Elgin Street office building to be converted into residential units

The office building at 200 Elgin Street is slated to be converted into residential units. (Sam Houpt/CTV News Ottawa)

An Elgin Street office building is slated to be converted into a residential building, as Ottawa's downtown core continues its makeover coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CBRE's first quarter office market report shows 200 Elgin Street has been slated for conversion to multi-residential units. The report says this is the fifth notable office building conversion in the core since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

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The 11-storey building was built in 1966. According to the CBRE website, the building is 123,016 sq. ft., with a typical floor size of 14,400 sq. ft.

In its latest report, Colliers International says the planned conversion of 200 Elgin Street into a multifamily residence "significantly contributed" to a decrease in available office space in downtown Ottawa in the first quarter of 2024.

Colliers International senior managing director Warren Wilkinson says 200 Elgin Street joins 360 Laurier Avenue and 130 Slater Street as buildings being converted into housing.

"Very feasible, (but) it's not for every building. You can't take a Class A downtown office tower and covert it easily into residential. There's a lot of things that go into residential construction," Wilkinson told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron.

"You have to have a floor plate, and the size of a building that lends itself well to conversion."

CLV Developments is converting the former office building at 360 Laurier Avenue into residential apartments.

Ottawa's office vacancy rate was 13 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the CBRE.