Ontario Construction News staff writer
Developer Python LP has submitted a Site Plan Control application for a “prestige office and light industrial building” at 222 Citigate Dr. in Ottawa’s southwestern Barrhaven suburb.
The developer could have associations with Brocollini and the proposed building will be city’s largest industrial structure, Ottawa Business Journal reports.
The city planning documents says Python LP has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Strandherd Road Inc., the 25.9-hectare property’s vendor.
“Python LP proposes to build a 251,857 sq. m., five-storey building with approximately 2,035 vehicular parking spaces and 50 loading docks,” says the city filing, recorded on June 3.
“Construction of the project is projected to start in summer 2020, with full occupancy by 2021. The site slopes from west to east and will require clearing and levelling. Lands along Highway 416 will be located up to six metres higher than the site and the site will be up to three metres higher than Citigate Drive. Berms and retaining walls will be required. Where possible, natural stratified rock outcrops will be incorporated into the site landscaping.
“Some vegetated areas along the highway and site perimeter will be protected or renaturalized. The proposed building will incorporate sustainable design initiatives, including a reflective white roof to mitigate heat island effect, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and reduced water consumption with low-flow fixtures,” the filing says.
“Sustainable features in the landscaping include shading and screening to control glare and minimize spill-over lighting, shaded parking areas, and indigenous planting.”
OBJ reports that Broccolini, the Montreal developer behind a $200-million Amazon Ottawa distribution centre that opened in 2019, is not named in the new application.
“But three members of the Broccolini family who are also high-level executives at the company that bears their name – CEO John and vice-presidents Joseph and Paul – are directors of a company called Python GP that was federally incorporated at the beginning of March, just weeks before the new application was initially filed,” the published report says.
“It’s got e-commerce written all over it,” Shawn Hamilton, managing director of CBRE’s Ottawa office, told OBJ, saying that the building design appears suited for a single tenant despite its massive size.
“The only other potential user would be another e-commerce group, and I don’t know how excited they would be to be right next to one another in the same building. My suspicion is that it would be a single user.”
OBJ suggests that if the project proceeds, based on Brocollini’s other ecommerce project for Amazon in the Boundary Road area, the structure could have a value of about $500 million.