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1640-1660 Carling Ave. [Former Canadian Tire] | 63/69/78/93/125/135m | 18/20/24/28/37/40s | Riocan | Hobin
- Thread starter hoggytime
- Start date
From OBJ:
David Sali
An architectural sketch shows two of the six highrises RioCan plans to build at 1640 and 1660 Carling Ave.
A major real estate firm’s plan to build six highrises on Carling Avenue that would contain more than 1,700 residential units is one step closer to reality after getting the green light from the city’s planning and housing committee.
The committee approved a zoning bylaw amendment Wednesday that raises height limits on the property at 1640 and 1660 Carling Ave. from nine storeys to 40.
RioCan REIT has filed an application for a project that would see six mixed-use towers ranging from 18 to 40 storeys constructed on the five-and-a-half-acre site at the southeast corner of Carling Avenue and Clyde Avenue North.
The site is currently occupied by a former Canadian Tire store and a Boston Pizza restaurant. The vacant Canadian Tire building is being converted into a fitness centre that is slated to open later this year.
RioCan’s proposal calls for a total of 1,715 residential units ranging from studios to three-bedroom suites. In a summary of the application filed this spring, the developer says “some of the buildings” could include ground-floor retail space while others would be “solely residential.”
According to a draft site plan, the four buildings at the north end of the property – listed at 40, 37, 28 and 24 storeys – will be rental complexes, containing a total of about 1,335 apartments.
In addition, RioCan is proposing to build two condo towers of 18 and 20 storeys at the south end of the property that would include about 380 units. That’s a change from an earlier version of the proposal that featured a 20-storey condo and a nine-storey seniors’ residence on the southern edge of the site.
RioCan also plans to create a small public plaza at the northeast corner of the site that will lead to a privately owned public space in the middle of the cluster of highrises. A half-acre public park is expected to be built on the southwest corner of the property next to the condo towers.
According to a city staff report, current zoning rules require a minimum of 1,156 parking spaces for a project of this size. In its most recent application summary, RioCan said it plans to build an underground parking garage with spaces for 896 vehicles.
River Coun. Riley Brockington, whose ward contains the proposed development, said he supports the project.
In comments attached to the staff report, Brockington called it an “ambitious” undertaking, saying its total capacity of 3,000 residents would boost his ward’s current population of about 50,000 by six per cent once the development is completed.
The proposal, which goes to full council next week, comes amid a wave of residential development in the surrounding area.
Claridge Homes, for example, plans to build six highrises containing up to 2,000 housing units just south of RioCan’s property at 891 Clyde Ave. between Carling Avenue and the Queensway. Meanwhile, several other developers have also launched multi-tower projects along Carling Avenue near the former Canadian Tire site.
Lorne Scott, a realtor with Royal LePage Team Realty whose office is just down the street, told OBJ last year he thinks the Carling Avenue corridor is ripe for redevelopment due to its proximity to the Queensway and trendy neighbourhoods such as Westboro and Hintonburg.
“More and more companies and builders are going west of the core in Ottawa, at a much quicker rate than east of the core, despite real estate being more expensive in the west. Just look at Kanata, or Stittsville, or even Carleton Place. Those places are booming big time,” Scott said.
“I think Carling Avenue, while still rundown or tired in some stretches, will be a hot spot for the next 20 years. Any business, regardless of the service or product they offer, should – and many will – consider Carling.”
City committee approves RioCan’s six-tower Carling Avenue project
- June 20, 2024
- 11:52 AM
- ET
An architectural sketch shows two of the six highrises RioCan plans to build at 1640 and 1660 Carling Ave.
A major real estate firm’s plan to build six highrises on Carling Avenue that would contain more than 1,700 residential units is one step closer to reality after getting the green light from the city’s planning and housing committee.
The committee approved a zoning bylaw amendment Wednesday that raises height limits on the property at 1640 and 1660 Carling Ave. from nine storeys to 40.
RioCan REIT has filed an application for a project that would see six mixed-use towers ranging from 18 to 40 storeys constructed on the five-and-a-half-acre site at the southeast corner of Carling Avenue and Clyde Avenue North.
The site is currently occupied by a former Canadian Tire store and a Boston Pizza restaurant. The vacant Canadian Tire building is being converted into a fitness centre that is slated to open later this year.
