Local developer Claridge Homes is proposing a 141-unit retirement residence in Orleans at 885 Decoeur Dr.
Local developer Claridge Homes is proposing a 141-unit retirement residence in Orleans at 885 Decoeur Dr.
A planning document for the project said Claridge and Ottawa company Riverstone Retirement are looking to construct a six-storey building featuring 73 studios, 62 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units on a 0.62-hectare parcel of land at the northwest corner of Tenth Line Road and Decoeur Drive.
The site is located in a low-rise residential neighbourhood, with the Notre-Place Catholic Elementary School to the west and a park across the street. To the north is a commercial plaza that includes restaurants, a gas station, an auto shop, a fitness centre and a Sobeys grocery store. Directly adjacent to the site is vacant land slated for future residential development.
The application proposes a small surface parking lot, as well as 37 underground parking spaces and 47 bicycle spots. Concrete pathways would connect the building’s entrances to sidewalks and the Tenth Line Road asphalt multi-use pathway, the document added.
A landscaped amenity space to the rear of the property would feature walking paths and outdoor seating.
Activity on the rise
According to a recent report from real estate service provider Cushman and Wakefield, while new development activity in the retirement sector has been at an all-time low in Canada, that is likely to change this year as market conditions improve and demand increases.
“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.
On Monday, Markham-based Sienna Senior Living said it was further expanding its presence in the Greater Ottawa Area by acquiring Rockland Manor, a 160-unit seniors residence in Rockland. The property was built in 2015 and is currently 99 per cent occupied, according to a press release. The gross purchase price was $41 million, or approximately $256,000 per unit, the release added.
“With Ballycliffe and Rockland Manor, we are continuing our disciplined capital allocation across the full continuum of care,” president and CEO Nitin Jain said in the release. “These acquisitions are an excellent example of the broad range of opportunities available to Sienna to expand our portfolio in both the government-funded long-term care and the private-pay retirement segments.”
Nearly four years after shuttering another of its residences, Madonna Nursing Home, Sienna said last month that it plans to renovate and expand the vacant site in Orleans. The company is looking to convert the existing three-storey building into a 160-bed comprehensive long-term care facility. Additionally, it has proposed the construction of a new two-storey addition to be used as a 64-bed retirement home.
Also in Orleans, Ottawa’s Wateridge Lifestyles is proposing a six-storey, 188-unit retirement home on the site of a former Canadian Forces base near the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum. 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. The second and third floors would be outfitted with 49 memory-care and assisted-living units, with separate nursing, dining and lounge facilities.
In March, Toronto-based operator Spring Living Retirement Communities bought five Ottawa properties. Ashi Mathur, chief investment officer, told OBJ at the time that seniors living operators are increasingly looking to invest in cities such as Ottawa, and that his company has made the nation’s capital a cornerstone of its strategy.
“We want to be in primary and secondary markets and Ottawa meets that criteria,” Mathur said. “We want to be in markets where there’s a strong population that will feed into our homes and become our residents. We want to be in a market that has a growing population.”
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. 
