Toon Dreessen

How the ByWard Market has become ‘a market only in name and history’

Ottawa, Retail

Once filled with specialty food stores and niche grocers, the ByWard Market has shifted away from its roots as a traditional food market, area business

A redering of the proposed redevelopment of Westgate Shopping Centre.

Portion of Westgate Shopping Centre could be torn down as soon as this fall, councillor says

Ottawa, Insider Only

Observers laud downtown task force report’s ‘people-centric’ ideas, but warn next steps won’t be easy

Ottawa

Local experts see a new report on Ottawa’s downtown as evidence that multiple sectors and levels of government are capable of collaborating to fix the

Op-ed: Is selling ‘air rights’ to public land such as Lansdowne Park the best we can do?

Ottawa

“The proposal has increased in cost and would add $310 million to our debt obligation. While the design is improved…fundamental questions remain about how the

Op-ed: Your vote helps build our city — literally

City Hall

“We can be the city we want to be. But we can’t get there if we don’t vote,” writes Toon Dreessen.

Ottawa Senators win the bid for LeBreton Flats

Sports and Entertainment

CSDI is proposing to build an NHL hockey arena and events venue surrounded by mixed-use development, located on Albert Street between Preston Street and City

Making smarter development decisions to ‘become the city we aspire to be’

Real Estate

We need to understand the root causes and bring leadership to solving problems so that we become the city we aspire to be, writes Toon

How building height limitations are contributing to Ottawa’s housing crisis

Real Estate

By limiting development on certain streets to four storeys, the city has virtually guaranteed that these lots will remain undeveloped, writes Toon Dreessen.

Why #ShopLocal should be applied to small businesses on – and off – mainstreets

Techopia

Governments often design RFPs to demand unreasonably high thresholds for insurance coverage, years of experience or firm size that have little or no bearing on