Upping the ante: Brigil raises height of proposed tower near Bayshore mall to 40 storeys

July 24, 2024

In documents recently filed with the city, Brigil has revised its application from 2021 that proposed a 30-storey tower just north of the intersection of Ramsey Crescent and Dumaurier Avenue.

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A Gatineau-based firm that is redeveloping the site of the former Greyhound bus terminal has unveiled a revised proposal for a highrise near the Bayshore Shopping Centre that would soar 40 storeys and be one of the city’s tallest buildings. In documents recently filed with the city, Brigil has revised its application from 2021 that proposed a 30-storey tower just north of the intersection of Ramsey Crescent and Dumaurier Avenue. The property, which is currently occupied by a single-storey commercial building, is less than half a kilometre east of Bayshore mall and about 220 metres northwest of the future Pinecrest LRT station. In its updated application, the developer notes that the city’s new Official Plan adopted in 2022 designated the lands around the Pinecrest and Queensview LRT stations as a protected area within a 300-metre radius of a planned rapid transit station, allowing for highrises of 40 storeys or more where permitted by a secondary plan. The draft Pinecrest and Queensview Station Secondary Plan, which is expected to be adopted later this year, is proposing height limits of 40 storeys near Pinecrest station. Current zoning bylaws cap the height of any new buildings on the property at 18 metres, or about 60 feet. Brigil’s proposed highrise would come in at 126 metres, or 413 feet. By comparison, the tallest building in Ottawa-Gatineau is now Claridge’s 45-storey Icon tower in Little Italy, which is 143 metres, or 469 feet, high.

'Appropriate' height

Brigil says the tower’s revised height is “appropriate, given its proximity to rapid transit and to an existing highrise development to the west.” In addition, the company says the building’s design will “minimize shadowing and privacy impacts” on neighbouring areas. Brigil’s original proposal included 330 rental apartments comprising 194 one-bedroom units and 136 two-bedroom suites, along with about 4,700 square feet of ground-floor commercial space facing Dumaurier Avenue. The updated plan calls for 407 rental units – including 240 one-bedroom apartments, 161 two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units. Meanwhile, the amount of retail space has been reduced to 2,150 square feet. The project includes 204 parking spaces, with 174 set aside for residents and 30 reserved for visitors and commercial users. All but six of the spaces would be located in a three-level underground garage. That’s down from 250 parking spaces in the original proposal. The revamped plan features 31 fewer residential spots than required under current zoning bylaws, while the combined total of 30 for visitors and commercial users also falls below the minimum required number of 45 under current rules. However, Brigil argues the amount of parking in the plan is “appropriate” given the proposed building’s proximity to rapid transit. “The reduction in required parking will facilitate the development of a high-density, mixed-use building that supports and encourages public transit use,” the developer said in a planning document prepared by Fotenn consultants, adding the allotment of visitor and commercial parking mirrors that of “similar developments in closer proximity to the urban core and in similar proximity to rapid transit stations.” Despite the proposed height increase, Brigil says the project is designed to integrate into the surrounding area. “Given the subject property’s immediate surrounding context, the proposed highrise tower will not have any undue adverse impacts on adjacent properties, including their development potential,” the document says. “The Brigil building and abutting future towers are strategically located to support existing and future transit facilities, are in proximity to community facilities and sufficiently separated from older, low-rise neighbourhoods.”

Wave of new development

Brigil’s plan is part of a growing wave of development proposals that could reshape the skyline around the Bayshore Shopping Centre. Earlier this month, Ottawa council approved Ferguslea Properties’ plan to build two mixed-use towers of 37 and 40 storeys featuring as many as 584 residential units on Woodridge Crescent, just south of the Accora Village rental community and west of the Bayshore Shopping Centre. Right beside the shopping centre at 100 Bayshore Dr., Toronto’s KingSett Capital, which owns the 880,000-square-foot retail complex, plans to build two towers of 27 and 30 storeys that would contain more than 550 units. The Dumaurier Avenue proposal is one of many projects in Brigil’s pipeline. The developer is set to break ground on a massive project that will include three highrises of 32, 34 and 36 storeys on the site of the former Greyhound bus station on Catherine Street, which was demolished in 2022. City council gave the proposal the green light earlier this month. Meanwhile, the firm is also proposing to create what it calls a “complete neighbourhood” featuring nearly 3,200 residential units and at least 100,000 square feet of commercial space on a 26-acre plot of land at 8600 Jeanne d’Arc Blvd. N. The project would mark the third phase of the company’s Petrie’s Landing community, an ongoing development near Trim Road. The first two phases of the development are expected to eventually include more than a dozen buildings with about 2,200 residential units and 8,000 square feet of retail and office space. In Ottawa’s west end, the Gatineau firm wants to build more than 1,900 residential units in buildings as tall as 15 storeys on nearly 50 acres of land near the Marshes Golf Club on March Road. Brigil’s other projects include a 28-storey rental tower at 99 Parkdale Ave., the second phase of a two-tower development. The 240-unit highrise should be ready for occupancy this fall. The company also expects to start construction later this year on a pair of four-storey buildings and a 20-storey highrise at the site of a former strip mall on Ridgewood Avenue near Mooney’s Bay. That project will include a total of about 440 rental apartments. Longer-term plans on Brigil’s docket include a three-building development on Baseline Road and a two-tower proposal for Richmond Road.