The six-storey “ECHO” at the corner of Main Street and Echo Drive will now be an apartment complex with 59 units rather than a condominium with 42 units as originally planned by the developer. Image
Supplied by Uniform Urban Developments
John Dance
The Echo, the six-storey boutique development proposed for the prime location on the Rideau Canal at the northeast corner of Echo Drive and Main Street, will be luxury apartment rental units rather than a condominium, Uniform Urban Developments has decided. The six-storey structure will have 59 apartment units compared with the 42 condominium units that were originally proposed.
“Uniform made the decision to pivot to apartment rentals because the market for condominium units was not meeting our sales expectations,” says Dan Tomka, Uniform’s vice-president of high-rise developments. “The apartment complex will offer a diverse selection of unit sizes to meet the needs of residents.”
The building will have essentially the same “footprint” and appearance as was originally approved, and only “minor approvals” from the City are needed to make the change to a luxury apartment building, says Tomka.
Some additional parking spaces have been added to the development for a total of 74. The ground floor will continue to have three live-work units on the Main Street frontage, but there will be a couple of added units at the back of the ground floor.
The firm remains committed to retaining the Holy Trinity Church bell which will commemorate the Old Ottawa East’s first church built in 1877, a structure that had been repurposed to serve as the sales office for the condominiums but that will be demolished before the complex’s construction can begin.
Uniform plans to begin construction in late spring next year with occupancy anticipated towards the end of 2022.
