Property owners will need to have more information before they can commit to making commercial investments linked to the downtown transit tunnel, says a spokesperson for Ottawa’s building managers and owners.
According to a new report given to the transit committee earlier this month, the city received limited responses when it asked for input from businesses on “development opportunities” for the proposed tunnel.
Dean Karakasis, executive director of Ottawa’s Building Owners and Managers Association, says this is because the city did not provide owners with enough information about the tunnel beforehand.
“They’re just not exactly sure how this will work,” he says. “There just aren’t a lot of specifics.”
City official Dave Donaldson, who presented the report, says the city hoped to work with businesses and developers who owned property around the proposed stations. The goal, he says, is to “improve ridership experience” and lower costs.
Donaldson says the city envisions using the underground space required for the tunnel to create underground retail and commercial areas similar to those found in cities such as Toronto.
The city, he says, asked businesses to submit their ideas in late May and early June. He says the city also held an open house for members of the Building Owners and Managers Association in June.
According to the report, only 11 businesses responded during the process and just seven of those businesses own land near one of the four proposed downtown stations.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says she feels businesses need to be reassured the city is committed to the project.
“I think the businesses need to know this is really going to happen,” she says.
She added she expects downtown businesses to be happy with the new plan since it will replace the transitway, something they lobbied heavily against.
Karakasis says property owners would certainly be interested if the city provided them with more information about access, layout and the amount of retail space to be available.
“We’re not necessarily rushing to be a part of this, but we’re certainly open to a dialogue with the city,” he says.
Donaldson also says the number of responses does not mean businesses do not want to be part of the process. He says many of Ottawa’s major developers are among those who have given information to the city and adds other businesses have responded since the deadline for the report.
Donaldson says this is only the first step towards developing partnerships with the downtown business community for the tunnel project.
He says his department will talk with interested businesses and deliver another more in-depth report in December.
“This request for information is just one part,” he says.