Amazon Project X Warehouse [99 Bill Leathem Dr] | 30m | 5f | U/C

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Catenary

Amazon's last-mile centres often load the vans indoors. This would require multiple ground level doors to drive into and out of the building. The renders only show two, and they're in awkward places more useful for moving the occasional forklift in and out than anything else. There's also no on-site parking for delivery vehicles - there's a staff lot and trailer spaces, but nothing delivery van sized.

This would also be a HUGE facility just to do last-mile, and Amazon doesn't have a last-mile presence in Ottawa. Intelcom does the bulk of their work, and manages that out of a small facility in a light industrial strip mall.

This seems like a proper crossdock facility where trucks are unloaded, items are sorted and warehoused temporarily, generally without any vertical racking, and sent back out again.

I was suggesting it could be both a sort hub and a delivery van depot, similar to Purolator's Kipling Ave location in Toronto.

Amazon is in the process of opening 2 final mile delivery centres in London. One is a new build that has 2 ground level overhead doors for van access. The other is a retrofit of a building that used to have trailer dock doors down one side, but those are having the grade raised to be bumper height for vans. Lots of courier depots are like that as well. I haven't seen what Amazon did with the building they took over in Cambridge to be a delivery depot, but it was a 140,000 sq ft rectangle with 30 or so loading docks on either side and no doors to drive inside. Intelcom currently is one of the main Amazon service providers in London, along with Canada Post and Purolator, but they are planning to add upwards of 150 of their own delivery routes. Their trend is definitely more and more under their own control, and sort hubs are a necessary part of that.

[rocketphish]

Planning committee OK's warehouse project despite another blast from opponents

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 23, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read



Residents on Thursday had an opportunity to blast a mystery e-commerce warehouse and truck depot eyed for the South Merivale Business Park, only to have City of Ottawa’s planning committee deliver an approval for the site plan.

Medusa Inc./Broccolini was identified as the site plan applicant for 99 Bill Leathem Dr., 2 Leikin Dr. and 20 Leikin Dr. The builder needed the city’s approval of a site plan for how the property is going to function, including details on design, landscaping and traffic access.

Communities around the business park have grown uneasy about the interest in the area shown by warehouse developers.

City planning staff have the authority to approve a site plan unless the ward councillor makes staff win the approval of planning committee. In this case, Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan forced staff to ask for the committee to make a decision on the warehouse site plan.

The city describes the future facility as having a “light industrial use and associated shipping, receiving, loading, and distribution elements.”

However, the project team hasn’t disclosed which company will be using the warehouse.

All the city knows, according to a planning report, is that the facility will have “a type of assembly line that includes processing and handling of previously prepared products, packages, materials, merchandise, and packages serving external customers.”

The warehouse will be about 262,000 square feet, and an office will be roughly 16,700 square feet.

Residents are upset that the city would approve a warehouse in the business park, especially when the project would produce more transport truck traffic on already busy roads like Merivale Road and Prince of Wales Drive.

Many people also spoke out when a related zoning application hit planning committee’s agenda in May. The Ontario Land Tribunal has received an appeal to the zoning amendment approved by council.

Daintry Topshee, who lives in the Glens community, said the mystery warehouse project was a “travesty” and she expressed disappointment that the community didn’t know who would be operating the warehouse.

Inna Ellis, whose backyard faces Prince of Wales Drive, said she was already impacted by heavy truck traffic.

“We feel like our health, our wellbeing, our peace does not matter to whoever the developer is here,” Ellis said.

Meehan didn’t get a vote because she’s not a member of the planning committee.

“It has a potential to be disastrous,” Meehan said of the project in her final plea to committee members.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli, who represents residents in the neighbouring ward, said he opposed the site plan, but he’s also not a member of the planning committee and couldn’t vote.

Tim Marc, city hall’s top planning lawyer, told the committee it would be an “awkward situation” to reject the site plan since it complied with the zoning rules for the property.

The committee voted 7-3 in favour of the site plan. The decision doesn’t need council’s ratification.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ect-despite-another-blast-from-opponents

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Planning committee OK's warehouse project despite another blast from opponents

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Sep 23, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 2 minute read



Residents on Thursday had an opportunity to blast a mystery e-commerce warehouse and truck depot eyed for the South Merivale Business Park, only to have City of Ottawa’s planning committee deliver an approval for the site plan.

Medusa Inc./Broccolini was identified as the site plan applicant for 99 Bill Leathem Dr., 2 Leikin Dr. and 20 Leikin Dr. The builder needed the city’s approval of a site plan for how the property is going to function, including details on design, landscaping and traffic access.

Communities around the business park have grown uneasy about the interest in the area shown by warehouse developers.

