Windmill Development Group is partnering with Southminster United Church on a project that involves the redevelopment of a portion of the church’s property in the Old Ottawa South neighbourhood.
The deal, inked between Windmill and the church in December 2016, provides for retention of the original building. A hall at the rear of the property will be demolished to accommodate a condo development.
Sale of part of the property allows the church to complete long-awaited maintenance on the original 85-year-old building and to renovate parts of the interior of the church, which is a community hub.
A rezoning application was approved by Ottawa City Council in mid-December.
In an interview, Windmill partner Rodney Wilts said the hall, added to the church in the 1950s, is in poor shape.
“We’re going to take down that hall,” he said. “We’re planning a boutique-scale condo development with 14 units as well as four townhouses.”
Wilts said church programming “by and large” can be accommodated within the original church building, which overlooks the Rideau Canal and was consecrated in 1932.
The redevelopment is being undertaken by a team that includes Ottawa-based Hobin Architecture Inc., formerly Barry J. Hobin & Associates Architects Inc. The firm is acting as prime consultant.
Both conceptual design and massing have been completed on the residential component, Wilts said. Massing refers to the perception of the general shape and form as well as the size of a building.
“We have developed the architectural palette,” Wilts said. “But in terms of refining the floor plans (for the new housing units) we are not quite there yet.”
Given Windmill’s commitment to green development, “a high degree of sustainability” will be incorporated in the redevelopment, he stated. But a decision has not yet been made on what form that will take.
On the giant Zibi mixed-use development, for example, Windmill and partner Dream Unlimited Corp. are utilizing the “One Planet Communities” framework to help guide sustainability and eco-friendly planning rather than LEED.
A date has not been set for groundbreaking on the Southminster residential complex. But Windmill hopes to go out to market to prospective condo purchasers sometime in 2018.
Windmill’s church redevelopment credits include Cathedral Hill in Ottawa and the redevelopment of the lands surrounding the historic Christ Church Cathedral and Arch Lofts in Toronto. The latter, located at Perth Street and Wallace Avenue, combines the architectural heritage of the original church building with a newly constructed vestry.
Wilts, a LEED-accredited professional, said there are a number of aging church buildings in urban cores that are often facing similar challenges in terms of costly repairs.
“These are expensive buildings to operate and maintain,” he said. “They are energy hogs and far too often, the congregation is shrinking.”
But regardless of anyone’s religious persuasion, Wilts said church buildings tend to function as de facto community centres “where the boy scouts meet, where mom and baby yoga classes happen…All kinds of amazing community life happens in these buildings. If these buildings ceased to be quasi-public in nature, I think the community would really miss them.”
While working on church redevelopment projects does present certain challenges, these initiatives are rewarding from both a social sustainability and environmental perspective, Wilts said.
“We enjoy partnering with these groups and being able to help ensure that these churches can keep their doors open in terms of community programming,” he said.
“From an environmental perspective, these partnerships present fantastic opportunities in terms of urban infill and intensification as well as allowing churches to improve their energy performance.
“We’d love to do more of these developments.”
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