RioCan’s proposal calls for a total of 1,715 residential units ranging from studios to three-bedroom suites. In a summary of the application filed this spring, the developer says “some of the buildings” could include ground-floor retail space while others would be “solely residential.”
According to a draft site plan, the four buildings at the north end of the property – listed at 40, 37, 28 and 24 storeys – will be rental complexes, containing a total of about 1,335 apartments.
In addition, RioCan is proposing to build two condo towers of 18 and 20 storeys at the south end of the property that would include about 380 units. That’s a change from an earlier version of the proposal that featured a 20-storey condo and a nine-storey seniors’ residence on the southern edge of the site.
RioCan also plans to create a small public plaza at the northeast corner of the site that will lead to a privately owned public space in the middle of the cluster of highrises. A half-acre public park is expected to be built on the southwest corner of the property next to the condo towers.
According to a city staff report, current zoning rules require a minimum of 1,156 parking spaces for a project of this size. In its most recent application summary, RioCan said it plans to build an underground parking garage with spaces for 896 vehicles.
River Coun. Riley Brockington, whose ward contains the proposed development, said he supports the project.
In comments attached to the staff report, Brockington called it an “ambitious” undertaking, saying its total capacity of 3,000 residents would boost his ward’s current population of about 50,000 by six per cent once the development is completed.
The proposal, which goes to full council next week, comes amid a wave of residential development in the surrounding area.
Claridge Homes, for example, plans to build six highrises containing up to 2,000 housing units just south of RioCan’s property at 891 Clyde Ave. between Carling Avenue and the Queensway. Meanwhile, several other developers have also launched multi-tower projects along Carling Avenue near the former Canadian Tire site.
Lorne Scott, a realtor with Royal LePage Team Realty whose office is just down the street, told OBJ last year he thinks the Carling Avenue corridor is ripe for redevelopment due to its proximity to the Queensway and trendy neighbourhoods such as Westboro and Hintonburg.
“More and more companies and builders are going west of the core in Ottawa, at a much quicker rate than east of the core, despite real estate being more expensive in the west. Just look at Kanata, or Stittsville, or even Carleton Place. Those places are booming big time,” Scott said.
“I think Carling Avenue, while still rundown or tired in some stretches, will be a hot spot for the next 20 years. Any business, regardless of the service or product they offer, should – and many will – consider Carling.”
pgagnon
Active Member
I wonder if, instead of shelving this project/approval for the next 10 years because Altea is going in, if there was still a way for them to potentially move forward with 2 of the towers on the very east side of the site? It shouldn't be an all or nothing approach.
Seems to me they could build the first four, maybe moving Altea into one of the podiums, then build the two tallest last.
I'd imagine the same. But this is RioCan though. They're painfully slow at redeveloping their properties in Ottawa.
originalmuffins
Active Member
Great news it got approved.. but yeah that timeline is way too slow. We would benefit so much from the whole lot redeveloping now, especially for pushing along a better Carling public transit. I would hope they start with building the towers around it and then letting them move into one of those (giving them two floors of one of the towers) and then moving them once they need to start the remaining two towers.
Marcus CLS
New Member
I have taken a couple of walks around the site since the redevelopment of the Recreation club started. I was hoping the two southern wings beyond the covered parking might be demolished to allow for partial developement. It looks like the entire existing building foot print will be used for the new rec complex. Based on the posted site plan building no. 4 is the only tower that could possibly go ahead for construction.
Westbro
Active Member
There's a 0% chance any of this is built in the next 20 years. It like the optimism but this is just busy work.
originalmuffins
Active Member
Yeah, I wish they didn't commit like that to the gym. Added a weird layer where they have approval but won't do anything with it. Riocan could definitely sell to another developer, that would be the only shot we would have to see something go up.
The lot across the street (with all the restaurants), from what I know, there are plans to build up that lot so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw action on that side faster.
The lot across the street (with all the restaurants), from what I know, there are plans to build up that lot so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw action on that side faster.
Westbro
Active Member
In my opinion the build-out that is being done on the old CT means they are planning on being in it for 20+ years. By that point I assume all of the Claridge project behind it will be done. I'd even bet we get a tower where you mentioned as well as another in the old Corel HQ parking lot.
There are quite a few marginal buildings down the length of Carling between Kirkwood and Maitland. Combined with the mostly light industrial and low SES apartments surrounding this area I would expect that this will become a bit of a linear skyline in the next 25 years or so since there will be little to no community opposition.
