Pimisi Station

160 Booth St. (current LeBreton Station)

Within our lifetimes (depending on how old you are), the empty stretches of LeBreton Flats and nearby islands on the Ottawa River may become home to as many people as the Glebe.

RendezVous LeBreton (RVL) alone plans to build 4,400 housing units, mostly in mid-rise or high-rise buildings, including about 400 high-end luxury properties, 1,100 affordable housing units, student residences and, possibly, seniors’ housing. The project also has 2.8 million square feet of office and retail space on the drawing board.

But the RVL development isn’t the only site Pimisi Station will serve: there’s also the Canadian War Museum, the existing neighbourhood on the north edge of Chinatown, the 1,200-unit Zibi project overlooking Chaudière Falls, the $168-million central library near Wellington and Bronson, and the 1,650-unit Claridge development on the eastern half of the Flats — which may include a 55-storey tower, affordable and seniors’ housing, retail, and a park. Whew!

This all sounds intriguing, but new residents may feel like they are living in the hinterland, since it could take as long as 30 years to build everything. For the time being, much of the area is empty or under construction; the nearest fullservice grocery store is two kilometres away at Bank and Somerset. The Pimisi area may become a pedestrian paradise in the future, but for the next few years, you might want to invest in a sturdy bundle buggy — or a car — for errands that aren’t well connected to transit routes.