With increasing costs and economic uncertainty, many small business owners are in need of flexibility when it comes to their work space, according to Christian Campanale, president and owner of Ottawa developer Evospace.
With increasing costs and economic uncertainty, many small business owners are in need of flexibility when it comes to their work space, according to Christian Campanale, president and owner of Ottawa developer Evospace. Campanale’s company is experimenting with a new type of building that he calls “home-based business rentals,” which designs residential units with business needs in mind. Its first development, The Nebula, is currently under construction on Champlain Drive in Orléans. Featuring 10 units with various live-work floorplans, the project is set to be completed by the summer. “The goal is to take a different approach to housing,” Campanale told OBJ on Wednesday. “Housing nowadays is quite predictable and very categorical. There’s a lot of room for it to evolve and be more fitted to our modern society.”While the COVID-19 pandemic provided a boost to the home-based business model, Campanale said that it had already been on the rise before that time, as business owners were overwhelmed by operating costs and the challenge of paying for housing and business space at the same time. “When I began to run my business out of my home, I saved tens of thousands of dollars a year, not to mention the savings I get from not having to commute,” he said. “Gas, overhead, utilities, internet, the list goes on. Now there’s a lot of saved expenses.”The Nebula has four different unit models designed for various business uses. One commonality is that each model has a separate entrance for the resident and the customer. The main idea, according to Campanale, is to create units that can separate work space from living space as needed. Rendering of the exterior of Evospace's development, The Nebula. Image supplied“We’ve introduced what we’re calling ‘evolving doors,’ that allow you to separate your business from your home,” he said. “You have your entrance and when you’re working you can slide and close the room off so that area becomes your business space. We’ve also strategically designed a bathroom at the front so that clients don’t have to trespass through your house to use it.”Another model splits the spaces entirely, with a common entrance for two separate spaces: one for living and one for working. Two of the units have a second storey.“It allows you to evolve your space,” said Campanale. “It’s all about evolving the way we live and the space we use so that it’s efficient. Our core value is efficiency.”Campanale said most of the units in The Nebula are designed with small client-based businesses in mind – hair salons, wellness services and fitness studios, among others. While these types of businesses are often run out of homes already, he said it’s not always strictly allowed. “The Official Plan of the City of Ottawa dictates a lot of how housing can be built,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize that you may have a home-based business, but you may not have the zoning for it, whereas we do. That allows for a variety of uses that can fit all sorts of business professionals like personal services, instructional facilities and medical facilities.”As with any development, Campanale said securing the zoning change and building permits was a long process. But despite the unique model, it wasn’t as hard a sell to the city as it could’ve been. “There was an Official Plan just recently released in the last couple of years that is changing the way we live and work, specifically around transit stations,” he said, adding that The Nebula is a five-minute walk from the Place d’Orléans LRT station. “I think what the city wants to see more of is walkable communities, where there’s commercial and business services for the neighbouring communities, especially within these transit-oriented developments. They want these increases in density. They want to see increases in multi-use developments.”Campanale added that there’s already been interest from business owners with many different needs. “Some are established home-based businesses. Some are startup companies looking to get up and running. Others are seasonal businesses that are looking for a place to live that they can run a business in so they don’t pay expensive rental fees for a place they barely use,” he said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to a benefit. Although it’s more expensive than the standard luxury rental unit, the savings they incur are dramatic.”
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