Two significant real estate developments were approved by city council Wednesday.
A proposal to build two “landmark” highrises in Centretown at 267 O’Connor St. was given the green light. The proposal by Taggart Realty was approved by the city’s planning and housing committee last week and will see the construction of two mixed-use towers of 27 and 25 storeys, comprising 513 rental apartment units.
The two buildings would also include about 4,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial and retail space. The development would feature significant park space, covering about 40 per cent of the site. Also included in the proposal is an underground parking garage with 319 parking spaces and 514 bicycle spots.
Council approved a heritage permit for the property, which would allow the developer to build within the Centretown Heritage Conservation District.
At the same meeting, a zoning amendment to allow a “destination wellness spa” to be built in Kanata North at 2505 and 2707 Solandt Rd. was approved.
Markham-based Silk Development Group plans to build a three-storey personal service facility called SerenVita on the site. The new building would be connected to the Brookstreet Hotel by a pedestrian walkway and located near the Marshes Golf Club.
The main building, at 47,275 square feet, would include spa functions such as saunas, pools and “treatment rooms,” as well as offices and a restaurant. A “series of accessory personal service buildings” and outdoor amenity areas, including pools, “relaxation rooms” and footpaths, would be located west of the main building.
Council also approved the city staff’s Downtown Revitalization Framework and Action Plan, which is designed to advance downtown revitalization goals.
The plan was approved by the finance and corporate services committee two weeks ago. Measures include a concept for the redevelopment of municipal properties such as Bayview Yards and implementing incentive programs for office-to-residential conversion projects.
In a conversation with OBJ last week, Sheilagh Doherty, director of economic development at the city, said the framework builds on priorities established by council and is complementary to the Ottawa Board of Trade’s Downtown Ottawa Action Agenda, which was released in 2024 with the goal to revitalize the core by 2034.
Now that the plan has been approved, Doherty said the next step is to implement the short-term actions within the plan.
Finally, the city’s partnership with Build Canada Homes, a federal agency that will build affordable housing, was approved by city council.
Last December, the city and the federal government introduced the partnership, with a goal of building up to 3,000 mixed-income and affordable housing units starting this year.
The joint investment of $400 million would see the City of Ottawa fast-track the construction of 2,000 mixed-income and affordable housing units on federal lands, including by reducing or waiving development charges, permit fees and property taxes.
On Wednesday, city council approved the municipal government’s $250-million contribution to the project by doing the following for units developed under the partnership: exempting development charges for all units; exempting projects from the collection of community benefits charges; waiving collection of cash-in-lieu of parkland charges; waiving collection of building permit fees; eliminating the collection of planning fees; and granting a property tax exemption for a period of 75 years for the units designated as a municipal housing facility.
With files from Mia Jensen
