Minto eyes new 19-storey apartment building in the Glebe

Minto Group is proposing a 19-storey apartment building on Isabella Street in the Glebe, with 229 residential units. (Minto Group/report)

Minto Group is looking to build a 19-storey apartment building overlooking Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood and Highway 417, calling it an opportunity to turn a “hostile pedestrian environment” into an “engaging and welcoming pedestrian realm.”

The City of Ottawa has received an application to build a new high-rise residential building on Isabella Street, just east of Bank Street and next to the Queensway.

Under the proposal, the 19-storey high-rise would include 44 studio apartments, 107 one-bedroom units, 55 two-bedroom units and 23 three-bedroom apartments. The three-storey podium over the public realm on Isabella Street will provide “requisite separation in building mass between the ground level and the tower levels above.”

The design brief submitted by Minto Group calls the land at 200 Isabella Street “challenging,” noting it “fronts onto a bleak pedestrian setting, which includes both a major arterial road and a raised 400 series highway.”

“Where there are challenges, we see opportunities,” the design brief said.

“The project offers a response to three main elements, the pedestrian realm, the north side of the building, which faces the highway, and the south side of the building which offers views over the Glebe and the Rideau Canal.”

Minto says the ground floor of the proposed building will offer a “highly glazed ground floor expression that offers views and connection with the adjacent pedestrian realm.”

“In addition to this, we have angled the wall of the ground floor away from the sidewalk as it moves to the west, offering more breathing room and allowing for the creation of a west entrance into the building,” Minto said.

“Articulated with high quality metal panels and engaging accent lighting, this entrance recognizes that the proximity to local amenities and offers between connections to and from the shops and restaurants along Bank Street. On the east side of the building, the vehicular entrance has been imagined in a way that creates spaces for both people and vehicles.”

According to the plan, balconies would be “focused on the south façade” of the building, which faces the Glebe and Lansdowne instead of the highway.

“The tower levels of the north side were designed with cars in mind. Understanding the proximity of the site to the highway, and the fact that most people will experience this project from their cars made it important to us that the building respond to this condition and that it feel different for people travelling eastbound versus westbound,” the report said.

The plans also call for 99 vehicular parking spaces and 224 bicycle parking spaces, along with 1,595 metres square of amenities, including 555 square metres of amenity space on the roof.

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