One of the most sought-after pieces of land in the National Capital Region, Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe will soon be available for development.

The former airbase, which is in the final stage of being transferred from the Department of National Defence (DND) to the Canada Lands Co. (CLC), is a 310-acre, largely undeveloped area in the city's east end.

What makes it so important and valuable is its location. Being inside Ottawa's greenbelt, it is a one-of-a-kind property that could bring in thousands of residents along with businesses, parks, museums and other attractions.

"It is literally the most important piece of property that is going to be developed in Ottawa in the next 40 years," says Gordon McIvor, vice-president of public and government affairs for CLC.

Photo courtesy of Canada Lands Co.
CFB Rockcliffe has a long history as a military base that featured a variety of famous warbirds. The yellow area shows where development is planned on the former base.

CLC is a Crown corporation that purchases property from the federal government and re-integrates it back into the community.

The company has been after the Rockcliffe airbase land since 2004, and has taken close to two years to work out a deal with the DND.

Now that the deal is all but finalized, CLC has begun the long process of developing the land. Together with CLC, the City of Ottawa and the neighbouring communities are hammering out a final plan of what the end development will be.

The first step they are taking is consultations. They have already had one consultation with all the involved parties and, over the next 16 to 18 months, will continue the process. CLC claims it has no expectations or preconceived plans for what will go on the site.

"You don't show up and start telling people your ideas or they'll think you have some kind of a secret agenda or something already secretly developed, and we don't," says McIvor.

CLC's mandate is to abide by the guidelines set forth by the municipality. Ottawa put an official plan into effect in 2003 in order to guide the city's growth. Whatever the development ends up being, it has to be in sync with the official plan, and once the plan for development is finished, it must be approved by city council.

"What we really used as a basis is what is in the city's official plan," says Dennis Jacobs, director of planning, environment and infrastructures for the city.

According to Jacobs, issues of sustainability, a mix of land uses, proper urban design, integration with the surrounding neighbourhoods, transit-friendly and transit-oriented development are all major points the city is focusing on when looking at the development plan.

The number of houses on the site will not be decided for a while, but it will be anywhere between 4,500 and 6,000 homes of different types.

When developing a site bigger than most small towns, obstacles will come up. The biggest so far is the question of infrastructure.

Photo courtesy of Canada Lands Co.
CFB Rockcliffe archive photos, here and below

There are only two roads leading to the former airbase, which won't be able to handle the traffic from a community that could have a population between 10,000 and 15,000 people.

"At the moment there is a limited number of public road connections," says Jacobs. "The nature of the national defence site didn't really require any more than that. That is certainly something that needs to be looked at as it goes forward."

Changes will have to be made to the infrastructure, and although it is too early to say what those changes will be, public transit is seen as part of the solution to traffic.

Jeffery Thiessen, of the Manor Park Community Assoc-iation, one of the neighbourhoods near the former airbase, published a paper of principles for the development to follow.

In it, he calls on the development to plan the community around public transit, rather than putting public transit into the mix as an after-thought. Public transit ideally will include not just buses, but possibly a light-rail option. The city is set to start a north-south light-rail line later this year, with a possibility of an east-west line in coming years.

"We're certainly in favour of smart growth, and smart growth isn't just a whole bunch of new automobiles," says Patrick O'Keefe, president of the Manor Park Community Association.

"If it were linked to a light-rail transit system, that would be terrific."

All parties involved are aiming to have the area developed into more than just a giant subdivision, but instead have a mixed-use area that is self-sustaining.

Photo courtesy of Canada Lands Co.
CFB Rockcliffe

The first step to be self-sustaining is planning the basic features of the community from an environmental standpoint.

"That is going to be paramount in the way we proceed," said CLC's McIvor, "whether it is stormwater management, the way we light the site or the reuse of materials."

CLC has won awards for other self-sustaining communities it has helped develop.

In this case, the company is hoping to adapt former military housing into new residences, rather than having to discard the otherwise useful homes.

The second step to the community sustaining itself is having employers in and around the community, rather than having those in the community commute into the city.

Already in the immediate area are the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp., the National Research Council and the MontFort Hospital.

"That is three gigantic institutions that literally employ thousands of people," said McIvor.

Photo courtesy of Canada Lands Co.
CFB Rockcliffe

Despite these large employers, people from the area want to make sure there are employers not just nearby, but actually in the community itself.

"If we're going to keep people onsite, we must have employers onsite," says Jane Brammer of Community Action for Rockcliffe Airbase Development. "It's absolutely critical."

Once the plan is finished and approved by council, the CLC will then turn the land over to private developers that will be contractually obligated to abide by everything the CLC works out with the neighbouring communities and the city.

The hardest part, the planning, will ideally be done in two years time, but the finished product is a long way off.

"All I can say is, you're traditionally looking at a 10- to 15-year rollout," said McIvor. "This is a mega-project. I know that seems like a long time, but for a mega-project, that is not a long time from start to finish."

(Devon Babin can be reached at babin@businessedge.ca)