Pending approval from Ottawa City Council, the medical building at 340 McLeod St. may be replaced by a nine-storey condominium, beside another planned condominium at Bank and McLeod streets.
The developers of a two-phase condominium project at the site of the old Metropolitan Bible Church have expanded their plans to include another nine-storey condo, which would replace the medical building at 340 McLeod St.
The property, which consists of a parking lot and the medical building, was purchased by Toronto-based developer Urban Capital Property Group in early 2010. City council approved the construction of the project’s second phase – a nine-storey condo – on the parking lot last October.
The first two phases of the project generated some controversy, as the site is located in the Centretown Heritage Conservation District and the condos were initially considered by critics to be too high and out of character with the adjacent area.
But the 10-storey condo that is the first phase of the Central project has so far sold 207 of 237 units, says Maureen O’Connell, who sells residential units for Urban Capital. Revealed in 2008, the first phase of the development is currently under construction.
Due to its success, Urban Capital will be adding a third condo development in place of the medical building, says developer Taya Cavanagh.
With the medical building demolished, the space would be used as a construction site while the second phase of the project is underway, according to a city report. When the second phase of the project is complete, the site would be redeveloped into the nine-storey condo.
Together, the three condos will include 515 loft-style units, according to Urban Capital’s website.
Despite concerns about the height of the condos, Charles Akben-Marchand, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, says it's good to see empty lots being filled.
He says the medical building, though in heritage district, is “by far not a heritage building” and has been vacant for a number of years.
A city report issued by the Ottawa built heritage advisory committee says city staff have no objections to the demolition and describes the property as “a building of no heritage value that does not contribute to the streetscape or the overall character of the heritage conservation district.”
Plans for the first phase of the project add the historic facade of the old Metropolitan Bible Church to the new condo – an effort that added more than $1 million to the cost, says Cavanagh.
The Centretown Heritage Conservation District was designated in 1997 and is protected by a number of laws under the Ontario Heritage Act.
As with the first and second phases of Urban Capital’s condo project, the third phase of the project must be approved by the heritage committee, the Planning Committee and then City Council before construction can begin.