Infill apartment block planned for 380 Osborne

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This article was published 15/01/2018 (1968 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new infill development projected to bring 71 new apartments to South Osborne has cleared the first round of approvals at City Hall.

On Jan. 9 at City Centre community committee, councillors Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) and Cindy Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre) approved rezoning 380 Osborne St. from commercial community use to residential mixed use and variances to allow for the construction of a seven-storey apartment block.

The property was formerly home to Fort Rouge Glass, which moved to 58 South Landing Dr., off McGillivray Boulevard in late 2017.

Neil Minuk of DIN Projects presented the proposal at the public hearing, where only one person was registered in opposition. Minuk said in addition to adding one ground level commercial space, the new infill building will increase density in the neighbourhood.

“We see this stretch of South Osborne being rather bleak and it really sort of becomes evident by looking at the size of the bus garage,” Minuk said. “We’re right across the street from that so we see this building as helping the urban structure. We’re pushing the building right up to Osborne and we’ve got lots of eyes on the street.”

The building will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom suites with two levels of indoor parking, one underground and one at grade, for a total of 71 spots. Bike parking and a car share spot are also included in the plans.

The proposed apartment building is also comparable to other nearby multifamily developments, with 376 Osborne standing at eight storeys and 400 Osborne at seven. The building backs on to Don Togo Park to the east.

A recent public consultation with about 30 people from neighbouring properties raised some concerns about parking entrances (which will be off of Don Avenue) blocked views, and shadows, Minuk said.

But the biggest concern Minuk heard from the public was in regards to the rental aspect of the building, he told the committee.

“From my perspective, I think they were worried about what kind of tenant might move into this building. It’s proposed as a rental building and they wanted to make sure that the tenants that were going to move into the building were of, maybe, of a middle to upper level. And that’s the case,” Minuk said.

Minuk said they are expecting to break ground in May and hope to have occupancy by spring or early summer 2019.

Gerbasi said she was supportive of the project because of the land use change from industrial to residential and a one to one parking ratio.

“It’s been well planned, they’ve worked for many, many months with the planning department, consulted with the community,” Gerbasi said. “The community modified the project to address concerns of scale and so on.”

Building plans will come to City Centre community committee for approval at another date.