Kanata office building gets committee go-ahead for conversion to housing

535 Leggett Drive in Kanata is being converted from office use to multi-use residential. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIAArticle content

The city’s planning and housing committee approved a conversion project that would see an 11-storey office tower in Kanata transformed into a mixed-use building with office space and 115 housing units.

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The committee approved a zoning amendment that would facilitate the project on May 21, and the recommendation will rise to council on May 28.

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The building at 535 Leggett Dr. is one of three identical office towers in the Kanata Research Park.

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The proposed conversion aligns with the city’s official plan policies, staff said, “that seek to maintain the Kanata North Economic District as an economic generator while encouraging its transformation from a car-oriented business park to a mixed-use innovation district.”

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The site is “envisioned to transform over time from a car-oriented business park to a mixed-use innovation district with a broad range of uses,” according to the staff report.

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A rendering of what an 11-storey office building in Kanata will look like once a conversion is complete to turn them into housing. A City of Ottawa committee approved the conversion plan this week. Photo by CITY OF OTTAWA /HANDOUTArticle content

A future rapid transit station is planned for the intersection of Terry Fox Drive and March Road, which is within 600 metres of the site, staff said.

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The building is owned by billionaire Terry Matthews and his KRP Properties, which owns and manages 31 buildings in the Kanata Research Park and Kanata North Technology Park.

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Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry praised the project and thanked Matthews for “leading the way once again.”

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“It’s office-to-residential conversion right in the tech park,” Curry said. “The ‘live, work, play, learn and innovate’ motto for the park — this is the first ‘live’ — so people will actually live right in the park.

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“It’s very very exciting and it will change the dynamic (with) people living there and bringing more life to it all 24 hours a day.”

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The applicant is planning to reclad the building, add “Juliet” balconies and communal amenity space, according to staff. The building would feature 115 dwellings and office space on the ground floor. A connection to the nearby Brookstreet Hotel is also proposed.

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535 Leggett Drive in Kanata is being converted from office use to multi-use residential. Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIAArticle content

The amendment would change the zoning from “business park industrial” to “mixed-use” and would remove minimum parking requirements for residential and office uses, retaining only the visitor parking requirement.

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The proposal includes 108 vehicle parking spaces (85 residential and 23 visitor spaces) in the existing parking lot south of the building. There are 95 bicycle parking spaces, with 89 spaces within the building’s interior.

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“I am absolutely thrilled to see the office-to-residential conversion in one of the buildings right within Canada’s largest technology park,” Curry said in the report. “With many more plans to increase the number of people living in the park, this project will be the quickest to get going.”

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