The skyline in Centretown has been relatively bland. A lot of office buildings and a few interesting high-rise condos here and there, but not much that stands out. Luckily for Ottawa, a Torontonian had a vision. Brad Lamb’s real estate empire is growing. A successful agent, Brad evolved into owning top Toronto Condo Brokerage, Brad J Lamb Realty, and he parlayed those successes into becoming a Real Estate Developer with Lamb Development Corp. With hit projects such as Worklofts, The Brandt Park, and King Charlotte, Brad created a winning formula that could be replicated anywhere. Enter Ottawa, a hyper-local condo market with minimal developer influence from outside of Ottawa. The condo market needed a fresh injection of outside influence and inspiration, which came in the form of Lamb’s Gotham and SoBa condominium buildings.
Gotham
Located on the corner of Gloucester St and Lyon St, Gotham marked Lamb’s first condo development in Ottawa. Perfectly named, Gotham brought to life what you would think of when you hear the name (or New York?). Larger than life (seriously the front door is the largest I’ve seen in Ottawa), a towering presence, and the “wow” factor make this project stand out. The cherry on the top for Gotham is its proximity to the O-Train’s Confederation Line. When the building was completed in 2015, the proximity to the O-Train’s Lyon Station was thought to be a good thing; now with the O-Train finally opening, it’s elevating the status of the building.
This is an exterior image of Soba Condo Ottawa – 203 Catherine St – Centretown
SoBa
The long awaiting follow-up to Gotham is SoBa. SoBa, or South of Bank St, is aptly named as it borders two of the best neighbourhoods in Ottawa, The Glebe and Centretown. A condo dweller’s dream, residents can venture into multiple parks, shops, café’s, and restaurants. The architecture of the building is something to behold. It breaks the mould of most condo towers in Ottawa with multiple tiers that make the building look like a cool Jenga tower. Crowning SoBa as a condo dweller’s dream is a full suite of amenities including a gym, party room, pool, and concierge to create the ultimate level of condo convenience.
Value Condos
Price Tags, whether they are at the dollar store or the department store (ok, amazon.ca); we’re always looking at them. And when the price tag shows a good deal, even better! Looking at the condo market, Brad Lamb’s buildings are showing strong value trading around $520/sq ft. Compare that to other newly built buildings and highly anticipated preconstruction projects, such as The River Terraces at Greystone Village ($583/sq ft), Claridge Icon ($605/sq ft), Claridge Royale ($641/sqft), and Zibi ($716/sq ft) and his buildings look like a deal. When you see a deal on a price tag you buy it, right?
Cool Soft Loft Feel
The “Lofty Feel” has become a major trend in condos in Ottawa. The exposed concrete, high ceilings, massive windows and modern finishes are some of the finer details of soft lofts. In Ottawa, soft lofts were first made popular with Urban Capital’s East Market Lofts projects. That said, Brad Lamb wanted to put his own stamp on the soft loft market in Ottawa. His mix of industrial elements such as the exposed pipes in the hallways along with sleek coloured cabinets and stone in units have made his units more appealing to the eye.
The skyline in Centretown has evolved and Gotham and SoBa are changing the condo market. We can’t wait to see what Brad Lamb has in store for Ottawa next!
