Worries mount over proposed Elmvale Acres mall redevelopment
Redesign to open up complex, add green space, new retailers
By Erin McCracken
Ottawa South News, Dec 7, 2015
Residents got their first look at proposed plans to redevelop the Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre and add four nine- to 26-storey rental apartment buildings over the next 20 to 25 years.
As well as creating more than 800 living spaces, mall owner RioCan is also looking to give the mall a complete redesign, add new retail shops and keep most of the existing retail tenants.
“In our mind this is about strengthening the retail that we have and bringing more customers to the retail that we have and subsequently bringing more retailers in,” Stuart Craig, Toronto-based RioCan vice-president of planning and development, said during an open house at Vincent Massey Public School on Nov. 25 that drew at least 100 people.
“We have come to the realization in the last couple of years that the retail world is changing,” he said.
Stores are getting smaller and, in some cases, closing or changing the way they do business, which prompted Riocan to re-examine its assets across the country to determine “... the best way to move forward ... in an environment where shopping centres are changing and shrinking, quite frankly,” Craig said.
Elmvale, Westgate Shopping Centre and Gloucester Centre were among 20 of RioCan's 340 shopping centres across Canada tapped for an overhaul.
Pending approvals, the Elmvale project would begin with the construction of a nine-storey building, featuring 175 units, in spring 2018 where the Kelsey's restaurant is now located at the north end of the complex. The restaurant could be the first to relocate, and possibly rebrand, Craig said.
Subsequent phases would see the build-out of a 12-storey tower with 200 units, a 26-storey building with 236 apartments in the third phase, while the fourth and final phase calls for a 22-storey building with 204 units and an integrated transit station.
The higher end apartments “with a decent price” would be one and two bedrooms, as well as one bedrooms with dens.
But longtime Elmvale Acres resident Candace Cain worries about the proposed building heights and whether mall parking could be reduced.
“People are going to come to visit their friends, and where are they going to park? In the shopping centre,” she said.
“And if the shopping centre is full, they're going to go on the street where families live,” said Jocelyn Besner, who has lived on nearby Hamlet Road for 55 years.
Anne Johnston, who has also lived in the area for decades, said the project has a downtown feel rather than one that belongs in a residential neighbourhood.
While Besner said some of the shops currently at the mall could use some rejuvenation, she is concerned it won't be long before the rest of the area becomes a haven for apartment towers rather than single-family homes.
“I worry it’s not long before the rest of the place is going to become that way,” she said.
“The next thing you know your property values are worth nothing.”
If the four proposed towers are more upscale, she said this would ease her fears.
“We don’t want trashy builds because then that’s not going to be desirable for the neighbourhood,” Besner said.
Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier said the proposed towers won't be near homes behind the shopping centre, but rather closer to the transit station.
And if they do go ahead, the addition of rental apartment stock would fill a need.
“We are short of rental housing in the city,” Cloutier said, adding that it would fit the city's intensification objectives and promote the concept of live, work, play.
“These people would rent these apartments, they would take the bus to work ... and be able to walk to the library, walk to the hardware store, walk to the grocery store because it's all on site,” he said.
Ted Manning, past president of the Canterbury Community Association, said there is benefit to adding smaller units into the residential mix.
“A lot of people my age with large homes are ultimately looking to stay in the same neighbourhood if they can, and (in) a nice apartment where you are and still walk to the shopping centre,” he said.
RioCan’s vice-president said the complex could also prove attractive for young professionals.
“I'll be honest. The other reason we're doing it is ... there's hardly anybody building rental apartments anywhere in the country right now. Yet, you've got condo sites in some cities sitting half built or not started because the market's gone down,” Craig said.
Calling the project “very exciting,” Ottawa-based architect Roderick Lahey said it's an opportunity to transform an underutilized space and create an environment that is “symbiotic to both the resident and the commercial tenant.”
“You strengthen both by having both in the same spot,” he said, adding this cuts down on unnecessary transportation and creates social and economic benefits.
Most of the commercial parking in the mall will remain at-grade, though a portion will be moved underground. Underground parking will be available at the residential buildings.
The vision includes creating green spaces with parks and playgrounds, and “create a permeable space” by opening up the mall to residents living behind the complex, Lahey said, adding the indoor area of the mall will be removed. This would see the Royal Bank relocated and the Loblaws created as a standalone building, which would allow that tenant to possibly upgrade and expand.
“It would be a very walkable mall,” said Cloutier, who likes the idea of creating a more pleasing facade at the rear of the mall complex. “They're going to create a privately-owned public space.”
NEXT STEPS
RioCan has yet to submit its applications with the city, and those will need to go before the city's planning committee and council. Zoning and secondary plan approvals will be required.
Future community meetings will also be held.
More details on the project are available at jeancloutier.com/news. Comments on the project can be submitted by email to
jean.cloutier@ottawa.ca.
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/n...redevelopment/
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