WE 2/WE 3 [71, rue Wellington] | ??m | 13+29f | U/C

[Harley613]

Looks like 12 and 24 story towers. It would be cool if this is what is being built right now and there is still room for a 33 story on the unexcavated portion of the lot. Being Gatineau though, I don't think there is a way to find out what a developer is building until it's built for some idiotic reason.

[Matt1]

It will be a 14 floors, 40m (130ft) building. There is no mention of the approval for the 33 floor tower on the same site eventhough they look pretty much intergrated together and zoning allows for that height. It would have been nice if they built the whole block at once.

https://www.gatineau.ca/upload/avis_publics/202092911175_-2094250950_14_-_71__rue_wellington.pdf

[Kelnoz]

Most project info is on the avis publics page, it's just a pain to navigate.

[J.OT13]

Website:

https://lewe2.ca/

First image is at Wellington and Saint-Rédempteur. Next two are at Wellington and Eddy.

[Harley613]

Fantastic news!!! Excavation has begun for the 26 story tower!

[ponyboycurtis]

Excavation has indeed begun. While they are still close to grade level it seems like the rock they are currently taking up is more of a shale type than hard bedrock. They had 3 breakers and 1 massive loader yesterday. Everything was coming up pretty easy.

Seeing that massive armoured bucket fill a full size dump truck in roughly 6 scoops was impressive. There was a continuous line up of dump trucks down the street and they didn't have to wait long. I would say it was in the 7/8 minute range for a truck to pull up, back down to the site, get loaded and and depart.

[Harley613]

The taller tower excavation is already very deep on this one, definitely one of the fastest digs I have seen in this region.

[OTSkyline]

Too bad this will be mostly hidden from Ottawa or the river. But exciting to see more development in Hull. Gatineau should really try to make this a vibrant, dense, artsy place and it's own little downtown.

[Davis137]

After looking at the pictures posted above, it makes me wonder how long the rest of the old neighborhoods that are directly behind the wall of government office towers will be around for.../ I would imagine the remaining rows of old buildings and surface parking lots will be bought and redeveloped in the near future.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Too bad this will be mostly hidden from Ottawa or the river. But exciting to see more development in Hull. Gatineau should really try to make this a vibrant, dense, artsy place and it's own little downtown.

We already have that in the Vieux-Hull, though it's admittedly small and modest.

Though it would be cool if as a result of this it could stretch further westwards from Place Aubry and Laval, along Wellington and then encompass the Montcalm sector which also has some signs of life.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Davis137

After looking at the pictures posted above, it makes me wonder how long the rest of the old neighborhoods that are directly behind the wall of government office towers will be around for.../ I would imagine the remaining rows of old buildings and surface parking lots will be bought and redeveloped in the near future.

The area just north of this cluster along Eddy is one of the worst areas of the city. No one would be sorry to see it transformed.

There are a few parts of Vieux-Hull that have more nicer older houses that might be worth preserving, but not many in this zone at all.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Too bad this will be mostly hidden from Ottawa or the river. But exciting to see more development in Hull. Gatineau should really try to make this a vibrant, dense, artsy place and it's own little downtown.

I wish they would have been more strategic in their heights and placements in order to add some layering to the skyline.

Originally Posted by Acajack

The area just north of this cluster along Eddy is one of the worst areas of the city. No one would be sorry to see it transformed.

There are a few parts of Vieux-Hull that have more nicer older houses that might be worth preserving, but not many in this zone at all.

We have Vieux-Hull (bar district), Quartier du Musée. Maybe they could find a few, clustered, particularly nice/intact blocks of Maison Allumette to preserve and allow development of different scale for the rest.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The area just north of this cluster along Eddy is one of the worst areas of the city. No one would be sorry to see it transformed.

There are a few parts of Vieux-Hull that have more nicer older houses that might be worth preserving, but not many in this zone at all.

It's a very large area and it will take a lot of luck to get the critical mass necessary to turn it around. Lots of sketchy downtown areas in the US have a few luxury condo buildings. The Vieux Hull area still needs a lot of help post-pandemic but somehow was never thriving pre-pandemic either though there were a few busy spots for sure. Looking at how bad the byward market is right now despite thousands of new residents I think we over-estimate how much new condo buildings can turn things around.

[OTSkyline]

I know in general, Quebecers aren't that fond of height or high-rise living, but they seem to have no issues with density and mid-rises or walk-ups.

Too bad, Gatineau couldn't redevelop the entire Ile De Hull into a such a neighborhood. It's like it doesn't exist, and most turn a blind eye to it. The face of Gatineau is instead suburban like La Verendrye.

Imagine...

[Acajack]

It would be nice but we never really had that residential vernacular here in the Outaouais.

Our traditional vernacular is the maison allumette and working class New England mill town.

It's even been reproduced to some degree in newer suburban areas by developers:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5067486,...KZh8lLz1Prb4ZJlJ-HdKw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I know in general, Quebecers aren't that fond of height or high-rise living, but they seem to have no issues with density and mid-rises or walk-ups.

Too bad, Gatineau couldn't redevelop the entire Ile De Hull into a such a neighborhood. It's like it doesn't exist, and most turn a blind eye to it. The face of Gatineau is instead suburban like La Verendrye.

Imagine...

I think this kind of construction would be completely uneconomical in Gatineau. New construction of that sort in Montreal is very very expensive. I don't think someone is paying $1.5 million for a townhouse or small triplex with two small apartments up above. Height is what is required to justify the construction costs.

[harls]

Originally Posted by Acajack

We already have that in the Vieux-Hull, though it's admittedly small and modest.

Though it would be cool if as a result of this it could stretch further westwards from Place Aubry and Laval, along Wellington and then encompass the Montcalm sector which also has some signs of life.

I wonder if the west side of Montcalm will ever be developed. Not likely.

The tiny ruisseau de la Brasserie seems wasted. Imagine patios and restaurants overlooking the creek.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

It's a very large area and it will take a lot of luck to get the critical mass necessary to turn it around. Lots of sketchy downtown areas in the US have a few luxury condo buildings. The Vieux Hull area still needs a lot of help post-pandemic but somehow was never thriving pre-pandemic either though there were a few busy spots for sure. Looking at how bad the byward market is right now despite thousands of new residents I think we over-estimate how much new condo buildings can turn things around.

I think what you say is true, with a couple of caveats. One, I think that the issues in the Market stem in no small part from the decision to concentrate virtually all social services in that one spot and the decline of the Market itself. Secondly, I think that calling it "bad" is maybe overkill. I suspect that Vieux-Hull would be absolutely delighted to replicate the Market in its current iteration. When I was there for brunch a few weeks ago, I literally couldn't find a spot that wasn't packed, so it's not like it's exactly a disaster.

Condo development won't "fix" Vieux Hull all by itself, but adding a significant affluent population to the mix there will make a lot of other things possible.

[SL123]

Taken March 19, 2023

[J.OT13]

Those pictures look like two different buildings. Such a huge footprint.

Some much needed residential for Hull (even if Covid never happened, the Federal building renos would have impacted the office population significantly). And much needed grocery store! If it actually happens this time.