There are quite a few marginal buildings down the length of Carling between Kirkwood and Maitland. Combined with the mostly light industrial and low SES apartments surrounding this area I would expect that this will become a bit of a linear skyline in the next 25 years or so since there will be little to no community opposition.
Ultimately, it's not a bad thing that a building completed just over 15 years ago gets a little more time added to its useful life. Would be a waste to demolish it now.
And RioCan are extremely slow and redevelopments in Ottawa. I'd prefer if they focused on other projects like Lincoln Fields or behind the Gloucester Silver City.
And RioCan are extremely slow and redevelopments in Ottawa. I'd prefer if they focused on other projects like Lincoln Fields or behind the Gloucester Silver City.
Fit for a new role: Ex-Farm Boy CEO Jeff York takes helm at health and wellness chain Altea Active
David Sali, OBJ
July 25, 2024
Jeff York is wasting no time getting to know his clients as he tackles his latest business challenge.
At the outset of his conversation with an OBJ reporter on Thursday morning, the new CEO of premium fitness and wellness chain Altea Active made a point of mentioning he’d just finished a workout at the company’s Vancouver gym.
“I used to eat the Farm Boy food, come on,” the 61-year-old Ottawa native said with a chuckle, referring to the grocery retailer that grew into a powerhouse under his leadership. “It’s like every business – you’ve got to be with the customers, right?”
The man best known for spearheading the expansion of Farm Boy and another revered Ottawa brand – discount chain Giant Tiger – will have plenty of opportunities to keep flexing his entrepreneurial muscles in his latest role.
Altea Active was launched in 2017 by a pair of former senior partners at Movati Athletic, Ottawa native David Wu and Michael Nolan. The company opened its first location in Winnipeg in late 2019 before expanding to Toronto in 2022 and Vancouver last year.
But the jewel in the fledgling fitness firm’s crown is slated to open later this year right here in York’s hometown.
At 129,000 square feet, the new facility in the former Canadian Tire store at 1660 Carling Ave. will be Altea’s largest location yet.
In addition to the latest in cardio and fitness equipment, its list of amenities includes nine group fitness studios with activities ranging from hot yoga to boxing, an aquatic centre with a three-lane, 25-metre pool and – capitalizing on the hottest trend in sports – six indoor pickleball courts.
York said the state-of-the-art fitness centre will offer something for just about everyone.
“My priority is to make (the Ottawa facility) the best fitness concept anybody has seen in Canada,” he explained, adding Altea is aiming to enrol a minimum of 10,000 members in the nation’s capital.
“We want to wow the customer. We want them to want to go to the gym.”
York, who was already a shareholder and a member of the company’s board before taking the reins as chief executive, scoffed at the notion that the fitness and wellness industry – a space dominated by firmly entrenched brands such as GoodLife – is a tough nut to crack.
‘Go where the demographics are right’
People say the same thing about the grocery business, he pointed out. “The thinnest margins of any industry are in grocery,” he noted.But under York’s watch, Farm Boy expanded rapidly across the province before being sold to supermarket giant Empire Co. in 2019 for $800 million.
“We went from nine stores at Farm Boy to 49 in a ‘crowded’ grocery market in Ontario,” he said. “I see the same opportunity (at Altea). You go to where the demographics are right, where there’s demand for your offering and you just bring the right brand to the right customers and deliver on your promises. That’s hard to do for most people, but this is all I’ve ever done. It’s just another challenge.”
At Farm Boy, York explained, his team focused on providing a premium product while delivering top-notch service to consumers. He believes the same principles apply to the fitness industry, which he describes as “ripe for disruption.”
“Ottawa people are going to walk in and they’re going to say, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever seen in fitness,’” York said. “That’s what I want people to say when they walk in.
“The key to competing is, don’t be like your competitors. You’ve got all these (low-cost gyms) where they want you not to use the club – you just get a cheap membership and you keep paying. We actually want the members to use the club.
“There’s really nobody putting all the modalities … into one (facility) and offering a premium member experience with all the boutiques inside. When you put all that together, it’s actually extremely good value for offering a premium product.”
The chain’s next location – a smaller, boutique-style facility at a former Nordstrom Rack outlet in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood – is scheduled to open in early 2025.
From there, York is setting his sights on further expansion in the Greater Toronto Area and Western Canada.
