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Photo by DENNIS LEUNG / OTTAWA CITIZEN

Not only will the project promote alternatives to cars and working and playing where you live, but care will be taken to return the extensive shoreline to a natural state, all buildings will be built to LEED platinum levels (the highest level under the stringent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, an industry-recognized rating system for green homes and other structures), and all units will be heated by capturing heat that’s already being generated in the area, but not used, and distributing it through a warm water loop system. A similar method will cool units.

The $1.2-billion project will see 1,200 condos built in the next 12 to 15 years, along with the restoration of about 30 per cent of the site’s buildings and construction of commercial and cultural spaces and centres that support the development of small business. Almost one-quarter of the site will be parks, plazas or other green space, with an extensive network of trails, bike paths and cycling routes, creating a city within the city.

The ambitious project has generated much buzz, both for its responsible approach to community building and for how it clashes with the desire by some to return the land to a natural state because of its importance to the First Nations.

A challenge to the Ontario Municipal Board by, among others, architect Douglas Cardinal, who designed the nearby Canadian Museum of History, is part of the reason Windmill has chosen to launch its first phase in Gatineau. But, along with that, slightly more than half the site is on the Quebec side and Windmill felt by launching there first, “we could take some of this great pent-up interest (in the project) and at least have people take a look at Gatineau who might not otherwise think about living in downtown Hull,” Wilts says.