Planning committee decides Ottawa is a 65-storey city

Ottawa is a 65-storey city, no matter what a community plan says.

That’s the view of the majority of planning committee members who voted Tuesday to recommend allowing a giant three-tower complex at 900 Albert St., near the Bayview O -Train station.

Councillors Jan Harder, Tim Tierney, Stephen Blais, Rick Chiarelli, Jean Cloutier, Allan Hubley and Shad Qadri voted in favour of planning amendments that would allow the development, while Jeff Leiper and Tobi Nussbaum opposed. Council will cast the final vote Wednesday.

TIP Albert GP (Trinity Developments, InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust and PBC Real Estate Advisors) proposes to build towers of 65, 56 and 27 storeys, soaring above commercial and office spaces. There would be 1,241 residential units, which the city expects would generate a massive transit ridership for the Confederation Line and Trillium Line.

The 65-storey and 56-storey towers would be the tallest buildings in Ottawa. B+H Architects and GGLO Design are the architects on the project. The city’s Bayview station secondary plan allows a maximum of 30 storeys on the property, but the official plan calls for buildings taller than 30 storeys to be within 200 metres of transit stations in mixed-use centres. A prime candidate for the official plan direction would be 900 Albert St.

Nussbaum said the city did a great job at creating a community plan for this area, but failed at “expectation management.”

Public delegates chastised the proposal for its proposed height, design and size of on-site parking.

Resident Catherine Boucher accused the city of lying to the community, which worked to develop a 30-storey vision for the property through the creation of the secondary plan. Boucher said the community is also concerned about the appearance of the south side of the building, which faces the existing residential community next to the City Centre complex.

“The south face of this building is mooning us,” Boucher said of the design.

City planner Simon Deiaco pointed out that the south end will be bordered by a path linking with the east O-Train path and there would be amenity space at the back of the buildings.

Eric Darwin, representing the Dalhousie Community Association, criticized the proposed Albert Street side of the complex for having a lack of commercial frontages. The commercial offerings would instead largely face into the complex, he said.

“The project isn’t ready for prime time,” Darwin said.

The developer would pay the city $975,000 for the added height, which is permitted under provincial

The project isn’t ready for prime time.

planning law. The money would help pay for a pedestrian bridge over the Trillium Line south of Tom Brown Arena ($450,000 toward the project) and more affordable housing in the downtown area (a $525,000 contribution).

However, the Federation of Citizens’ Associations of Ottawa thinks the city is getting shortchanged on the pay-for-height scheme. The organization, which is the umbrella group for all community associations, says the money is “paltry” compared to the size of the towers the developer wants to build beyond the current zoning.

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said a pedestrian bridge would cost at least $15 million, so she’ll ask council to spend $450,000 on a park and community garden fund instead. McKenney is worried that only one tower, or less, will be built over 20 years, but a six-level parking garage would be built for the full complex.