“I love the brand; I love the team we have. We have tremendous white space to grow it across Canada. And it’s not just a Canadian thing – this could be international as well. Brands can go international if there’s demand. Our job is to create the demand, create the brand, create the concept and see where it goes.”
York said Altea, whose other financial backers include former Farm Boy CFO Marc Santerre, Smart Living Properties CEO Tamer Abaza and VCL Construction president Mark Dalton, is primed for success as long as it sticks to the formula that allowed his past businesses to thrive: focus on what you’re good at, build a dedicated team and execute your vision.
“Business hasn’t changed. Sure, technology has gotten better, but at the end of the day, you have to deliver on your promise to your customer. That’s going to be the challenge.”
Fit for a new role: Ex-Farm Boy CEO Jeff York takes helm at health and wellness chain Altea Active – Ottawa Business Journal
Jeff York is wasting no time getting to know his clients as he tackles his latest business challenge.
obj.ca
What it's like working out at Altea Ottawa — Canada's largest gym
The fitness centre on Carling Avenue encompasses 129,000 square feet that once housed a Canadian Tire. Just don't call it a gym, the company's CEO urges.Lynn Saxberg
Published Nov 28, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 8 minute read
Jeffrey York, CEO of the new-to-Ottawa fitness chain Altea Active, poses for a photo in the new facility on Carling Avenue in Ottawa. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
“How sweaty do you want to get?”
Ottawa business tycoon Jeff York asked me that question as we perused a big screen on the wall listing the array of fitness classes that were due to start within the hour.
Among the options were yoga, hot yoga, pilates, cycling, boxing, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), and a weight-lifting session called LF3 Strength.
“Moderately?” I replied, keenly aware of my lack of athletic ability.
We were in the centre of York’s latest venture, Altea Active, a huge, high-end fitness facility on Carling Avenue that encompasses 129,000 square feet of reimagined, custom-designed retail space, located on a five-acre piece property that used to house a Canadian Tire store.
After a renovation costing more than $30 million, the only indoor feature that remains of the hardware retailer is the escalator ferrying people up from what’s now a grand reception area. That new-tire smell is gone and black-clad staff greet you from the marble facade of a front desk that looks more like a luxury hotel than a gym.
Whoops.
“Don’t call it a gym” was one of the first things York told me when I called to set up a visit.
“Seriously. We can never use the word gym ever again,” he added emphatically. “Altea is a premium fitness-wellness club. It’s a big difference.”
The vision is to offer everything fitness-related under one roof, including, but not limited to, boutique studios, classes with top instructors, pickleball courts, high-end equipment and a swimming pool — plus a slate of features that fall in the category of recovery, such as steam cabins, dry saunas, state-of-the-art massage chairs and cold-therapy devices.
After Altea’s renovations, the only indoor feature that remains of the former Canadian Tire is the escalator. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
Founded by Ottawa native David Wu and business partner Michael Nolan, former executives at rival fitness chain Movati Athletic, the company launched its first location in a purpose-built facility in Winnipeg. It opened in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic started.
COVID-19 devastated the Canadian fitness industry as shutdowns and health restrictions discouraged people from working out in public spaces. The uncertainty prompted many Canadians to cancel their gym memberships, while others swore off returning to fitness centres ever again.
It’s estimated at least 25 per cent of Canadian fitness facilities shut their doors for good during the pandemic, said Gabriel Hardy, executive director of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada.
Many turned to home-workout apps like Peloton, sparking a digital fitness trend that, in Hardy’s opinion, led folks right back to the gyms as the pandemic waned. He pointed to a survey in the United States that showed that 70 per cent of people did not feel in shape enough to enter a gym before the pandemic.
“Thanks to all the fitness at home (during the pandemic), a lot of people started to feel more empowered. Now they don’t feel weird at a gym, they feel like they fit in,” Hardy said in an interview.
It appears the once-prophesized death knell to public gym spaces didn’t last long.
Altea expanded to Toronto in 2022 and Vancouver the following year, striking a chord with a newly health-conscious population. Memberships are already sold out in the 43,000-square-foot Vancouver location, the smallest of the four.
The gleaming new location in Ottawa is Canada’s fourth — and largest — Altea. The company has its long-range sights set on establishing locations in Calgary and Edmonton and adding clubs in Toronto and Vancouver. The fifth Altea, the second Toronto location, will occupy a retail space on Bloor Street formerly occupied by Nordstrom’s, York said. It’s expected to open mid-2025.
