An Ottawa-based company wants to build a six-storey retirement home on the site of a former Canadian Forces base near the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
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An Ottawa-based company wants to build a six-storey retirement home on the site of a former Canadian Forces base near the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
The application from Wateridge Lifestyles proposes a retirement home with 188 units at 100 Bareille-Snow St. It would be the first phase of a three-phase project for the family-owned Ottawa firm.
According to the project’s urban design brief, 90 of the 188 units will be aimed at seniors looking for independent living accommodations, featuring walk-out terraces or balconies.
The second and third floor would be outfitted with 49 memory-care and assisted-living units, with separate nursing, dining and lounge facilities.
The building would also feature a variety of amenity and service spaces, including a bistro, games area, theatre, pool, solarium and spa.
“The design intent behind the Wateridge Lifestyles multi-phase development is the creation of a senior-oriented community where seniors have the ability to age-in-place as they transition from a more independent lifestyle and dwelling-type, to a lifestyle and dwelling-type where they may require a greater level of care and support,” the design brief said.
In addition to the retirement home, the first phase of development would include a one-level underground parking garage with 60 vehicle and 34 bicycle parking spaces, with some ground-level visitor, loading and shuttle bus parking also proposed.
The development is the latest proposal for the Wateridge Village neighbourhood, which was established east of Vanier in 2017 on a 310-acre decommissioned military site that was purchased by the Canada Lands Co. in 2011. The Crown corporation specializes in disposing of surplus federal land in a way that benefits the surrounding community.
Since then, various developers, including Bayview Group, Glenview Homes, Mattamy Homes, Rohit Group and WestUrban Developments have launched projects or filed proposals for apartment buildings, condos, townhomes and other housing types that would add more than 1,000 residential units at site of the former CFB Rockcliffe. Wateridge is joining that list.
The retirement home would be built on a three-and-a-half-acre site bounded by Tawadina Road to the south and Codd’s Road to the west and north. The property is mostly covered by natural vegetation, plus the remnants of closed roads to the former Canadian Forces base.
According to the application summary, the areas north and east of the site, which are also vacant, are slated for low- and mid-rise mixed-use development. Immediately south, a mid-rise apartment building is under construction at 375 Codd’s Rd., with the future Kishkabika Park planned to the west.
The second and third phases of the development would include nine-storey seniors’ apartment buildings with 170 and 100 independent living units. Each building will feature a one-storey underground parking garage.
According to a recent report from real estate services Cushman and Wakefield, new development activity in the retirement space has been at an all-time low in Canada. That trend, however, is likely to change in 2026 as market conditions improve and demand continues to grow.
“Fuelled by the sheer scale of opportunity that lies ahead, we expect a new development cycle will kick off later this year,” Heather Payne, the firm’s vice-president of seniors housing and health care, said in a release.
In Ottawa, another seniors living home was recently proposed in Orléans.
Nearly four years after the closure of the Madonna Nursing Home, the company that operated the facility has submitted a plan to renovate and expand the vacant site into a 224-bed retirement and long-term care home.
Sienna Senior Living, which operated the former nursing home, wants to convert the existing three-storey building into a 160-bed comprehensive long-term care facility. Additionally, it proposes the construction of a new two-storey addition to be used as a 64-bed retirement home.
According to Statistics Canada, the proportion of the population aged 65 or over will continue to grow over the next 10 years. By 2030, one in five Canadians will be 65 or older. That growing population of older Canadians, combined with a gradual increase in life expectancy, means demand for retirement homes is likely to grow.
