CL Real Estate moves forward with development on Carson, Woolworth buildings in Ottawa

CL Real Estate is planning on opening the inside of the Carson building for retail space.

The developer took its first step forward Monday night when representative Nathan Watson presented plans for development on the Carson and Woolworth buildings in the 800 block of La Salle Street, next door to Tangled Roots and the Lone Buffalo.

These plans were accompanied by a request from the Ottawa Plan Commission for a conditional use for separate event spaces that will serve different purposes.

Watson said work on retail space in the Carson building can begin as soon as within the next 90 days, while the event spaces along with a proposed rooftop bar and rental apartments adjacent to the event spaces may be years down the line.

“Our plans generally are on the Carson building, the larger of the two buildings,” Watson said. “We’ll use 39,000 square feet which includes reserving the first floor for a retail storefront, which is actually our first phase that we plan on getting started within the next 90 days. Then we’ll expand brewery operations for Tangled Roots, our sister company, in the rear of the building.”

The plan for the Carson building will see the second story become an upscale event space for weddings and other events of the sort, while the Woolworth building will be turned into a more casual event space.

Watson said CL Real Estate used a lighter touch on the Woolworth building so it can eventually be turned into a restaurant or something that resembles the original plan more closely.

“We plan on opening up glass front garage doors as well as person doors on the north elevation, approximately five of them with large glass openings that will face the park and be opened completely,” Watson said.

This project would involve moving the Jackson Street mural, but Watson said the mural is removable. It’s held on 2-by-4 and 1-by-4 boards screwed into the wall, and any movement of the mural would have to pass through the city’s Mural Committee.

Watson said if possible, the mural could be incorporated into the interior of the building, which will have a sort of inside-outside look that will make it available to the public.

“We’ve reached out to the mural committee chairperson to talk about creative ways of repurposing the mural within the building itself,” Watson said. “We envision the interior of the Woolworth building to be a kind of public place, where we’ll have a lot of indoor-outdoor activity. We have a lot of wall space in there but it has to be explored.”

The conditional use permits for the event space will go to the Ottawa City Council for review at its Tuesday, May 3, meeting.