In Ottawa, the flagship club had a record number of memberships sold before the doors opened, representing a significant chunk of the capacity of 10,000 to 12,000. Thousands of Ottawans signed up in the presale to be “founding” members, including one former journalism pal I ran into during my visit.
Shelley Page was coming off a pickleball court and looking forward to hot yoga when we met.
“This is weird, but I actually joined to save money,” she said, listing the costs of doing aquafit at one facility, Zumba at another and pickleball wherever she can. The six indoor pickleball courts at Altea are a perk for her, considering the shortage of courts in the city for the fastest-growing sport in the world.
“We wanted to be among the first people to be able to play pickleball here,” she added. “We play everywhere.”
A view of the pickleball courts at the new Ottawa fitness chain Altea Active on Carling Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
The pickleball courts are already busy, although some of the features required to make them run smoothly are not quite ready. The 25-metre swimming pool, hot tub and children’s pool aren’t finished either, due to construction and supply delays. They are expected to open by March 2025. The child-care area are also behind schedule in opening, and the previously announced Fraser Brothers restaurant failed to materialize when the deal fell through.
Still, those minor annoyances did little to quell the enthusiasm of members, who oohed and awed at everything, including the variety of equipment, the atmospheric lighting, the luxe fixtures, the spacious hang-out areas with comfortable lounge chairs, the giant theatre screen in the spin studio and the spa-like feel of the change rooms, with sauna and steam room. There’s also a generous women’s-only fitness area.
The pickleball courts are already busy, although some of the features required to make them run smoothly are not quite ready. The 25-metre swimming pool, hot tub and children’s pool aren’t finished either, due to construction and supply delays. They are expected to open by March 2025. The child-care area are also behind schedule in opening, and the previously announced Fraser Brothers restaurant failed to materialize when the deal fell through.
Still, those minor annoyances did little to quell the enthusiasm of members, who oohed and awed at everything, including the variety of equipment, the atmospheric lighting, the luxe fixtures, the spacious hang-out areas with comfortable lounge chairs, the giant theatre screen in the spin studio and the spa-like feel of the change rooms, with sauna and steam room. There’s also a generous women’s-only fitness area.
Small groups of people chatted together in the public spaces, illustrating another reason for the growing success of Altea — the opportunity to socialize.
“Gyms are not just a destination for fitness anymore,” said the fitness council’s Hardy. “People like to spend more time there than just the time they’re training. So what Altea is bringing to the game is really the fact that you can go there, do your yoga classes, go to a sauna for recovery and meet friends in a place that feels like the nicest place in the world.”
Everyone wants a clean and well-designed facility, he added, especially Gen Z and millennial patrons looking for attractive spots to snap a selfie. Stats show the younger generations are often more health-conscious, too, eschewing alcohol and tobacco in favour of strength training and smoothies.
The new Ottawa fitness chain Altea Active on Carling Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
For York, the business of fitness is personal. A decade ago, he was in terrible shape, burned out from a demanding career at the helm of two popular Canadian brands founded in Ottawa. At Giant Tiger, he worked his way up to president and was credited for helping the discount chain survive the Walmart invasion. Then he became chief executive officer of Farm Boy and led the strategy for the grocery retailer’s expansion.
“I was running Giant Tiger and Farm Boy with four herniated discs,” recalled the Ottawa-born exec who grew up in an athletic family in Nepean (his brother is former Ottawa Senators defenceman Jason York). “I couldn’t tie my shoes. I couldn’t do anything when I was 50 years old, and I just said I’m not going to live my life like this.”
With pressure from daughter Jenna, a former competitive swimmer with a knack for business, Jeff started working out, finding a new passion in lifting weights, boxing and pickleball. Never one to do anything half-heartedly, he bought into a weight-training fitness company run by Jenna and a partner. They turned it into a boutique lifestyle-fitness studio called LF3 and developed the online end of the business during the pandemic. A partnership with Altea was struck in 2022, adding LF3 weight-lifting classes to the schedule of offerings.
The weight room inside the Ottawa fitness chain Altea Active on Carling Avenue. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
--SNIP over limit--
What it's like working out at Altea Ottawa — Canada's largest gym
The 129,000-square-foot fitness centre on Carling Avenue once housed a Canadian Tire. Just don't call it a gym, the CEO urges.
ottawacitizen.com
SweazyCavalry
Active Member
So it's an expensive Gym. Thanks Mr. CEO