special meeting to vote on the master concept plan
monday, march 27, 7pm on zoom
There will be a special congregational meeting on Monday March 27 to vote on the Master Concept Plan and land transfers associated with campus development. The meeting will be at 7pm on Zoom, and will open at 6:30 for registration and fellowship.
Materials related to the meeting and instructions for pre-registration are available on the FirstU member page. If you have any problems logging in, please contact the FirstU office for instructions.
Materials related to the meeting and instructions for pre-registration are available on the FirstU member page. If you have any problems logging in, please contact the FirstU office for instructions.
Online Town Hall on the Master Concept Plan
Monday, February 13 - 7pm - On Zoom
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On February 8 and 13, 2023, the FirstU Board and Campus Planning Committee hosted Town Hall meetings to review the Master Concept Plan for our Campus development.
Also attending were representatives of our development partners: Theia Partners, Figurr Architects, Cahdco and Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services. Here, you can review a recording of the February 13 meeting, or the presentation document itself. You can watch a replay of the Town Hall by hitting play on the YouTube video embedded to the right. |
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To review the presentation documents, use the green button (below) to open the "FirstU Town Hall on Master Concept Plan" slideshow presentation in your browser. You can then click "Slideshow", in the upper-right corner of your screen, to view it as a slideshow.
MASter concept plan
Click to read
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Click to print
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If the file is too large for you to download, please contact the office at uuoffice@firstunitarianottawa.ca to pick up or have mailed a copy.
"Odayanhaway" means "little village"
To the FirstU Congregation, and members of our campus partners,
On behalf of the FirstU Board and the Campus Planning Committee, it brings me great joy to present the proposed Master Concept Plan (MCP) delivered by our campus development partners.
The documents above describe the goals and process which guided us this far, the proposed site plan, and generated illustrations of our future campus, our "little village". A great deal of effort has gone into this plan, and we hope you are as excited about its contents as those that previewed it: the FirstU Board, the Campus Planning Committee and the Integrated Campus Plan Task Force.
Please bear in mind this vision for the campus is inspirational, but not necessarily final. For example, the appearance of the two new buildings is still very much an early architectural draft. Also please note that the exact locations of the two new buildings are still subject to further discussion with the City Planning department. There is also some room for minor changes to:
- the locations of pathways and parking
- the size and locations of campus amenities such as the Gathering Space
- the content of the "FirstU backyard" (behind 30 Cleary)
You likely have questions and concerns. To hear these, we are planning to host several Town Halls for the congregation and our campus partners
Your opinion matters. Congregational approval of this Master Concept Plan is anticipated at a Special Congregational Meeting (likely in March), separate from the Town Halls and from our Annual General Meeting. The approval process is itself complicated, and will be discussed at the Town Halls.
Finally I hope that this message finds you well, and I wish you health and happiness for 2023.
Sincerely,
Brent Nicolle
President, First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa
president@firstunitarianottawa.ca
On behalf of the FirstU Board and the Campus Planning Committee, it brings me great joy to present the proposed Master Concept Plan (MCP) delivered by our campus development partners.
The documents above describe the goals and process which guided us this far, the proposed site plan, and generated illustrations of our future campus, our "little village". A great deal of effort has gone into this plan, and we hope you are as excited about its contents as those that previewed it: the FirstU Board, the Campus Planning Committee and the Integrated Campus Plan Task Force.
Please bear in mind this vision for the campus is inspirational, but not necessarily final. For example, the appearance of the two new buildings is still very much an early architectural draft. Also please note that the exact locations of the two new buildings are still subject to further discussion with the City Planning department. There is also some room for minor changes to:
- the locations of pathways and parking
- the size and locations of campus amenities such as the Gathering Space
- the content of the "FirstU backyard" (behind 30 Cleary)
You likely have questions and concerns. To hear these, we are planning to host several Town Halls for the congregation and our campus partners
- The first Town Hall will be in person in Worship Hall at FirstU on Wednesday February 8 at 7pm, and will include an excellent opportunity to meet and hear from Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS), our partner for the affordable housing building.
- The second Town Hall will be via Zoom on Monday February 13th at 7pm:
ZOOM LINK Meeting ID: 860 2024 0465 Passcode: 568754 - A third Town Hall specifically for Unitarian House residents will also be planned, as well as direct consultations with other campus partners.
Your opinion matters. Congregational approval of this Master Concept Plan is anticipated at a Special Congregational Meeting (likely in March), separate from the Town Halls and from our Annual General Meeting. The approval process is itself complicated, and will be discussed at the Town Halls.
Finally I hope that this message finds you well, and I wish you health and happiness for 2023.
Sincerely,
Brent Nicolle
President, First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa
president@firstunitarianottawa.ca
FirstU Town Hall on Campus Planning - wednesday, october 26, 2022
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On October 26th, 2022, the FirstU Board and Campus Planning Committee hosted a Town Hall meeting to describe the progress in Campus Planning made since our Annual General Meeting in May 2022. Here, you can review a recording of the meeting, or the presentation document itself.
Learn about our site visit to a local site in Peterborough, the Integrated Campus Task Force activities, the Design Charette, the upcoming Master Concept Plan, and more! You can watch a replay of the townhall by hitting play on the YouTube video embedded to the right. |
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To review the presentation documents, use the green button (below) to open the "FirstU Town Hall on Campus Planning" slideshow presentation in your browser. You can then click "Slideshow", in the upper-right corner of your screen, to view it as a slideshow.
why ONTARIO ABORIGINAL HOUSING SERVICES (OAHS)
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In June the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) initiated an onsite due diligence process with representatives of the Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS) to determine if OAHS met FirstU’s detailed criteria for an affordable housing partner. The criteria were established by the CPC and supported by the FirstU Board.
