There are a lot of changes planned for Ottawa's Little Italy - most of these changes involve new condominiums near or around Dow's Lake. Builders have been one-upping each other with the heights of their proposed condos - 36 stories (
http://www.sohoitalia.com/), 45 stories (
http://claridgeicon.com/) and even 48 story proposals have been submitted to the City; heights that long time Ottawa residents would have never fathomed for our capital city. But with all of these competing proposals jockeying for the best views of Dow's Lake, the sight lines of many of the condominium dwellings will be partially or completely blocked by their soon-to-be-built neighbors.
So what do you do if you're looking for a condo with a view but are worried about it being obscured by a future building? That's fairly simple to answer - make sure the view you're after isn't of just one landmark (such as, I don't know, a lake). Below I've included two photographs taken at the SoHo Champagne site, approximately from the 16th floor (FYI: Phase 1 at SoHo Champagne has recently been increased to 20 floors). The photos are north facing towards the Gatineau Hills and downtown Ottawa. As you can see, the photos are simply panoramic views of Ottawa, not focusing on one particular building, landmark or area. Yet I would struggle to find someone who wouldn't enjoy that vista, despite not being able to see the lake.
Another factor you should consider if you're in the market for a condo with a view are the windows themsleves - of course, their height and width are important, but you may not have considered bulkheads within your condo. No, they aren't part of your windows, but they can impact your view nonetheless.
First, what is a bulk head? No, it's not a politically correct term for someone with a large cranium, though an argument could be made that it too could impact the view from your windows. A bulk head is an area where the ceiling drops down (usually by 10"-12") to create space for ducting, plumbing, electrical wires, lighting, etc... to be installed. These are almost always found in high rise condominiums since the aforementioned items can't be installed in the concrete ceilings. The location of bulk heads aren't normally shown on marketing floor plans (the plans you see in information kits at sales offices and builders websites) nor in model suites, but their exact locations are known by the builder. A simple request to see the blue-prints when you're purchasing your condo will give you access to that information.
Most of the condos I've owned, visited and/or sold have had bulk heads, but they were strategically placed to minimize their presence so they were hardly noticeable. But recently I was in a condo that was built by a direct competitor with one of the condo buildings I helped sell, and this particular competing condo had highlighted their large windows as one of their selling features - something a lot of today's builders do. I was quite surprised when I saw where their bulk heads had been installed - about one foot in front of the 8' windows! Which means when you stood in the living room area, the top portion of the window was blocked by an obstruction
within the condo itself. In condos, especially 1 bedroom condos that today are usually 600 sq. ft. or smaller, you want to maximize the natural light to give the resident the feel of an open, spacious area. This poor bulk head design eliminated 14% of the view from the windows. And what's more, windows are known to be areas where heat loss is most experienced (This just in: glass isn't a great insulator, who knew?) and the larger the windows, the greater the potential heat loss. Most buyers are willing to deal with this increase in heating cost for the benefit of the better view. But in this scenario, the resident is not getting the advantage of the views larger windows provide and at the same time, they're experiencing the disadvantage of higher heat costs. Sounds like a lose-lose to me.
Whether it's for investment or a owner-occupied property, views can be a great asset to your condo. But like anything, without doing the proper homework, that asset can become a liability. So before you enter into a contract to purchase a condo, make sure you ask the right questions. Don't know what to ask? Feel free to contact me for help.
Thanks for reading.
Taylor Bennett
Sales Representative - Bennett Pros
www.BennettPros.com
Taylor@bennettpros.com
@OttawaTails
