A portable showroom has been erected on what will be the proposed site for a new 35-storey condominium building on the corner of Sidney and Preston streets.
Developer Mastercraft Starwood’s plans to erect a 35-storey condo in Little Italy have raised concerns that the development would cause disruptions at the street level.
“I do think the building, as proposed, doesn’t fit on its lot very well,” says Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association.
Even the adjacent Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association had early fears that construction of such a large building would only put added strain on the area’s infrastructure.
“We are already trying to manage the implications of the new intensification along the O-Train corridor as it affects our area,” said Peter Eady, chair of the association’s traffic committee, in a January press release.
But until the developer officially submits its proposal to the city, the CHNA has decided not to issue any formal comment or position concerning the 35-storey building.
Mastercraft Starwood is looking to officially propose the building, called Soho Italia, in April or May.
Until then, the developer and architect have been meeting with municipal officials going over the potential plans. They intend to meet with the community soon, says Jeff Polowin, a consultant for Mastercraft Starwood.
“This particular land was on the market. (The developer) thought it would be a great location for a condo that would be very marketable and here you are on Preston Street, close to a major arterial, close to the LRT station, the O-Train, close to Dow’s Lake,” Polowin says.
The site at Sidney Street is used right now as a small parking lot, one that is completely surrounded by buildings, including a CIBC bank to the south, a restaurant to the north and a seven-floor apartment building to the west.
Because of this tight squeeze, Darwin suggests a smaller building or townhomes would better fit the site but the developer disagrees.
“The architecture really gets displayed better when it is that size, so this is not sort of going for 35 and hoping for 30 or 25 or 20,” Polowin says.
The developer understands that some people will be unhappy with the plan.
However, Polowin says, feedback was mostly positive about a previous development, the Soho Champagne, a condominium complex on Champagne Avenue, part of the CHNA area.
“When we went before planning committee there was only one person who spoke against (the development) and that was someone from the civic hospital area who was worried about the traffic,”says Polowin.
He and the architect for Soho Italia are planning to meet with the Dalhousie Community Association to review plans for the building.
If this project is done right, Darwin says the neighbourhood would be likely to get on board.
“This community association and the people in the neighbourhood have long recognized that intensification is good, that the city can’t keep sprawling and that a percentage of that is going to be high buildings,” Darwin says.
“Preston Street has been redeveloped with lovely sidewalks and landscaping and people want to live near it. It is a desirable street to live on.”
Because of this face-lift, Preston Street has become a premier area to live in Ottawa, Darwin says, and it is a natural consequence that developers are going to be interested in building housing in the neighbourhood.
Lori Mellor, executive director of the Preston Street Business Improvement Area, said last Thursday that the BIA had not yet reached an official position on the project.
However, on Friday, Charles Akben-Marchand, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association tweeted that the BIA had decided in a meeting to oppose the project. This could not be confirmed.