City planning staff have the authority to approve a site plan unless the ward councillor makes staff win the approval of planning committee. In this case, Gloucester-South Nepean Coun. Carol Anne Meehan forced staff to ask for the committee to make a decision on the warehouse site plan.

The city describes the future facility as having a “light industrial use and associated shipping, receiving, loading, and distribution elements.”

However, the project team hasn’t disclosed which company will be using the warehouse.

All the city knows, according to a planning report, is that the facility will have “a type of assembly line that includes processing and handling of previously prepared products, packages, materials, merchandise, and packages serving external customers.”

The warehouse will be about 262,000 square feet, and an office will be roughly 16,700 square feet.

Residents are upset that the city would approve a warehouse in the business park, especially when the project would produce more transport truck traffic on already busy roads like Merivale Road and Prince of Wales Drive.

Many people also spoke out when a related zoning application hit planning committee’s agenda in May. The Ontario Land Tribunal has received an appeal to the zoning amendment approved by council.

Daintry Topshee, who lives in the Glens community, said the mystery warehouse project was a “travesty” and she expressed disappointment that the community didn’t know who would be operating the warehouse.

Inna Ellis, whose backyard faces Prince of Wales Drive, said she was already impacted by heavy truck traffic.

“We feel like our health, our wellbeing, our peace does not matter to whoever the developer is here,” Ellis said.

Meehan didn’t get a vote because she’s not a member of the planning committee.

“It has a potential to be disastrous,” Meehan said of the project in her final plea to committee members.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli, who represents residents in the neighbouring ward, said he opposed the site plan, but he’s also not a member of the planning committee and couldn’t vote.

Tim Marc, city hall’s top planning lawyer, told the committee it would be an “awkward situation” to reject the site plan since it complied with the zoning rules for the property.

The committee voted 7-3 in favour of the site plan. The decision doesn’t need council’s ratification.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ect-despite-another-blast-from-opponents

How could this be anything but an Amazon. The descriptions of what the company will do, how they do it, what their space requirements are, what goes on inside..it can only be an Amazon warehouse/distribution centre.

Some rather tetchy back and forth between the clients lawyers and one of the Committee members on the feed.

This is going to OLT for the zoning I believe. Who appealed it? Neighbours?

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

How could this be anything but an Amazon. The descriptions of what the company will do, how they do it, what their space requirements are, what goes on inside..it can only be an Amazon warehouse/distribution centre.

Some rather tetchy back and forth between the clients lawyers and one of the Committee members on the feed.

This is going to OLT for the zoning I believe. Who appealed it? Neighbours?

I'll be surprised if it is and as far as I can tell the zoning appeal wont do anything to do this project as it falls under the old zoning.

I wonder what the community would have thought of all the car traffic from the predicted office space that was part of the original plan for the area.

Considering it has been zoned light industrial for a long time.

[Marshsparrow]

Maybe all the oponents need to stop buying crap online and then there would be no further demand for these facilities.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Marshsparrow

Maybe all the oponents need to stop buying crap online and then there would be no further demand for these facilities.

Hey, I don't create traffic.it's everyone else who does...but not me. as I merrily drive to work solo in my car.

[rocketphish]

20 Leikin Drive, 99 Bill Leathem Drive & 11 Beckstead Road was purchased by Medusa General Partner Inc. (Broccolini) from Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. (Leikin Group) for $34,585,200 or $408,229 per acre. It is zoned Light Industrial.

http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/newsletters/2022/January-2022-Newsletter-November-Sales.pdf

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

20 Leikin Drive, 99 Bill Leathem Drive & 11 Beckstead Road was purchased by Medusa General Partner Inc. (Broccolini) from Zena-Kinder Holdings Ltd. (Leikin Group) for $34,585,200 or $408,229 per acre. It is zoned Light Industrial.

http://www.juteaujohnsoncomba.com/newsletters/2022/January-2022-Newsletter-November-Sales.pdf

So if I understand correctly.. Zena-Kinder Holdings purchased the land from the City of Ottawa for $1 and have now sold it for 34.5 million dollars.

yabba dabba do!

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by MountainView

So if I understand correctly.. Zena-Kinder Holdings purchased the land from the City of Ottawa for $1 and have now sold it for 34.5 million dollars.

yabba dabba do!

Yup. From the brilliant minds at the City of Ottawa. That was just a year ago.

Originally Posted by MountainView

Whatever it may be, it's known that it will take up the entire plot of land, and that the City will not have to construct the proposed roads and servicing that was initially agreed to by the former city of Nepean in 1996.

