SOHO Lisgar | ??m |16 fl | U/C

[hackunion]

WOW $3,000,000. Now I have to go all the way to Alta Vista to get my plastics...

[rakerman]

They have a Twitter account

http://twitter.com/SoHoCondos

[ac888yow]

FYI, a couple of slick panos from their web site (www.soholisgar.com):

[cityguy]

Any Idea When Construction Will Start?

[Davis137]

I like those pano shots a lot...really let you see the breadth of the downtown

[O-Town Hockey]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

FYI, a couple of slick panos from their web site (www.soholisgar.com):

Nice find, I'm gonna post those in the Canada section.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by cityguy

Any Idea When Construction Will Start?

on the website they are now saying construction will start in March

[JackBauer24]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

I'm glad they didn't go taller. There's no need to go taller in such a location and it would actually look out of place. There's also a city bylaw that states buildings can't be taller then 13 floors in Centretown South of Gloucester Street. Keep the skyscrapers in the CBD and add density in other neighbourhoods.

With the Mondrian (25 stories), Tribeca (2-27 story towers) and the two government buildings on Laurier (unsure of the name - about 20-23 stories each) all within a 2 block radius, how would 16 stories look out of place?

When designing a building, it's much easier for an architect to design a fluid and stylish concept when there's a little height vesus designing a cube or block. I think an extra 4 stories would look great and add to the city skyline.

[O-Town Hockey]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

With the Mondrian (25 stories), Tribeca (2-27 story towers) and the two government buildings on Laurier (unsure of the name - about 20-23 stories each) all within a 2 block radius, how would 16 stories look out of place?

When designing a building, it's much easier for an architect to design a fluid and stylish concept when there's a little height vesus designing a cube or block. I think an extra 4 stories would look great and add to the city skyline.

Have a look at the far left of that first pano and you'll see something that looks out of place. I think city planners were quite clear in their plan to keep intensification North of Gloucester Street in limiting all construction South of Gloucester to 13 storeys. This is a way to clearly separate the CBD and step down into a neighbourhood with more herritage character (what is left of it) and not take away from the many Victorian homes of this are of Centretown with skyscrapers. That doesn't mean they shouldn't build in this part of Centretown, but they should keep the developments under 13 storeys just as Central 1,2,3 and SoHo have done. If we get 40+ storeys in the CBD then we can talk about raising the limit in Centretown IMO.

[JackBauer24]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Have a look at the far left of that first pano and you'll see something that looks out of place. I think city planners were quite clear in their plan to keep intensification North of Gloucester Street in limiting all construction South of Gloucester to 13 storeys. This is a way to clearly separate the CBD and step down into a neighbourhood with more herritage character (what is left of it) and not take away from the many Victorian homes of this are of Centretown with skyscrapers. That doesn't mean they shouldn't build in this part of Centretown, but they should keep the developments under 13 storeys just as Central 1,2,3 and SoHo have done. If we get 40+ storeys in the CBD then we can talk about raising the limit in Centretown IMO.

If that was what the city's plan was - to keep everything south of Gloucester to under 13 stories - than how did Tribeca (2x 27 stories) and Hudson Park (17 stories I believe) get approved? And furthermore, that would be completely against the initial reasoning for the city's height restriction in the first place - to keep the Peace Tower the tallest building. Wouldn't the city want taller buildings to the south of Gloucester and shorter ones to the north? The logic of city planner's in Ottawa completely escapes me.

[ThaLoveDocta]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

If that was what the city's plan was - to keep everything south of Gloucester to under 13 stories - than how did Tribeca (2x 27 stories) and Hudson Park (17 stories I believe) get approved? And furthermore, that would be completely against the initial reasoning for the city's height restriction in the first place - to keep the Peace Tower the tallest building. Wouldn't the city want taller buildings to the south of Gloucester and shorter ones to the north? The logic of city planner's in Ottawa completely escapes me.

Unless I've misunderstood, it's about sight lines to parliament, not just the heights of buildings vs that of the peace tower.

But i agree... sometimes they seem a little out to lunch with their reasoning.

Also, this SOHO invasion of late really seems to be bringing a notch of class to the condo market in Ottawa.
Between SOHO, Tribeca, and the RE residences, things are shaping up!

[O-Town Hockey]

Originally Posted by JackBauer24

If that was what the city's plan was - to keep everything south of Gloucester to under 13 stories - than how did Tribeca (2x 27 stories) and Hudson Park (17 stories I believe) get approved? And furthermore, that would be completely against the initial reasoning for the city's height restriction in the first place - to keep the Peace Tower the tallest building. Wouldn't the city want taller buildings to the south of Gloucester and shorter ones to the north? The logic of city planner's in Ottawa completely escapes me.

I definately don't claim to be an expert in this realm, we should probably ask Mille as I know he is. I think we're talking about two different things. There are the view planes (as many as 6 for a single lot depending on it's relative position) with respect to the Peace Tower that must be maintained with any new proposals. There is also an official plan in which they lay out important goals for the city such as what our 'traditional main streets' will be and who can build what where. Somewhere in this they have stated that Gloucester should be some imaginary border between tall and short buildings downtown and, in order to build something taller, you have to get a minor variance....or in the case of Tribeca just promise a national portrait gallery that was destined to fail with the conservatives in power.

