RA Centre eyes $100M redevelopment with affordable housing tower on Riverside Drive
The 1941 recreation centre wants to replace its aging building with a 200,000-square-foot facility and a 16-storey affordable housing tower, its chief executive says.
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The RA Centre wants to replace its aging building on Riverside Drive with a new facility that would include affordable housing, its chief executive says. Initial estimates put the project above $100 million.
Ian Fraser told the Ottawa Business Journal the centre is in the early stages of planning. The new 200,000-square-foot building would go on the northeast corner of the current property. It would include a lifestyle medicine hub, flexible gym spaces, multi-purpose community rooms and courts for basketball, volleyball and racket sports, in a stacked, multi-floor design.
The proposal also includes a 16-storey tower with affordable housing units. Fraser said initial plans have it attached to the new facility.
"We are this large facility that serves about 25,000 people on a regular basis, plunked in the middle of the city of Ottawa," Fraser said. "Parts of it are 70 years old, and it really is at end of life."
The centre opened in 1941 as a volunteer-run recreation centre for federal public servants on land where Carleton University is now. It moved to its current Riverside Drive site in 1958, after the board signed a 100-year lease on federal land in 1953.
Fraser said the centre has worked closely with Canada Lands Company on the plan. That federal Crown corporation was originally responsible for the Confederation Heights redevelopment, which has recently been handed to Build Canada Homes. The sources do not give an approval process, funding source or timeline for the facility or tower.
The facts
How much will the RA Centre redevelopment cost?
Initial estimates put the RA Centre redevelopment on Riverside Drive above $100 million. The project is still in the early stages of planning.
How big would the new RA Centre building be?
The new RA Centre building would be 200,000 square feet and would go on the northeast corner of the current property on Riverside Drive. It would use a stacked, multi-floor design.
How tall is the affordable housing tower planned for the RA Centre?
The affordable housing tower planned for the RA Centre would be 16 storeys tall. Initial plans have it attached to the new recreation facility.
What facilities would the new RA Centre include?
The new RA Centre would include a lifestyle medicine hub, flexible gym spaces, multi-purpose community rooms
