The application for a 30-storey Little Italy condo tower is set to go before the city’s planning committee on June 26, but a local community group is concerned about the controversial tower’s impact on its planned address.
Mastercraft Starwood’s “SoHo Italia” will be one step closer to hovering over Preston Street if the planning committee gives it the green light.
Architect Rod Lahey’s original proposal of 35 storeys with above-ground parking did not meet the approval of the city. A height of 35 floors would have made the high-rise the tallest in Ottawa. Lahey scaled back the tower to 30 storeys, with an additional five below ground for parking.
“But it still remains a building we’re not thrilled with,” says Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association. The above-ground parking has been nixed, the exterior has been improved, and shops can be opened on the street level. But he says it is still a fairly large building to put on a traditional main street and the large tower will create wind drafts and cast a shadow down Preston.
Mastercraft Starwood’s website says the project – “the beginning of a new era in architecture for Ottawa” – will shape the skyline and the surrounding community.
City staff is pushing for the application’s approval.