Developers have scrapped plans to build a seven-storey apartment building in Little Italy in favour of new plans for urban townhouses, according to Douglas Bridgewater, Ottawa’s city planner for the area.
Plans involve the demolition of old, low-slung buildings at the corner of Rochester Street and Balsam Street.
Representatives from the development firm, Fanto Group Inc., met with city officials in early January for the initial stage of getting their plans approved.
The entire process has returned to the preliminary stages and the new plans need to be reworked considerably, says Bridgewater.
The developer has plenty of background information on the site from planning the apartment buildings, but has yet to submit a formal proposal to the city for townhouses, says Bridgewater.
Specific details on the new plans are expected by early spring, according to an email from Teodoro Oliviero, president of Fanto Group Inc.
The seven-story apartment building would have required an amendment to zoning by-laws, while townhouses meet the area’s low-profile zoning.
Developers originally wanted to increase the maximum height for the new building to 22.5 metres, almost double the current limit.
The first floor of the apartment building had also been designed for street-level stores and offices. This would have required an additional amendment to more than double the maximum floor area for commercial use.
The developer decided to initiate the shift from an apartment to townhouses before the city ruled on its amendment requests.
Switching to townhouses that conform to existing zoning laws is a better choice, but including commercial space would have had some appeal, says Coun. Peter Hume, chair of the city’s planning and environment committee.
“Mixed buildings can be good things if they are mixed within the community, where people can walk to a coffee shop or store.”
A seven-story building would have required rezoning under the official plan, says Hume.
“Townhouses meet the intent of the official plan and contribute to the city’s goals,” he says.
Plans at the corner of Rochester Street and Balsam Street are an example of infill housing, currently a strategy for Ottawa developers to build multiple-unit dwellings on vacant or underutilized lots.