The lands were sold to Zena-Kinder Holdings for $1 and the City was released from its financial liability of approx. 7-10 million dollars for having to potentially construct the roads and servicing.

FINANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE report - South Merivale Business Park

I hope that, at the very least, they added an iron clad clause that says this "deal" must be held by any current or future owner, regardless of when the land is redeveloped. Considering they never anticipated Zena-Kinder Holdings would turn around and sell the land for Market value, I doubt it.

[originalmuffins]

Originally Posted by Marshsparrow

I have so enjoyed reading the many comments in news articles on this story. The Barrhaven crowd have very short memories considering they paved over everything for their suburban wasteland which laid traffic carnage on every route to get there. Same crowd protests airplane traffic - again, the airport was there first. Karma - love it - build it!

To add on this, it won't even really hinder them, because the traffic would generally be Prince of Wales to 417, which most of the traffic jams aren't there. Plus trucks can take a back route from Barnsdale and Borriskane via Prince of Wales.

[rocketphish]

Updated Proposal (October 2024)

-->> Height increased from 1 to 5 floors
-->> Total floorspace increasing from 25,896 m2 to 291,000 m2!!


Medusa General Partner Inc. is proposing to construct a light industrial building (Project X), with associated loading bays, parking and stormwater management (SWM) facilities, at 2 Leikin Drive, 20 Leikin Drive and 99 Bill Leathem Drive. The ground-level building footprint is 60,701.92 m2 with additional servicing platforms and mezzanines covering 4,049.67 m2. It is five stories tall, with an overall floor area of 290,999.58 m2. Levels two through five are allocated for operational facilities, while the ground floor houses 1,553.3 m2 of offices, extending outward from the main structure to maximize daylight and create a welcoming, human-scale entry.

The development includes 59 loading docks for non-refrigerated trailers and a fenced truck yard accommodating 482 trailers, for a combined capacity of 541. A total of 1,185 car parking spaces are provided, which includes 32 accessible spaces and 24 electric vehicle stalls. 291 bike racks are provided to promote active transportation, and access for cyclists connects Leikin Drive and Paragon Avenue to the facility's main entrance. Pedestrian access is routed through a traffic circle on Bill Leathem Drive, Paragon Avenue, and Longfields Drive.

Architect: GKC Architecture


Development application:
https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D07-12-24-0139/details

Location:




Siteplan:




Renderings:

[MountainView]

Fallowfield / 416 Amazon facility 2.0?
Build it!

[rocketphish]

Broccolini files plan to build Ottawa’s largest warehouse in Barrhaven east

David Sali, OBJ
November 20, 2024

The developer behind two mega-warehouses in the National Capital Region is planning to build another massive fulfilment centre in Barrhaven that would create as many as 2,500 new jobs. Montreal-based Broccolini recently filed a proposal to construct a five-storey, 3.1-million-square-foot distribution facility about a kilometre southeast of the intersection of Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road.

Located on three parcels of land at 2 Leikin Dr., 20 Leikin Dr. and 99 Bill Leathem Dr., the 75-acre site fronts along Merivale Road, Leikin Drive, Paragon Avenue, Bill Leathem Drive and Longfields Drive.

The property is zoned for light industrial uses such as a warehouse. The developer is requesting a minor variance because the building’s proposed height of 29.5 metres, or 97 feet, exceeds current limits. A site plan application prepared by Novatech Engineering Consultants says the proposed building, which has a floorplate of about 650,000 square feet, would include 59 loading docks as well as a yard with room for an additional 482 trailers. A surface parking lot would accommodate 1,185 vehicles. Broccolini is working with GKC Architecture & Design on the proposal, which it dubbed “Project X.”

In a transportation impact assessment filed with the site plan application, Broccolini says it plans to construct the building in a single phase and is aiming to complete the project in 2026.

The developer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposal on Wednesday.

The development application Broccolini recently filed with the city touts the building’s “sustainable design elements,” which include a reflective roof and an HVAC system with “energy recovery” capabilities. It also says the facility is designed to be “solar ready” with cable pathways and a roof strong enough to accommodate solar panels. If the project goes ahead, it would be the third and largest major fulfilment centre Broccolini has developed in the Ottawa region. The Montreal-based firm built a 2.8-million-square-foot warehouse farther west in Barrhaven at 222 Citigate Dr. that opened in 2021. That followed Broccolini’s first major industrial project in Ottawa, a one-million-square-foot distribution facility that opened on Boundary Road in the city’s south end in 2019. Amazon now leases both of those facilities. The online retail giant is one of a growing number of companies that are setting up warehouses in the National Capital Region to take advantage of its strategic location between the country’s two largest population centres and its easy access to major transportation routes such as Highways 416 and 417.

Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo, whose ward includes the proposed building, said he has discussed the new project with officials from Broccolini, but he wouldn’t reveal the names of any potential tenants that might eventually occupy the warehouse. “That’s not information I can share,” he told OBJ on Wednesday. “But I’ll say this – the field of possibilities is narrow.” Lo said Broccolini has suggested the facility would employ between 2,000 and 2,500 people once it is running at full capacity, “which obviously presents a lot of downstream economic benefits,” he added. “I’m thinking about the small businesses that are in the community that can stay open later, that’ll have a new customer base when a shift changes, for example.” While Lo said he supports the project, he has some concerns about the volume of traffic it will generate and its effect on nearby transportation infrastructure.

Lo said he hopes the development will be a catalyst for new funding to widen major traffic arteries such as Prince of Wales Drive and Fallowfield Road. “Objectively, it’s a very high-impact development,” he said. “Most of those roads are still two lanes. The intersections are already overloaded – I’m thinking about Prince of Wales and Hunt Club, Woodroffe and Fallowfield.” Lo said he’s planning to hold a public consultation early next year to give residents a chance to voice their opinion on the plan. “Overall, I’m supportive of the idea of introducing all that new employment into the community,” he said. “Early indications are encouraging. They want to be a good neighbour.”

https://obj.ca/broccolini-files-plan-to-build-new-warehouse/

[DTcrawler]

I love these SOF-type names being given to these warehouse projects. Amazon's was "Project Python" and now this. Jokes aside this will be impressively huge. I can't wait to see the backlash from local residents who are shocked that their suburban stroads with easy highway access continue to prove to be prime industrial real estate.

[sgera]

rumour is that it's costco

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by sgera

rumour is that it's costco

Because of the red paint?

I doubt it will be Costco... look at their DC's (Distribution Centers) in Vaughan, ON, Airdrie, AB, and Langley, BC, they are all long and narrow with docks for 75+ trucks. Costco wouldn't need the height proposed for this site.

It would also be a really weird area for a Costco DC if you think about the perishable goods that would come in/out and where the DC would be shipping to.

My guess is still on Amazon... especially since it's Broccolini who has built both the Boundary Road and Barrhaven Amazon DCs. Plus this looks eerily similar to the Barrhaven warehouse.

Edit: Pretty sure if it were to be Costco... they would come out and say it because their HQ is north up the road and everyone seems to love Costco.

[vtecyo]

Originally Posted by MountainView

Because of the red paint?

I doubt it will be Costco... look at their DC's (Distribution Centers) in Vaughan, ON, Airdrie, AB, and Langley, BC, they are all long and narrow with docks for 75+ trucks. Costco wouldn't need the height proposed for this site.

It would also be a really weird area for a Costco DC if you think about the perishable goods that would come in/out and where the DC would be shipping to.

My guess is still on Amazon... especially since it's Broccolini who has built both the Boundary Road and Barrhaven Amazon DCs. Plus this looks eerily similar to the Barrhaven warehouse.

Edit: Pretty sure if it were to be Costco... they would come out and say it because their HQ is north up the road and everyone seems to love Costco.

Yeah - I think the clever naming of the construction shell company gives it away "Medusa General Partner Inc." Project Python was Amazon - and Medusa is the Greek mythical figure of the woman with snakes for hair - sounds to me like it's Amazon again.

[Djeffery]

I said Amazon over 3 years ago upthread, and stick by that until there is confirmation it's someone else. And as Amazon keeps secrets until the place is almost done (as seen in the recent new fulfillment centres built in London and Kitchener), we likely won't hear until the parking lots are being paved.

[SL123]

This seems like a terrible location for a fulfillment Centre warehouse, transportation wise tho?!? the other two Amazon warehouse are along highways.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by MountainView

Because of the red paint?

I doubt it will be Costco... look at their DC's (Distribution Centers) in Vaughan, ON, Airdrie, AB, and Langley, BC, they are all long and narrow with docks for 75+ trucks. Costco wouldn't need the height proposed for this site.

It would also be a really weird area for a Costco DC if you think about the perishable goods that would come in/out and where the DC would be shipping to.

My guess is still on Amazon... especially since it's Broccolini who has built both the Boundary Road and Barrhaven Amazon DCs. Plus this looks eerily similar to the Barrhaven warehouse.

Edit: Pretty sure if it were to be Costco... they would come out and say it because their HQ is north up the road and everyone seems to love Costco.

Agree on Costco - their facilities aren't Distribution Centres, but rather cross-dock facilities. They don't need to break down skids or store anything, everything arrives on a skid on one trailer and gets sorted onto another on the other side almost same-day.