In the News

Elsewhere, near Dow’s Lake, Ashcroft Homes is constructing the first of two towers geared toward renters. Ashcroft’s CEO, David Choo, said even if the condo market had remained strong he still would have targeted students at Carleton University, which is just an O-Train stop away from the site.

With the fast pace of university enrolments, as well as the growth in international students studying in Ontario, student targeted condos have become hot properties, particularly for real estate investors.

A fresh approach to student housing that combines real estate investors, highrises, public transit and one of Ottawa’s hot spots for condominium developments is set to launch Sept. 28. That’s when Envie Student, a new wing of Ashcroft Homes, holds its VIP launch for the first of two student residence towers.

As fall approaches, undergraduate students are gearing up to go back to school. For many first-time students, leaving home and heading off to university may be their first taste of independence, complete with cooking, cleaning and (finally) learning how to do laundry. However, an unprecedented shortage of off-campus housing has driven up costs in the rental market, causing many parents to consider purchasing units for their children as an investment.

Ashcroft Homes gave Westboro residents a rare peek into the secluded Sisters of Visitation convent site on Saturday in a bid to ease tensions with neighbours, who have been concerned about development on the convent lands, and showcase plans for how the land will be used.

Ashcroft Homes’ vision for the remaining undeveloped lands in its Central Park community consists of a serpentine ‘main street’ running parallel to Merivale Road, bordered by several mixed-use buildings – four of which will be 18 stories or higher, perched on top of broader podiums.

Ashcroft Homes is planning a new 930,000 square foot project on the Merivale Road side of its Central Park housing development by the Experimental Farm, complete with eight mixed-use buildings – four of them 18 storey-plus condos.

At least a couple of hundred investors and home buyers turned up to inquire or get a stake in the 42 units that were part of the initial release of the condominium Ashcroft Homes plans to build at 108 Richmond Rd.

When an internationally acclaimed designer puts her stamp on Ottawa, it’s worth taking a look. Anna Simone, founding partner in Cecconi Simone, a Toronto-based design firm, is creating excitement at 106 Sparks Street.

It’s amazing what people can accomplish when they work together on intensification instead of engaging in the usual war against development. The controversial redevelopment of a former convent property in Westboro is much closer to becoming reality thanks to an unusual collaboration by the developer, area residents and a city-appointed panel of heritage, design and architectural experts.