Quebec firm proposes two-tower retirement residence with nearly 400 units near Blair Station

A Quebec retirement home operator is gearing up for its first project in Ottawa as it looks to expand into new markets across Canada. Le Groupe Maurice says it wants to build two highrises of 18 and 22 storeys containing a total of 398 residential units at 1440 Blair Towers Place, a vacant three-acre plot […]

A Quebec retirement home operator is gearing up for its first project in Ottawa as it looks to expand into new markets across Canada. Le Groupe Maurice says it wants to build two highrises of 18 and 22 storeys containing a total of 398 residential units at 1440 Blair Towers Place, a vacant three-acre plot of land at the southeast corner of Blair and Ogilvie roads. The site is just east of the Gloucester Centre, about 270 metres from Blair LRT station. The two towers would be connected by a six-storey podium that would also include a residential component. In planning documents recently filed with the city, the Montreal-based company says the apartments would range from bachelor units to three-bedroom suites.  The majority of the units – 237 – would be one-bedroom apartments, along with 138 two-bedroom units, 15 bachelors and eight three-bedroom apartments. A two-level underground parking garage would include 277 spaces reserved for residents. 

The design from Ottawa’s Hobin Architecture also features a mix of indoor and outdoor amenities, including a large dining room, activities room, art room, wading pool and hair salon. The 22-storey highrise on the south side of the property would also feature an indoor cinema, while the 18-storey tower to the north would house a 1,600-square-foot indoor “salon panoramique” on the top floor. The proposal also calls for a small public park on the western edge of the property at the corner of Blair and Ogilvie roads. The current neighbourhood secondary plan limits building heights to 20 storeys at the site. Le Groupe Maurice is requesting a zoning bylaw amendment to allow for additional height in the second tower. It would mark the first development on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River for the company, which currently operates 37 seniors’ homes in Quebec containing more than 12,000 residential units. Its holdings include an eight-storey retirement home in Gatineau with 295 apartments and 24 care units. In an email to OBJ last week, Le Groupe Maurice spokesperson Geneviève Martel said the project is still in the planning stages, adding the company is “not yet in a position to share further details.” Martel said Le Groupe Maurice is “continuously seeking new opportunities” to “expand into new markets across Canada.” The company joins a number of other developers that are aiming to add more residential density near the Blair LRT station. Colonnade BridgePort, for example, plans to build five residential highrises with upwards of 1,200 units on a four-acre parcel of land at 2000 City Park Dr., about 450 metres west of the transit station. Meanwhile, Gatineau-based Devcore Group is slated to convert Telesat’s former headquarters, located just a few hundred metres south of Le Groupe Maurice’s property, into a residential complex and build three additional highrises next door as part of a project that is expected to add at least 1,200 new residential units to the neighbourhood.