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Council has accepted architectural concepts for a redevelopment, but there hasn’t been major work on the property to bring the drawings to life.

OTTwp

Shahrasebi, who also owns other properties around the downtown, said Somerset House has become a money pit and the only way to go about redeveloping the property is to start from scratch.

Photo by Chmiel Architects. / OTTwp

“Structurally, it won’t do the job,” Shahrasebi said. “It’s a building built for the old times, not today.”

He has battled with the city ever since the collapse. First, there was a legal fight; now, it’s a heritage and property standards battle. Heritage advocates warn about Somerset House falling victim to “demolition by neglect.” Coun. Catherine McKenney, who represents Centretown, has called on the city to expropriate the property to stimulate a heritage-sensitive redevelopment, but opponents of that idea fear it would lead other heritage property owners to do nothing with their fixer-uppers.

ALSO: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/magee-house-owner-prepared-for-court-fight-if-city-orders-demolition

The commercial building dates back to the 1890s. Parts of the building have been torn down, leaving a run-down brick cube at a high-profile downtown location. There has been renovation work on the interior of the building, but not near enough to start leasing spaces. Finding an anchor commercial tenant has been a challenge for Shahrasebi.

According to Shahrasebi, he has lost about $15 million on the building, factoring in legal costs, building costs and lost rent.