Claridge Homes is planning to build this 45-storey tower on the corner of Preston Street and Carling Avenue.
A proposed 45-storey condo tower in the southwest corner of Centretown – a high-rise that would be Ottawa’s tallest building if approved – is “inappropriate” in scale and should be redesigned for no more than 30 floors, says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes.
The planned “Claridge Icon” residential-retail development at 505 Preston St. would rise far above the proposed SoHo Italia condo project just across the street, which was originally planned to break the record for building height in Ottawa.
Claridge Homes has submitted a zoning application to erect the 45-storey building at the northeast corner of Preston Street and Carling Avenue.
Claridge vice-president Neil Malhotra says construction on the condominium tower, which would include some retail space on the lower floors, is expected to begin in late 2013 or early 2014 if the application is approved.
Holmes says several concerns need to be addressed before construction can begin.
“I think 45 (storeys) is inappropriate,” she states bluntly. “It will be seen from an enormous area and will really be far higher than the downtown.”
She adds that the property is “too small for the kind of height that is being requested. Certainly it’s an appropriate place for height, but not for 45 storeys. Thirty storeys is as high as I think we should be going in that area.”
Some residents and business owners have also expressed reservations about the shadow such a building would cast on the neighbourhood – a concern that was also raised with the SoHo project.
Dalhousie Community Association president Eric Darwin says the shadow would be less of a problem with the Claridge building because it’s at the end of Preston Street.
“SoHo Italia was the first one in,” he says. “They’re also a little bit further down the street, and one of the concerns is that people don’t want to see the whole street lined with tall buildings. It makes a wind tunnel and it makes it dark and gusty. “
But because the planned Claridge Icon “is at the very end of the street,” he says, “I think it’s more acceptable because it’s there.”
Holmes echoes that view.
“I think its possible to have a win-win, if it can be a lower height and if we can be sure that it’s a narrow tower that doesn’t shade the immediate area for great lengths of time,” she says. “It needs to be a needle to relate to the street, and I think it’s possible to get all of that.”
Darwin notes that increased traffic along Preston Street from new residents will be an advantage for business owners in the area.
A key issue for the Dalhousie Community Association will be the impact on the sidewalks along Carling Avenue.
“This is the first of many buildings that will be going in this area, which are going to be dependent on the O-Train for people to get access,” says Darwin. “But we haven’t seen any effort from the city to identify whether you need wider sidewalks.”