A developer in Centretown wants to add a grocery store, day-care centre and retail stores as anchors to an already approved twin-tower residential development.
Claridge Homes, the owner, has been working on plans for the 1.2-acre site, located at 187 Metcalfe St., for several years.
As the base of two 27-storey condominiums, the grocery store, day-care centre and retail stores would take up over 40,000 square feet of commercial space.
Coun. Peter Hume, chair of the city’s planning committee, has been quoted as saying he is disappointed in the emphasis on retail use in the buildings.
Original plans for the ground floor were to include the Portrait Gallery of Canada, but the federal government discarded the idea in 2008.
According to media reports, Claridge Homes argued in a letter supporting their zoning bylaw amendment application that a retail food store is appropriate use of space in Centretown. Reports added that interest from potential tenants encouraged them to make these changes.
Hume is quoted in the Ottawa Citizen as saying the planning committee is disappointed the portrait gallery isn’t going in that space and “the site should be developed so it is a positive addition to Centretown.”
Apparently the project has sparked tension in the past. The original Claridge proposal included space for the national portrait gallery within a residential and commercial development.
Reports say the council agreed to allow Claridge to build condominium towers of 20 and 24 floors but in 2008 the Ontario Municipal Board overruled them and said the towers could be 10 storeys higher.