Shenkman rezoning Orleans industrial land to kick-start 'prestige' uses
By Peter Kovessy, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Wed, Sep 16, 2009 12:00 AM EST
Formerly touted as possible DND HQ site, property could accommodate three million square feet of office space
The owner of approximately 173 acres of undeveloped land in the Orleans Industrial Park is hoping a pending rezoning, combined with the increased commercial activity in the area, will help finally turn the area into a major employment node.
The land in the Innes and Mer Bleue roads area has been owned by Shenkman Group and its subsidiaries for the last eight years. Currently zoned for light industrial uses and a maximum building heights of between 11 and 14 metres, a rezoning application going before council later this month would allow greater flexibility to build large offices of up to 21 metres, or approximately five to seven storeys.
"Up until recently, the lands ... were not very well situated from a transportation perspective," says Shenkman president Kevin McCrann.
"But with the (Innes Road expansion) and the recent intensification of the area, in terms of residential and lots more commercial (and) retail, those lands have more or less come of age."
Immediately north of Shenkman's lands are the Innes Shopping Centre, anchored by a Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire, and the RioCan/Trinity commercial development under construction that will feature an Empire Theatres, Lowe's and fitness club.
Mr. McCrann says these shopping centres will heighten the exposure of the adjacent vacant land and offer amenities to prospective office workers.
The Orleans Industrial Park, which includes the Shenkman lands, was designated for industrial uses by the former city of Gloucester more than 25 years ago, according to a city staff report.
However, industrial users have shown little interest in using the park for warehouse, assembly or manufacturing operations. To date, there is not a single industrial user in the park, the report says.
In 2001, Shenkman Corp. unveiled plans for an office complex of up to three million square feet. The six-phase development, dubbed Eden Park, was to take a decade to build.
A few years later, in 2005, the developer revealed concept plans for a one-million-square-foot office complex that it hoped would become the new home of the Department of National Defence.
Mr. McCrann says his company is holding the land for larger institutional users and is not looking to divide it into smaller parcels. Optimally, he says, the site would be turned into a business campus with about three million square feet of "prestige" office space.
Mr. McCrann adds it would represent a great opportunity for the federal government, given the large number of public servants living in the area.
"I don't think we are well represented in terms of office space in the east end," he says.
It is a sentiment also felt by the Orleans business community, which has been clamouring for additional office space for years.
Peter Stewart, the executive director of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce, says growing small businesses in the area don't have many office options, which prevents the community from establishing a solid employment base.
"You either build your own facility or you have to go back towards St. Laurent Boulevard. We need somewhere for these people to grow and go from a couple thousand square feet to five or 10,000 square feet."
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COMMERCIAL MARKET Q2 SNAPSHOT
East-end office:
Vacancy rate: 2.8%
Total inventory: 3.31 million square feet
Average net rent: $14.78 per square foot
Source: Colliers International
East-end industrial:
Availability rate: 4.6%
Total inventory: 13.57 million square feet
Asking net rent: $7.68 per square foot
Source: CB Richard Ellis
Orleans retail:
Vacancy rate: 4.3%
Total inventory: 819,980 square feet
Average net rent: $20.22 per square foot
Source: Cushman & Wakefield LePage
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