Based on input from our affordable housing consultants (Cahdco), we had earlier identified OAHS as being a candidate organization that met our initial objectives. Other local potential partners had been considered, but screened out by Cahdco as not being in a position to participate in the FirstU project for a variety of reasons, including other commitments, lack of funding, and not having the necessary experience with buildings of the scale FirstU is contemplating. OAHS was represented by their Executive Director and four senior staff for a series of meetings lasting much of the afternoon and evening. The CPC and various Board members spent 2 hours interviewing OAHS on the specific due diligence questions. |
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Following that, the OAHS group was introduced to other leaders and staff of FirstU, as well as to our campus partners. This group had an opportunity to hear about OAHS’ experience in affordable housing and their plans for building housing at FirstU, as well as being able to query OAHS in a variety of areas. OAHS then took a tour of River Parkway Childcare Centre and Unitarian House, meeting with staff and others at each location and fielding questions. To complete the day, members of the Board and CPC attended a dinner with the OAHS representatives.
We learned a great deal about OAHS through this multi-stage process. OAHS serves 11,000 people every day (both residents of buildings they manage and non-residents), and are preparing themselves to serve as many as 90,000 more across Ontario, including both indigenous and non-indigenous residents. Their governance model and mission is rooted in community. They provide a broad variety of programs to their residents and others. Their core business is property management, and they have 2600 units currently under their management. They have expanded supportive housing programs, and regularly partner with community organizations. They have 150 colleagues/employees, of which 80% are indigenous. We learned that:
Their indigenous connections to Ottawa are impressive: they have relationships with the Inuit Children’s Centre, Wabinaw, Gignal, the Friendship Centre, Ontario Native Women’s and Minwashan. One of their most successful programs offered to residents is Homeward Bound, which focuses on helping mothers get education, employment and training so they can make a better life for their families.
From a financial perspective, OAHS has a significant asset base and a favourable ability to raise money for construction. They are driven to create as many deeply affordable units as possible (at least 10% of the units are rented at 25% of income). They also offer a support function that provides subsidies.
After the meetings, members of the CPC and the Board were asked to provide their comments about whether or not OAHS met the criteria for an affordable housing partner. The responses were unanimous in favour of entering into a relationship with OAHS. The CPC therefore made its recommendation to the Board to partner with the OAHS as our affordable housing partner. The Board subsequently accepted the recommendation. So, we are moving forward with OAHS as our affordable housing partner and several FirstU members within the Board and CPC intend to travel in the near future to Peterborough to view one of the OAHS facilities.
We learned a great deal about OAHS through this multi-stage process. OAHS serves 11,000 people every day (both residents of buildings they manage and non-residents), and are preparing themselves to serve as many as 90,000 more across Ontario, including both indigenous and non-indigenous residents. Their governance model and mission is rooted in community. They provide a broad variety of programs to their residents and others. Their core business is property management, and they have 2600 units currently under their management. They have expanded supportive housing programs, and regularly partner with community organizations. They have 150 colleagues/employees, of which 80% are indigenous. We learned that:
- OAHS welcomes people of all backgrounds to live in their buildings.
- OAHS would offer a range of affordable housing in a building on our campus from deeply affordable to "rent to income" to just below market rent.
- OAHS owns a fair number of multiple unit dwellings across Ontario and is experienced in property management.
- OAHS has experience in working with local service providers to offer supports to residents in their buildings.
- Several of OAHS' buildings have daycares located in them which is considered a support service to parents attending school or working.
- OAHS controls their own application process. This means that First U members could apply to live in their building, if they qualify as low income households.
- OAHS has connections with Ottawa area Indigenous organizations like Gignul, Odawa Friendship Centre etc.
Their indigenous connections to Ottawa are impressive: they have relationships with the Inuit Children’s Centre, Wabinaw, Gignal, the Friendship Centre, Ontario Native Women’s and Minwashan. One of their most successful programs offered to residents is Homeward Bound, which focuses on helping mothers get education, employment and training so they can make a better life for their families.
From a financial perspective, OAHS has a significant asset base and a favourable ability to raise money for construction. They are driven to create as many deeply affordable units as possible (at least 10% of the units are rented at 25% of income). They also offer a support function that provides subsidies.
After the meetings, members of the CPC and the Board were asked to provide their comments about whether or not OAHS met the criteria for an affordable housing partner. The responses were unanimous in favour of entering into a relationship with OAHS. The CPC therefore made its recommendation to the Board to partner with the OAHS as our affordable housing partner. The Board subsequently accepted the recommendation. So, we are moving forward with OAHS as our affordable housing partner and several FirstU members within the Board and CPC intend to travel in the near future to Peterborough to view one of the OAHS facilities.
Campus Development Meeting - March 27, 2021
On March 27, 2021, the Campus Planning Committee held a zoom meeting forr FirstU about how we and our partners (Unitarian House, River Parkway Children's Centre and Or Haneshamah) might move forward with developing our six acre property while achieving our goals of environmental protection, green space preservation, and providing for local community needs. Below you can watch Part One and Part Two of that meeting.
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Affordable Housing Presentations by CAHDCO
Use the buttons, below, to download PDF documents from CAHDCO - a non-profit real estate development corporation, and sister to Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, that develops affordable housing and social purpose real estate and provides consulting in the Ottawa area - to learn more about developing affordable housing in Ottawa and on the FirstU Campus in particular.
