QWEST RISING
For the founder of Ashcroft Homes, the redevelopment of convent lands on Richmond Road has been worth it.
David Choo is not afraid of controversy. The founder of Ashcroft Homes has had plenty when it comes to his Westboro convent project known as QWest. But Choo is looking at the bigger picture.
“We have a vision and pride in our city, because you don’t do that,” he says, pointing to a drawing of QWest, “simply because you want to make money ... if there’s a legacy that I want to leave, that’s part of the legacy.”
“You almost have to do it as showcases,” adds his daughter, Nicole, Ashcroft’s vicepresident. “It takes a vision.”
For Choo, that means the hurdles and stumbling blocks to getting QWest on track have been worth it.
“There’s a lot of lifestyle drivers that we’re looking at to be leaving,” he continues. “We don’t want to just plug in a condo on the street, although we will do that inevitably in some places, but it’s nice when you can do it on this scale; really bring that unique urban living.”
The project is a mammoth redevelopment of the five-acre convent property on Richmond Road just west of Island Park Drive.
When complete, it will encompass seven condo buildings (including the two Ashcroft buildings on the north side of Richmond Road), a renovated abbey with retail and a gathering space that’s meant to be the hub of the community, a senior’s residence at the southern end of the property and an acre of green space connecting one end to the other and linking with the Byron linear park to the south.
In all, there will be about 1,000 units and 60,000 square feet of retail space. Designed by architect Rod Lahey and 2H Interior Design, the project calls for a connection between a contemporary urban living vibe and the tradition of the heritage abbey, a link between Westboro and Wellington West and an appeal that invites both residents and the neighbourhood in to what was once a private space.
“The abbey becomes the centrepiece of the entire development; it’s the gathering place,” says Choo.
But a project this size takes time and, not surprisingly, residents in the neighbourhood were opposed to the idea of turning the mostly parkland property into a “village within a village.”
Ashcroft has tried to appease opposition, including donating $200,000 to a community trust fund to help better the immediate community and inviting the public to an open house of the abbey, but ultimately, it will likely take the completion of the yearslong project before those who oppose will start to accept some of the benefits.
That’s the price you pay to be on the leading edge, Choo says.
“It’s not an easy thing, as we’ve seen with (QWest). But that’s the problem you have if you want to do something visionary,” he says. “There’s an inflection point where a city becomes much more urban and that’s what’s happening to Ottawa ... the amount of opposition to things that people should be embracing, that takes a lot of opposition at the start and then it eases,” he says. “If you look at the abbey project, that’s a classic example ... but these projects instruct and lead the way for acceptance (of higher density) down the road.”
He points to the example of the recent planning committee approval for a 45-storey condo tower at Carling Avenue and Preston Street.
“For the first time, the city is putting out the report saying that this area is appropriate for 40-storey buildings. Two years ago, five years ago, you’d think that was heresy; that would never happen,” he says with much animation.
In the conference room of Ashcroft’s offices earlier this spring, Choo was celebrating developments in the storied Qwest project.
More than half of the units are either occupied or under construction and the company has finally received final approval on the southern half of the parcel.
“That’s been such a struggle that we view it as a milestone,” Choo says with a laugh.
“Sometimes you wish it would be easier, and if I’m insane enough to do something like this again, you’d think maybe it would be a little easier process.”