Empty downtown lots present opportunity for development

A new report by the City of Ottawa shows that 23 vacant lots in the downtown core could be used to accommodate new office buildings.

Analysis of data collected in 2009 reveals much more unused space in the area than was originally thought, which could have implications for the job market and economic development in the city’s downtown.

“There is also the potential that there are spinoffs in the form of better support for retail stores and other services, and that would benefit Centretown residents,” says Ian Cross, program manager of research and forecasting with the City of Ottawa.

A similar report, issued in 1990, was used to determine whether the boundary of the central area should be expanded to provide additional office opportunities, which even now is not necessary says Cross.

The original report conducted two decades ago concluded that there was approximately 667,000 square metres of potential office space.

The report projected that if trends continued, all of that space would be exhausted by 2009.

Although more than 62 per cent of the originally identified space has been developed, the new report indicates the potential for at least 550,000 square metres of potential office space today.

One reason for this, says Cross, is that the original report was conducted after a wave of commercial construction and was overly optimistic that the trend would continue. In reality, the initial report was followed by a 10-year period in which not a single office building was constructed.

Another reason for the discrepancy between reports is attributable to new office space planned in LeBreton Flats and the adjacent Escarpment Area, which was never factored into the 1990 report.

In addition to promising more jobs in the area, Cross says the report could factor into the city’s plan to build a Light Rail Transit system that would pass through the downtown core. More office building would result in more commuter traffic throughout the core, in alignment with the proposed LRT route.

According to Dean Karakakis, executive director of Building Owners and Managers Association of Ottawa, new developments will give government departments the chance to upgrade to facilities that better meet their needs, in addition to allowing their old buildings to be retrofitted.

“Ottawa doesn’t build on speculation, building something then assuming it’ll find people to fill it. They build based on the movement of major tenants in the downtown core, and of course in Ottawa, that’s the federal government,” says Karakakis.

However, Cross declined to predict whether the report would mark a rise in office development in the area, saying that speculation is dependent on too many variables.

According to Charles Akben-Marchand, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, the group’s mandate is to ensure that Centretown south of Gloucester and west of

Lyon remains primarily residential, and that buildings constructed south of Gloucester are not as tall as those in the central area. This, according to Cross, would not be an issue as residential areas would remain largely unaffected.

“The central area is where commercial buildings are supposed to go, and where they have been going,” says Akben-Marchand.