1649 Montreal Rd & 741 Blair Rd | 84m | 25f | U/C
 

Bertone Development Corporation is proposing a development at 1649 Montreal Road & 741 Blair Road, consisting of a 26-storey (88 metres), mixed-use building on a four-storey podium. In total, the project will contain 243 residential units (including a mix of one and two-bedroom units) and 773 square metres of commercial/retail space at-grade along Montreal Road. The proposal provides 240 bicycle parking spaces within the parking garage and at-grade. The proposed site layout includes the retention of the mature trees at the rear of the property and a 200 square metre privately owned public space (POPS) is proposed in the north-west corner of the property abutting Blair Road and the north property line. A total of 307 underground & enclosed at-grade parking spaces are proposed.

Architect: RLA Architecture

Development application:
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D02-02-21-0038/details

Location:

https://i.imgur.com/pD24d59.png


Siteplan:

https://i.imgur.com/kZExWSt.png


Renderings:

https://i.imgur.com/3Qmfg3a.png

https://i.ibb.co/sQrhN1Z/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/xLMv5tW/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/VtLZpcv/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/sH2sc3D/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/pvFwMrN/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/0FRV6VW/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/SJcbcDL/image.png

https://i.ibb.co/dKywrdC/image.png

When I saw RLA... :uhh:

It's better than other RLA designs, and at a spot where it doesn't matter too much.

Funny how the future surrounding context shows this as the only high-rise building.

Without having seen the renders, when I saw RLA I immediately knew what this would look like. I was not wrong.

Very random location. I know it's at the junction of two major roads (Montreal & Blair), but it looks like this area would not be well-served by rapid transit (I'm sure there are local buses but still a bit far from frequent service or LRT). What about commercial and grocery stores in the area? I assume this is not a 15-minute community.

There is frequent transit service- it's on route 12.

This is actually pretty close to Gloucester Centre/Blair station (less than 2km), but the north-south transit service along Blair is poor.

Those renderings of future massing along Montreal Rd just go to emphasize how much the land in the NRC campus is under-utilized.

Opposite this site from the NRC, the area is quite dense. Good to see this use of Montreal Road.

Just wish the old copy-paste machine hadn't selected 'Frontier' by default.

Someone getting turned around along Blair might accidentally head in the wrong direction to get home, given that THESE BUILDINGS ALL LOOK EXACTLY THE SAAAAAAME.

Hmm...well it honestly isn't all that terrible...

If they maintain a lot of the glass façade, and keep the use of charcoal brick to a minimum, this could be one of the better RLA designs to come out in recent memory. Still seems like a strange location for such height, but like what was said above, it's not that far from the Gloucester Mall.

Can't wait for it to get value engineered into oblivion!

I'm wondering why is it acceptable to have an RLA design here, and yet the very same design placed elsewhere gets all kinds of abuse? I'm sure the residents of the area appreciate good design as much as the anywhere else. Has RLA finally worn you down? That's his plan, you know ;)

Not that random. These three large apartment buildings are just up the road, and they have managed with the same shortcomings for decades.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.4471383,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Oh, you just know that this will end up with much smaller windows that is currently depicted! :rolleyes:

I've never thought RLA designs were ugly. Just mediocre, unimaginative, bland. Having a few stand alone here and there is ok. When we start building clusters of RLA designed towers, then it starts to look like modern commie-blocks. In summary, my issue is the repetitiveness, not the design itself. :yes:

Examples of design that should be unacceptable anywhere are those with blank walls in anticipation for a future next door tower. We need to implement Vancouverism in this City to prevent this type of thing and guarantee light to all residents. The Hampton Inn proposed in the Market (which is also heavy on blank walls) is a design that should be banned from existence.

I give it six weeks before the NIMBYs cry and the height is instantly reduced by 7 storeys.

Just because something similar already exists nearby, doesn't mean it's working and we should be repeating it. They seem to be tower-in-a-park format, an abundance of parking and far from basic necessities. Closest grocery stores are the Metro at Montreal/Highway or Loblaw's at Gloucester, both are about 2km away.

