Glebe Report

Cam Saikaly is no stranger to Ottawa and not new to the restaurant business. He also owns the Boston Pizza location at Walkley and Conroy where he has been for 10 years, and yes, business is great.

Minto has proposed a redevelopment of 99 Fifth Avenue at the corner of Fifth and Bank. The proposal is for an eight-storey condo to replace the current Fifth Avenue Court, retaining the two-storey brick façade along Bank Street. The Glebe Community Association has launched a petition to press for changes, and a number of Glebe residents have expressed opinions.

At this time of year, we need a chuckle to lighten up the still-short days. What better than a poem to make you smile?

I met with a very enthusiastic chef at Orto Trattoria named René Rodriguez. Among his achievements has been Top Chef Canada on the 2014 season of that Food Network Canada TV show. Rodriguez has been a chef for over 20 years in Ottawa, having owned the very popular and successful Navarra in the market, which he closed in the winter of 2017 after nine wonderful years.

Fifth Avenue Court at 99 Fifth Avenue is slated for redevelopment. The proposal, prepared by Fotenn Consultants for the building’s owner, Minto, is for an eight-storey residential building with 124 condos, and includes two storeys of underground parking and additional ground-level parking for a total of 122 parking spaces. It is proposed that the two-storey Bank Street façade be retained.

I met with Ian Charlebois on a dreary Monday afternoon, but inside his office at 52 Chamberlain Avenue, it was anything but dreary. Ian has been in real estate for about 10 years, having started during a difficult downturn in the economy. Starting his career in tough times speaks to his energy and enthusiasm and his sense of optimism.

Several contaminated sites have been identified recently in and near the Glebe. This is not surprising, given the age of our community, the fact that it has hosted many industrial uses, and that, until fairly recently, we didn’t really worry about soil contamination.

The Glebe Community Centre put out a green bin this fall. While this mundane event may appear unremarkable, in fact it signified the first of many changes envisioned and brought into practice by Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna’s Constituency Youth Council to the Glebe Community Centre (GCC).

If you stroll through the Glebe, you’ll notice that nearly 30 new businesses have opened their doors in the Glebe in 2017 and they are ventures that truly help set the neighbourhood apart.

Trees are highly vulnerable in infill development projects. What do developers consider when making decisions about what to do with trees?

The Glebe Community Association and Canderel, the developer originally proposing construction of an eight-storey retirement residence on the site of the Beer Store and Mister Muffler on Bank Street, as well as a group of affected Monk Street residents, have reached a compromise agreement.