by Dan Mullaly
The chairman of the Ottawa Planning Committee, Councillor Peter Hume, has been an ardent supporter of tall buildings for more than 10 years. He believes Ottawa cannot continue to grow out and that the only alternative is to go up. He confirmed the City’s growth strategy at the City’s Planning Summit, held at the newly built one-storey Expo Centre, located at the end of the Airport Parkway. To an audience of over 200 invited guests, Councillor Hume admonished those who opposed this strategy, saying there is no alternative!
It should not be a surprise therefore that the growth strategy for Centretown has but one option. It must build up. We have all come to accept the new high-rise condos on Nepean, Gloucester and McLeod Streets. Other candidate locations are Metcalfe and Cooper Streets, and higher buildings are also expected for Argyle and Flora Streets. Catherine Street has recently been redefined as residential and it is positioned for the highest of the new condominiums, with over 600 units approved in the past few months and the possibility of another 800 in the next year. The height of these buildings could be as much as 27 storeys, with the majority of the units being bachelor or one-bedroom apartments. There is a declining need for family residences in Centretown, according to Chairman Hume, due to changing demographics.
There really is no limit to the ultimate possible growth in Centretown. The draft CDP had established a minimum density level of 220 persons per hectare but that level has already been surpassed, even doubled, in mid-Centretown. The growth has been so rapid that planners have been struggling to change the City’s planning documents in an effort to keep pace.
While Centretown has not, to this point, been included as a growth area in the Official Plan, the CDP is more adaptable to changing circumstances and market conditions. For example, two streets in need of upgrading are Gladstone and Somerset, west of Kent Street. If the right development comes along and the proponent is prepared to spruce up the area, big changes could happen here as well, providing city staff is given the latitude to deal with proposals with a measure of flexibility.
The Planning Committee is not particularly concerned that Centretown is not serviced by the upgraded transit system. Although the City’s plans had called for growth to be near the LRT, in the words of one planning official, who wished to remain anonymous, “plans are intended to be adjusted to meet changing opportunities.”
From the City’s point of view, another benefit, besides improving the neighbourhood, is financial. Last year the 4,000 new condominiums built since 2006 paid $24,000,000 in new municipal taxes. This will be recurring revenue for the City, with only a marginal increase in costs for services. Effectively this allows the City, according to one source, to direct funds to less dense areas that would not otherwise be able to have parks, schools and other amenities that residents in Centretown either do not require or take for granted.