Some of Ottawa’s biggest names in land ownership are offering their help to create a greener future for the city’s core.
Downtown landlords Minto, Manulife and Morguard have signed up to support the Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict, a non-profit organization aiming to the area more ecologically friendly.
“Minto, Morguard, and Manulife are all great companies that are doing a lot for the environment, who appreciate our vision and are willing to participate,” says EcoDistrict’s executive director Don Grant.
The project aims to bring downtown landlords and business owners together and provide them with resources and information about how to make the area more ecologically friendly. By working together, Grant says businesses have the power to make downtown greener and more enjoyable to live in and can save money while doing so.
Some of the EcoDistrict’s current projects include installing charging stations for electric cars, improving the bike-lane system and replanting trees wiped out by the emerald ash borer.
In an announcement on Jan. 30 in Morguard’s new building at 150 Elgin St., the three landlords joined a list of 29 supporters or “champions” of the EcoDistrict project. Others include Hydro Ottawa, Windmill Development Group, the Canada Council for the Arts, HUB Ottawa, and the National Arts Centre.
Despite the growing list of high-profile supporters, Grant says it remains a challenge getting smaller businesses and landlords of older buildings – both of which make up a large part of downtown – to prioritize the environment. But he says his organization is going to make the most of the support it does have.
“We’re going to work with landlords who are strong supporters of building a green downtown and that will allow us to demonstrate what’s possible to the landlords who do take some time to start thinking about the future of the downtown core,” he says. “Minto, Morguard, and Manulife are demonstrating how we can collaborate as a broader community.”
The landlords will benefit from the collaboration too, says Alison Minato, Minto’s vice-president of sustainability.
“While we’re excited to be part of a change initiative like this, it’s also exciting for us because it can help us be better as well,” she says.
Minto’s decision to join the EcoDistrict was a natural move given their common goals regarding the environment, Minato says.
“The people at EcoDistrict are a smart team who know the city very well and are committed to making downtown greener,” she says. “The way they’re looking to do it very much aligns with Minto’s values on how we design communities to make a better place.”
Many of the EcoDistrict’s initiatives, such as bike lanes and tree planting, are the same ones Minto tries to put in place around its developments.
While the City of Ottawa has its own vision for the area, Somerset Ward Coun. Catherine McKenney says the EcoDistrict’s work complements the city’s investment in light rail, among other initiatives.
“We’re investing $2.1 billion in light rail and it’s important that we seriously look at the investments we’re going to make between now and when LRT comes on board in 2018 to make sure that people use it,” she says. “We need bike share programs and cycling lanes and a more walkable downtown core and that’s some of the work the EcoDistrict is committed to doing.”
McKenney says the EcoDistrict can also have a positive influence in ways that the city can’t, such as fostering collaboration between businesses on ecological initiatives and promoting best practices that reach beyond the city’s environmental regulations.
“If we want that type of healthy liveable city, we have to invest and that’s exactly what’s happening with the EcoDistrict,” McKenney says.
Details about the collaboration between the three landlords and the EcoDistrict have yet to emerge. The groups will begin meeting in March.
Morguard and Manulife were both unavailable for comment.