Well stop the presses! After years of looking at what I thought was Ottawa’s Street’s version of the Docherty Hole, work has finally commenced on the Condos apartments that are replacing Crescent Lanes Bowling Alley.
While I’m sure the shitty Windsor housing market, and the locally held belief that McMansions are a dream come true, are major factors in the delays and the switch from sales to rental units.
None the less, it is nice to see new residential construction in the core of the city. Best of all the designs make it look like it will be a very urban project.
im just happy to see the parking hidden in the back and the building itself hugging the walkway.
Agreed Andrew. From teh artist rendering they don’t look too bad either. Could Windsor actually be realizing what other cities have for 10 years that re-constructing the core of a city helps to revitalize the entire area? I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it continues elsewhere.
Wasn’t there a 4-storey proposal for this project? That would’ve been some real density.
Yeah, originally it was proposed to be 4 story condos. Instead we get a crapped down version. However, it is still the most urban friendly development I can think of in the area. Hopefully this is part of a shift in thinking.
westerntragedy at Windsor Visuals has a picture of the previous rendering posted here: http://community.livejournal.com/windsor_visuals/47708.html
Looks like some retail at the base too.
I will miss ungentrified Crescent Lanes though, and their 1960s Las Vegas lounge-style bar seating. Deep crescent shaped booths.
This is what Urban Renewal is all about – a mix of new retail and living accommodations. Just the sort of vision that should be going into Downtown Windsor’s project.
And the design looks like it will fit right in with the neighborhood.
I like it way better than the earlier rendering. It fits in nicely with the contour of Ottawa St. like a building that actually belongs there. Red brick, not stucco or siding. Old school up to the sidewalk storefront with parking at the back. The Ottawa and cross street sides of the building form half a hexagon, which reminds me of the art deco hexagon. I wonder what the area in between the awnings will look like, whether it will be contrasting brickwork or some kind of art deco patterning. I think this is going to be a very interesting retro looking building.
A whole city block long, yet, it doesn’t look like there is an allowance for trees! Doesn’t Ottawa St. mandate some sort of tree allocation?
I see a tree on the cross street in the one pic. If it’s mandated, it’ll probably be on the side or at the back, away from the building. The tree roots would cause the foundation to buckle if it were in the front or too close to the building, and, therefore, a building code violation to plant one in the front.
Any pics of what the former Crescent Bowling Alley looked like?
It’s good to see an example of The New Urbanism taking root in Windsor. Looks like somebody finally had the guts to stand up to the big jerks at City Hall and their relentless campaign to turn the city into a giant parking lot.
One of the more interesting style buildings I have seen which would fit wonderfully in an urban environment is on the corner of Twin Oaks and Anchor Dr. in the twin oaks development. They look like beautiful chalet’s but I believe are offices.
Why they are out there is beyond me but the building does look nice.