Colonnade BridgePort and the Fiera Real Estate CORE Fund have officially broken ground on Junction Central, a mixed-use residential community designed to transform an underutilized 4.9-acre site at 25 Pickering Place just inside Ottawa’s urban boundary.

The site was acquired in April 2020 from commercial cleaning product and equipment manufacturer Dustbane.

“We knew it had contamination and needed to be remediated,” Colonnade BridgePort chief executive officer Hugh Gorman told RENX. “It was one of those things where we felt like we had a great piece of land and we were just going to have to work it. 

“It did take longer than anybody anticipated, so we were very excited to launch the groundbreaking of the first two towers that are going to be built.”

The location is next to Ottawa’s main VIA Rail train station, the Tremblay light rail transit (LRT) station, Highway 417 and, for cyclists and pedestrians, part of the Capital Pathway network.

“That network can get you anywhere in the City of Ottawa through to Gatineau on a bike, barely touching a roadway,” Gorman said. “It's a very outdoor recreation-centric location, even though it's in this urban kind of environment.”

Ownership stakes in Junction Central

Fiera Real Estate has a 75 per cent ownership stake in the land parcel and a 70 per cent stake in the two-building development, with Colonnade BridgePort accounting for the remainder.

This project represents the third multiresidential rental development partnership between Colonnade BridgePort and Fiera Real Estate, following the mixed-use Westboro Connection and Hintonburg Connection projects.

“We've had almost a 15-year history with Fiera and we've found that there's a lot of like-minded thinking between the two groups,” Gorman explained. “We've been able to source exceptional locations in Ottawa, which fits their core strategy for holding real estate long-term.” 

What Junction Central offers

Junction Central’s first phase will feature the 14-storey Linq and the 28-storey Connex, which together will deliver 498 rental units. The studios, one-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-den, two-bedroom, two-bedroom-plus-den and three-bedroom units will range in size from 550 to 1,300 square feet and average about 700 square feet.

There will be outdoor public green spaces while other amenities will include: fitness facilities; common rooms; co-working spaces; a party room; a rooftop terrace featuring a dedicated dog run and communal spaces; electric vehicle parking; a bicycle room; and outdoor barbecue and dining space. 

Gorman noted that providing concierges, pet grooming, package delivery and other higher-end services often don’t justify their costs in many buildings and can erode yields and hurt their bottom lines.

“We are trying to create communities that are very livable, kind of mid to high range, but with really functional amenities that can be supported by the rents that tenants can pay in the market in Ottawa,” Gorman said.

The buildings will be designed to meet a LEED Silver certification to ensure high performance in energy efficiency.

There will also be just under 20,000 square feet of ground-floor, service-oriented retail space for tenants and local residents in the first building.

Subdivision servicing is underway and excavation will start imminently. First occupancy is anticipated in late 2027 or early 2028.

The two partners would like to sell the site’s excess land to a hotel or seniors housing operator since there’s demand for both in the area and neither of their firms develop those asset classes.

Junction Central’s partners

Toronto-based Fiera Real Estate is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiera Capital Corporation. Fiera Real Estate had $11.9 billion in global real estate assets under management as of Dec. 31.

The Fiera Real Estate CORE Fund is a $5.1-billion open-ended strategy diversified by geography and asset type. It’s comprised primarily of income-producing, institutional-grade industrial, multiresidential rental, office and grocery-anchored retail properties across Canada’s major markets.
 
Ottawa-based Colonnade BridgePort is a full-service real estate development, investment and management company that delivers mixed-use and multiresidential projects. 

CBP Real Estate Fund II is focused on continued multiresidential development in Ottawa while CBP Value Add Fund I targets office, retail and multi-family investments in select secondary markets across Canada. 

Current Colonnade BridgePort developments

As it begins construction at Pickering Place, Colonnade BridgePort continues to develop two other Ottawa multires projects, and has others in the planning stages.

Artefact on Argyle is a 12-storey, 127-unit apartment building at 100 Argyle Ave. It’s enclosed and partial occupancy is expected this fall, with full occupancy anticipated for Q2 2027.

RYSE is a 22-storey, 242-unit apartment building beside the completed Westboro Connection — comprised of a 25-storey, 277-unit rental apartment with three retail units at grade, and two nine-storey buildings with 139 residential units, four ground-floor retail units and 148,993 square feet of office space — about 100 metres from the Westboro LRT station.
 
Construction is coming up to grade and first occupancy at RYSE is scheduled for Q3 2027. Full stabilization is expected a year later.

Colonnade BridgePort has another site on Scott Street in Westboro where it hopes to break ground for an apartment building with approximately 300 units late this year.

The company also has a purpose-built rental apartment development called City Park along the LRT line in Ottawa’s east end. The first phase, which will have just over 200 units, should break ground next year.

“There's really no condo development in the city and not an investor base that's buying into condos for rental,” Gorman said of the firm's residential development strategy in Ottawa.

“We believe there's very strong velocity and a big supply and demand imbalance coming up, so we're very bullish on continuing to bring new purpose-built rental out of the ground.”