[McC]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

I definately don't claim to be an expert in this realm, we should probably ask Mille as I know he is. I think we're talking about two different things. There are the view planes (as many as 6 for a single lot depending on it's relative position) with respect to the Peace Tower that must be maintained with any new proposals. There is also an official plan in which they lay out important goals for the city such as what our 'traditional main streets' will be and who can build what where. Somewhere in this they have stated that Gloucester should be some imaginary border between tall and short buildings downtown and, in order to build something taller, you have to get a minor variance....or in the case of Tribeca just promise a national portrait gallery that was destined to fail with the conservatives in power.

That's my understanding as well, and the former is NCC and the latter is the City.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

I definately don't claim to be an expert in this realm, we should probably ask Mille as I know he is. I think we're talking about two different things. There are the view planes (as many as 6 for a single lot depending on it's relative position) with respect to the Peace Tower that must be maintained with any new proposals. There is also an official plan in which they lay out important goals for the city such as what our 'traditional main streets' will be and who can build what where. Somewhere in this they have stated that Gloucester should be some imaginary border between tall and short buildings downtown and, in order to build something taller, you have to get a minor variance....or in the case of Tribeca just promise a national portrait gallery that was destined to fail with the conservatives in power.

O-Town you're right, the view protections from Parliament Hill are one thing and they apply specifically to the Central Area, although their "projection" south of the Central Area would be taken into account. Gloucester Street was the boundary of the Central Area adopted in the early 1970's as a way to preserve a residential neighnourhood in Centretown and demarcate where office towers would be approved - kind of a "line in the sand" for the office core of downtown. At the time, the thinking was that without such a line, the office core would reach all the way south to the Queensway and there would be nobody left living downtown.

The Mid-Centretown CDP which is currently underway won't change that boundary but recognize that there is a viable residential community south of Gloucester Street and that there is also a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood in Centretown that actually has thousands of office jobs (just not in tall towers like further north). That CDP will also address the issue of tall buildings in Centretown (where they'd be OK, under what circumstances, how to make them blend in with an established lower-rise fabric, etc.). Remember too that much of Centretown is a Heritage Conservation District. Knowing that new buildings are OK on what today are parking lots, how do we integrate new (and maybe taller) buildings into a historic district. This will be a refresher of planning policy for Centretown, which right now dates back to the mid-1970's.

[O-Town Hockey]

how do we integrate new (and maybe taller) buildings into a historic district

Ottawa did such a shitty job of this so far in Centretown over the last few decades, especially on Bank Street. The Bell building, the Distributel building, that tower with Pet Circus in it are all examples of aweful structures that ruin the fabric of the street. Not to mention the strip just South of Lisgar that obviously used to be brick and is now green/blue siding . I wish there was some money set aside to rehabilitate some of those great old buildings like Barrymores and Duke of Somerset.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

on the website they are now saying construction will start in March

looks like the banner on their website for start of construction has changed to May

There's an upcoming OMB hearing on 31 March 2011
http://www.omb.gov.on.ca/ecs/CaseDetail.aspx?n=PL101239

[JackBauer24]

I heard that Lisgar was approved by the OMB on Friday to build up to 16 levels. Perhaps this new counsel is taking Ottawa into a different direction than the last - or is that just wishful thinking?

Anyone know when the new floors go on sale?

[jboss]

Just heard from the office:

We are pleased to announce that our application was approved and SoHo Lisgar will now offer 16 levels of luxury condominium suites along with over 7,000 sq. ft. of amenity space and equipped with a hotel-trained staff at your disposal to compliment your lifestyle! We will be releasing the suites on the 12th, 13th and 14th levels the next Saturday, April 16th at 12:00 noon. The same style of floor plans that were available on the lower floors will be made available on these new floors as well, with prices starting from $289,900 – for a reminder of these layouts, please refer to www.soholisgar.com. For those of you who may have had friends or family who weren’t able to take part in our grand opening and missed out on the opportunity to purchase at SoHo Lisgar, this is the last chance for them to own in downtown Ottawa’s most sought-after building.

[rakerman]

So based on the floorplans on offer, that would be $289,900 for 522sqft with no parking?

[ebrie014]

That's what I thought too, seems they upped the prices, I bought my 720SQ/ft one bed and den unit on the 9th floor for 320k, I also think they raised the prices quite a bit after the 10th floor for the view. I have to agree it is quite much, but if you think about it SOHO's hotel inspired living and the class it offers in terms of finishes, rain shower, European appliances, quartz counters, and over 7000SQ/ft of amenities is very comparable to Ashcrofts "RE" on sparks street. They were asking low 400k's for the smallest units and the priciest one was going for 5M, I heard they sold many $1M units. The hotel inspired living concept and what SOHO is offering is quite luxurious and I could see it taking a price premium over other condo's that do not offer as much.