I agree. But there's no bylaw that dictates that a residential development be located in proximity to a shopping area. So, ultimately it's up to the developer (and their renters\buyers) to decide if this location suits them or not. And given that the similarly located buildings up the street are not completely vacant, it must be working for quite a few people.

Quebec builder poised to enter Ottawa market with proposed 26-storey highrise on Montreal Road

OBJ Staff
June 17, 2021

A Montreal-based developer with extensive holdings in Quebec is moving into the Ontario market with a proposal for a mixed-use highrise at a prominent east-end intersection.

In an application recently filed with the city, Bertone Development Corp. says it wants to build a 26-storey tower with 243 rental apartment units and about 8,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space at the northeast corner of Montreal and Blair roads, just east of the National Research Council of Canada’s main campus.

The property at 1649 Montreal Rd. is currently occupied by an auto repair garage. The adjacent site at 741 Blair Rd. contains a single-family home, with most of the lot covered by mature trees and vegetation.

The proposal calls for a three-storey underground parking garage with 298 spaces as well as nine enclosed surface-level parking spaces in the building’s podium. Of the 307 total spaces, 49 will be reserved for visitors, with 70 spots proposed for commercial users and the remaining 188 spaces for residents.

The plan also includes more than 35,000 square feet of amenity space with a pool.

The Montreal Road property is currently zoned arterial mainstreet, while the Blair Road site is zoned for residential use. The developer is requesting an amendment to rezone the entire parcel as arterial mainstreet to allow for the proposed building height and setbacks.

The development would be the first in Ottawa for Bertone, which was founded in 2010 and has completed nearly two dozen residential and commercial projects in Quebec, mostly in the Montreal area.

https://obj.ca/article/real-estate/resid...d-enter-ottawa-market-proposed-26-storey

1649 Montreal Road & 741 Blair Road were purchased by Bertone Montreal GP Inc. from 1230008 Ontario Inc. and named individuals for $3,850,000 or $73.48 per square foot. It is zoned Arterial Mainstreet and Residential Third Density.

http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/newsletters/2021/June%20-2021-Newsletter-April-Sales.pdf

Rideau Centre high-rise gets a yes from planning committee; thumbs down for tower projects in Hintonburg, Rothwell Heights area

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Sep 08, 2022 • 29 minutes ago • 3 minute read


<snip>


There were two other high-rise projects considered at committee Thursday, and unlike Cadillac Fairview’s, neither got the response they were hoping for.


<snip>


Unlike the Wellington file, staff and planning committee were on the same wavelength in their recommendation that council reject a 26-storey tower project, to include 243 residential units and commercial/retail space, at the northeast corner of Montreal and Blair roads in Gloucester. Located south of the Rothwell Heights neighbourhood, the site is currently home to an autobody shop.

In their report recommending refusal of the zoning amendment sought by the developer, Montreal-based Bertone, staff shared objections including a lack of appropriate transition to the nearby low-rise residential area and a tower footprint and massing that are “excessive for the site and the context.”

Beacon Hill-Cyrville councillor Tim Tierney told his planning committee colleagues they could have seen dozens of public presenters speaking on the file, but delegate Jane Brammer of the Rothwell Heights Property Owners’ Association was acting as the spokesperson for “hundreds of people within the community.” Brammer argued that nine storeys, rather than 26, is what the city has determined is appropriate intensification for the site.

“Although open to intensification at this location,” Tierney stated in his written comments on the application, “this proposal is mammoth for this property parcel and, in no way, fits the character of the neighbourhood.”

All three files are scheduled for council consideration on Sept. 21.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ects-in-hintonburg-rothwell-heights-area

Woohoo!!! What could have been a very prominent CharcWart might be shot down! I'm all for it.

9 stories is now considered intensification according to the NIMBY association of Rothwell.

I didn't like the design much of this development but it isn't some "mAmMotH" thing that would destroy the "character" of the neighborhood..............

Just...wow.

I think it was rejected because it's in Tierney's ward. We've seen similar proposals on Baseline approved.

That said, Montreal Road and Blair will likely never get anything better than slightly improved bus service, so high-rises may not be appropriate.

Baseline should get BRT-lite (on paper), but it's not looking promising in a City obsessed with spending Billions on converting a perfectly functional commuter Transitway.