More than 400 condo units are under construction downtown, including the site at Bank and Gladstone.
More than 400 condo units currently under construction in Somerset Ward will create a condominium bubble with which the city will be unable to keep up, according to Coun. Diane Holmes.
The development plans outline an additional 3,600 condo units that are planned or have been approved in the ward through rezoning and site plan applications.
It will also bring more than 6,000 new residents to Centretown. It calls into question the neighbourhood’s ability to create liveable spaces for residents.
“It’s okay that we are in this condo development game or bubble,” says Holmes.
“But to really build communities you need the hard services like water and sidewalks. You also need the soft services. We need a new community centre in the northern end because our community centres are now packed to the gills.”
The city welcomes thousands of residents to new downtown condos, but is lagging behind in providing amenities to make these neighbourhoods liveable.
The priority of attracting more people to the downtown comes at the expense of green space and adequate community services.
“Maintaining green space is a very important thing because Centretown lacks proportionately a lot of green space to begin with,” says Jordan Charbonneau, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
“We try to ensure that any new development includes some green space or considerations for green space as one of our prime concerns.”
Two new developments have just been approved for Centretown. An 18-storey high rise is scheduled to be built on 346 Gloucester St.
The structure originally gained approval from the City of Ottawa in February 2009 with its proposal for a 15-storey apartment building. The developer, Richcraft Homes, amended its plan in 2011 to include three more storeys.
The company claims this remains compatible with existing buildings in the area and the plan achieves a more compact urban design, which accommodates the needs of a range of people.
“From Lisgar up to Laurier is very high-density and it’s going to become a concrete jungle,” says Holmes.
City council also approved plans for a development project on 150 Elgin St., which will no longer include a concert hall.
Morguard Elgin Ltd. originally purchased the property in 2004 with design plans for a 900-seat concert hall complex, a 160 unit residential component, leasable office space and a three-level parking garage.
The company has now redesigned the former concert hall space as a commercial complex. The new plan also removes the 121 public parking spaces in lieu of 35 spaces at private rates.
Mayor Jim Watson devoted a significant portion of his budget speech in October to criticize the city planning process. He targeted developers and builders as “treating zoning and community design plans as mere suggestions.”
Arguments continue between developers who want to build taller and larger buildings than zoning codes allow and neighbourhoods trying to halt the process.
“Our planning process in not working the way we need it to work,” Watson said.
“Nobody is happy with the situation. Communities are frustrated, industry is frustrated, staff are frustrated.”
Holmes has asked the planning committee for a study on what type of services are needed to deal with the large influx of residents.
“Really there is so much lacking for people in this area to come to.”
The vice-chair of the planning committee, Coun. Jan Harder, has formally requested a study to investigate creating policies for these neighbourhood amenities.
The analysis will assess the city's capacity to determine the total costs of sustaining the current rate of condo growth.