 30 here.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by gjhall

The one thing that really bothers me about this site is how it treats the side facing east, the 'back' from King Edward Avenue perspective. This is, as they note, a gateway, and the facade on that side is almost as important as the King Edward side, and should be addressed appropriately.

Agreed; the building is pretty much alone on an island and nothing will ever be built to hide those blank walls so they should have put a little more effort.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by gjhall

4-5 is probably a little ambitious, but 3 I think is totally doable. Put a Target or similar on 2 and 3 with a street entrance with escalators up, and small store fronts on ground. Alternatively, you could do that just on 2, and have a separate street oriented escalator set straight up to 3 which could be something like Winners or Homesense, like they did with Loblaws on Queen West in Toronto.

Also, if you look at the Official Plan, the heights are regulated by the viewplane along Rideau, so it will probably top out at 30 here.

I know, but I wish someone could push for a little more height. I was looking at the skyline from highway 50 between la Vérendry and Monté Paiment the other day and although the sheer density of Ottawa is awesome, the fact that all the buildings are the same height, especially in the Rideau-Market area, kind of ruins it a bit. The gap between PdV II and Bank street is also a bit of a drag. Oh how I miss Campeau.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I know, but I wish someone could push for a little more height. I was looking at the skyline from highway 50 between la Vérendry and Monté Paiment the other day and although the sheer density of Ottawa is awesome, the fact that all the buildings are the same height, especially in the Rideau-Market area, kind of ruins it a bit. The gap between PdV II and Bank street is also a bit of a drag. Oh how I miss Campeau.

This all depends on the angle though. I was in Rockcliffe Park and New Edinburgh yesterday, and there are some very interesting vantage points where the cluster of Rideau/Nicholas area really stands out, and the varying heights of buildings are less nuanced than they appear from other vantages.

[rocketphish]

King Edward revitalization plan immediately sabotaged, community association complains

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN December 10, 2013

OTTAWA — Allowing a nine-storey, long-stay hotel to be built at King Edward Avenue and St. Patrick Street means immediately sabotaging an attempt to turn King Edward back into a pleasant street before it’s even started, city council’s planning committee heard Tuesday afternoon.

The committee approved both: First, a set of rezonings all up and down King Edward in Lowertown, aimed at turning the blighted truck route into something more livable, at least some day, by being a bit more flexible about what sorts of things can be built. And then special treatment of the property at St. Patrick, to allow a nine-storey building whose 98 units are intended to be rented out furnished, for short- and medium-length stays.

The trouble, according to the Lowertown Community Association’s Nancy Miller-Chenier, is that that building is to be more than twice as tall as anything around it, and half again as tall as what the city ordinarily considers the tallest thing suitable for the sort of “traditional main street” the city’s planners hope King Edward will some day become.

It amounts to “spot rezoning,” she said, a one-off change to a general principle of exactly the type that infuriates residents across the city and pokes holes in neighbourhood plans before they’ve had a chance to work. “We can’t support it,” Miller-Chenier said.

The city’s urban planner on the file, Alain Miguelez, acknowledged that King Edward “has its share of challenges.” It’s loaded with traffic, and it has parking lots and rundown buildings that make it a pretty poor main street for walking, let alone shopping.

But that won’t be the case forever, he said — a tunnel might eventually take the trucks off it, for instance — and the simple goal of the work here is to make new developments easier. The hotel, to be built by a small developer called Manor Park Management, is a step in that direction. The rezonings aren’t a full-blown neighbourhood redevelopment plan, with proposals for new parks and so on, just an attempt to remove an impediment to things everyone would like to see.

With practically no debate, the planning committee unanimously approved both the new zonings for the properties all along King Edward and the special exception for the hotel.

King Edward is seeing a few signs of redevelopment. Though it’s run into financial problems, the Nouvelle-Scene theatre is in the middle of a reconstruction, and developer Claridge is planning a three-building condo complex at the corner of King Edward and Rideau Street.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

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

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busines...258/story.html

[J.OT13]

To bad we can't wait until the truck tunnel is approved/built (if ever) before redeveloping King Eds.

[rocketphish]

Rezoning approved.

King Edward Avenue redevelopment encouraged

By Derek Spalding, OTTAWA CITIZEN January 22, 2014 3:00 PM

OTTAWA — City councillors on Wednesday moved ahead with plans to transform a portion of King Edward Avenue into a more livable street.

The politicians gave a traditional main-street designation to a stretch of the busy thoroughfare between Rideau and Bruyere streets in hopes that more flexibility in what can be built there will make the popular truck route more welcoming.

Councillors are hoping to spur more mixed use development, with larger buildings replacing the existing low row houses.

In Tuesday’s decision, council also approved rezoning of a property on nearby St. Patrick Street, allowing for the construction of a new nine-storey, 98-unit hotel.

When this part of the rezoning was discussed at planning committee in December, critics argued the hotel, expected to be much higher than any other building around it, is actually a far cry from traditional main-street zoning, which is typically capped at six storeys.

Several signs of improvement for King Edward are emerging. In addition to the reconstruction of the Nouvelle-Scene theatre and Claridge planning a condo complex at the Rideau Street intersection, there is now talk the city will seriously consider building a tunnel for truck traffic heading in and out of Quebec.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/busines...253/story.html

[rocketphish]

Application Approved by OMB, Jul 31, 2014

[waterloowarrior]

decision
http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/e-decisions...ul-31-2014.pdf

Motion to dismiss ... ouch! Costs?

Hearing Sept 8 - to deal with Clarence Street properties I believe
https://www.omb.gov.on.ca/ecs/CaseDe...spx?n=PL140212

[spotlight]

New Holiday Inn at corner of St-Patrick and King Edward being proposed.

[Boxster]

I just don't know about that location. Its surrounded from all sides by streets that tend to be very busy. Can't walk anywhere without having to cross a street.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by Boxster

Can't walk anywhere without having to cross a street.

This is true of anywhere.

[Harley613]

I wonder if you will get a discount for 'Mission-view' rooms

[Boxster]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

This is true of anywhere.

I realize that!

What I meant is that the building is literally surrounded by busy streets.....walking around the block would take 2 minutes.

[Boxster]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I wonder if you will get a discount for 'Mission-view' rooms

The second cheapest rooms will be the "COOP view" rooms.

Thinking of it, all the surrounding area is a bit shabby.

[rocketphish]

We've already got a thread for 364 St. Patrick Street over here:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=206680

Perhaps this new information should be merged into that thread in order to preserve the historical evolution of the proposals on this site?

[J.OT13]

It's an improvement vs. the older proposal. I wish they would leave King Eds alone until they confirmed whether or not the truck tunnel will be built; if the answers yes, King Eds could become a showcase boulevard, if not, no one will give a damn what goes up.