Major transformation for Glebe Annex

299 Carling

By Sue Stefko

After three and a half years on the market, the 3.4acre parking lot on Carling Avenue between Bell Street South and Lebreton Street South has been purchased by the Turn Group for a reported $21 million. The project is poised to become the most transformative development in the Glebe Annex in living memory, featuring four towers with more than 750 residential units and more than 600,000 square feet of mixeduse space.

One of the most anticipated elements is a long-awaited grocery store. The developer has signed a memorandum of understanding with an unnamed grocer for a 25,000 squarefoot store located in the large podium along Carling. For comparison, this is similar in size to the Food Basics on Queen Street (22,000 sq. ft.), the Farm Boy on Metcalfe (28,000 sq. ft.) and the Loblaws on Isabella (just over 27,000 sq. ft.). A grocery store was previously proposed for Arnon’s 450 Rochester project, but that plan has since been abandoned, dashing the neighbourhood’s hopes of a nearby grocery store –until now!

Beyond the grocery store, the podium will include smaller retail units and a significant medical hub designed to complement the new Civic Hospital campus. Plans include family doctors, pharmacies, specialists and diagnostic services. The site layout features three towers rising from a single podium along Carling, with a fourth 13-storey residential tower at the north end of the property, adjacent to the new public parkette that Canada Lands Company (CLC) expects to begin building later this summer.

The project, with Arcadis as lead architect, represents a significant increase in height and density from earlier concepts, which envisioned buildings of eight to 20 storeys and roughly 600 units. CLC explains that the City’s updated zoning bylaw now permits greater heights in transit-oriented areas and emphasizes that the earlier concept “was not an approved or fixed development plan, but rather a conceptual representation intended to support the zoning application.”

Turn Group also plans to partner with an operator to create a wellness-focused 55+ residence in one of the towers. While Katasa’s seniors’ residence at the Clemow has struggled with vacancies, Jan Steingahs, Living Practice Group Manager at Arcadis, seems undaunted, noting that “the 55+ and seniors’ market …is a quickly growing market that will continue to require facilities, from housing to recreation and healthcare.”Another tower is expected to include 135 affordable units, meeting CLC’s requirement that 15 per cent of units be affordable. Most of the development appears to be purpose-built rental – the two tallest towers are planned as rentals, and the affordable housing tower will likely be rental as well, depending on the operator.

Parking for Natural Resources Canada employees will end once soil remediation begins, probably this fall. Construction is planned to start in 2027. The podium will be built first, followed by the tallest tower above it. The full buildout is expected to take five to seven years, placing completion around 2034. The commitment to green space in the development is a welcome feature. The podium roofs will include landscaped areas for residents, and the design will incorporate living facades. The development will connect the northern-most 13-storey tower to the new city parkette through a publicly accessible courtyard and landscaped pathways.

The development is set to take advantage of the site’s prime location overlooking Commissioner’s Park and Dow’s Lake, with Arcadis noting the “sweeping lake views.”Turn Group is a relatively new developer, founded less than a year ago but already building $1.5 billion worth of projects in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Led by CEO Ash Mahmoud, the company has moved quickly to establish itself as a major player in large-scale, mixed-use development. In Ottawa, the company is also developing a ninestorey, 131-unit rental building with groundfloor retail at 255 Richmond Road in Westboro.

299 Carling is one of several major projects reshaping the Carling corridor into a dense urban district. Although not stated outright, the Turn Group appears to be hinting at interest in yet another property in the area – the nearby Booth Street complex, another long-vacant site. With its collection of historic federal buildings and distinctive architecture, the complex has often been compared to Toronto’s Distillery District. Its redevelopment has been much anticipated, and seeing movement on both sites would mark an even more dramatic transformation for the area.

Sue Stefko is vice president of the Glebe Annex Community Association. As viewed from Commissioner’s Park

A rendering showing how the 299 Carling Avenue development will fit next to the proposed city parkette. Hasenack Place is shown at the left, with Dow’s Lake Towers shown in the background. Source – Arcadis