Ottawa’s condo market is keeping up its momentum, a sign experts say shows the city’s urban living is changing.
A new 25-storey condominium is moving into Ottawa’s popular Westboro neighbourhood, a project that could further expand the west-of-downtown area.
Grace Vale said she and her husband are interested in living close to in an efficient space, driving them to think about that new building.
“We live in a large house in West Wellington Village, and so we're either looking at buying a smaller place for one of our daughters to rent or maybe moving ourselves,” she said of the new Minto-Canderel Upper West Tower.
“It's definitely very convenient,” said John Craig. “You don't have to shovel snow, a big problem in Ottawa.”
Minto said they’re seeing more interest in condos compared to the recent past.
“We see 20 to 25 per cent of the market in Ottawa today being in high-rise condominium in more urban settings,” said Paul Rockwood, executive VP of Minto Communities. “That's a big change from five years ago in Ottawa.”
“Years ago in Toronto the same thing was happening, there was more projects all the time,” said developer Brian Campagnola.
“Ottawa as you can tell, this is probably the fourth or fifth that has opened in the last month.”
Condos have been built at many different areas across the city, with common factors including restaurants, shops and easy access to public transit.
Developers said they’re confident about building in Ottawa, despite federal job cuts.
“If you look at Ottawa overall, historically it's always been a very stable market,” Campagnola said. “It tends to not have the big upswings and tends not to have the big collapses that you sometimes see in a hotter market like Vancouver.”
One note of caution came from Ottawa city council this week, as plans for a 42-storey building on Preston Street are paused while the city reviews the plans.
Results of that review (for what would be the city’s tallest building) are expected in early 2013.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Claudia Cautillo
