By Sandy Slater
A proposal has been submitted to the City of Ottawa to redevelop the site on Arlington Avenue where a 30-unit housing complex stood before it burned down last February.
The site has been vacant since Feb. 23, when a fire destroyed the 72-year-old structure, leaving all residents who lived there without a home.
The current proposal is for a four-storey, 40-unit condominium complex to begin construction next spring, says John Doran, president of Domicile Developments Inc., the company contracted to redevelop the site.
Slater Financial Inc., the company that owns the property, approached Domicile shortly after the fire occurred to look into redeveloping, says David Chick, a director for Slater.
Domicile assessed the rebuilding situation before meeting with Somerset Ward Coun. Elisabeth Arnold and the city’s planning staff to get feedback, says Doran.
Arnold says she feels positive about the proposal. It will not only provide more housing, it will fill the hole in the community that was left by the fire.
Domicile also spoke with the Centretown Development Committee in the summer, Doran says.
The city organized a meeting for the community, where Domicile explained what they wanted to do, he says. People asked questions and brought up issues such as their concerns about traffic.
Doran says the planning process is very interactive. Often, members of a community bring up issues the developers weren’t aware of. The developers research the issues and, if need be, change their plans accordingly, he says.
Before site plan approval is given for the project, the issue of parking must be resolved, says Gordon Harrison, the city planner responsible for dealing with the developers and this project.
He says the developers have met with the city’s Committee of Adjustments because they don’t meet the current parking requirements. They have submitted an application for ‘cash in lieu of parking,’ which means they will pay a certain amount of money for every extra parking space they need.
They need six extra spaces because the new complex will have 10 more units than the previous building, but there is no room on the site for them.
The city must decide if the parking can be accommodated on the street, says Harrison. If it can, “and they are willing to pay the cash amount, then we would support the ‘cash in lieu’ and they would get building permits after that,” he says.
The condominiums will be rented for the first few years at $700 to $800 per month, and up to $900 per month for the lofts, says Doran. Eventually they will be sold, he says.