Vittoria Trattoria owner ready to return to ByWard Market

More than four years after a massive fire gutted a popular ByWard Market restaurant, its owner says he's ready to rebuild.

But the process of getting permits has been frustrating.

A four-alarm blaze on April 12, 2019 caused extensive damage to Vittoria Trattoria on William Street and other surrounding businesses on nearby York Street. The fire was deemed accidental, associated with roof work, but it destroyed the interior of Vittoria Trattoria. Only the restaurant's historic façade remained.

Firefighters battle a blaze at the Byward Market in Ottawa, Friday, April 12, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron on Tuesday, owner Dom Santaguida said he's had mixed results dealing with the process of restoring the beloved restaurant.

"I have to be honest, the bureaucracy parts on certain levels has been good and on other levels it has not been good," he said.

"The people over at heritage have been really great to deal with. They've been very quick to issue heritage permits. It's the site plan application and the building permit application process that seems to be slowing everything down."

Lesley Collins, the city of Ottawa's Heritage Planning Program Manager says staff worked with Santaguida on the project.

"We worked through a process with him for a heritage permit. So he had to apply to the city for an application to construct the new addition to his building, or to the remaining facade. And that required city council approval after consultation with staff and the built heritage committee of council," Collins said.

The fire that destroyed the restaurant came a year before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the city's downtown core, causing major losses for businesses. Santaguida said the destruction of his ByWard Market location was a blessing in disguise.

"In a bit of hindsight moment, not having another restaurant and another set of problems to deal with for the last three years has been a bit of a blessing. Operationally, we are having difficulties finding staff, finding supply chain problems. We've had nothing but problems since March, April of 2020," he said.

Santaguida said he is proposing to rebuild the restaurant and add some living space above it, but the process has been difficult.

"You have to get a partial permit to get started and you have to kind of beg for something to get basic construction permits. It's really frustrating," he said.

"I think it's going to look like something the centre of Ottawa hasn't seen before. Modest, mid-rise buildings, four storeys, a rooftop terrace, amenity space for the restaurant, slash event space for someone wanting to host a cocktail party or just come and sit and enjoy an afternoon drink," he explained.

A depiction of the future development at William and York streets above the Vittoria Trattoria restaurant. (Supplied)

David Fleming, Heritage Ottawa advocacy committee chair, said he's looking forward to seeing the project go ahead.

"This is the kind of thing we like to see happen. And it doesn't happen as often as we would like," Fleming told CTV News Ottawa. "This is intensification. But it's also preserving an important heritage aspect of the neighborhood. Plus it's providing residential accommodation. So more people will live downtown and live in the ByWard Market area."

Santaguida says despite the delays, he's excited for the future of the space.

"It feels great, actually, to start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. We have a 14- to 16-month construction schedule ahead of us. We do intend to reopen part of our building at 62 York at the end of September," he explained. "We're rebirthing the Starbucks that was there pre-COVID, which was shut down during COVID. That's reopening in the next six weeks."

Signs on the windows at 62 York St. say Starbucks is coming soon and it is hiring employees.

Signs on the windows of 62 York St. in Ottawa's ByWard Market indicate Starbucks is returning to the space after it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ted Raymond/CTV News Ottawa)

In the meantime, Santaguida said he's heard from former patrons who are eager to get back to dining downtown.

"It's nice to still be relevant four and a half years later. I get asked daily, when are you opening, have you started? My hope is I can be a part of the solution to bring life back to the ByWard Market. I want to encourage people to get out and support downtown businesses and rediscover Ottawa," he said.