Ottawa's downtown skyline could look a little different in the coming years. Metcalfe Realty, one of the city's major commercial landlords, is exploring a plan to convert an office tower on Albert Street into residential units, according to the Ottawa Business Journal.
Another Office Tower Eyed for Conversion
The Albert Street corridor has long been a hub for federal government offices and private-sector tenants, but like much of downtown Ottawa, it's been grappling with elevated vacancy rates since the shift to hybrid and remote work took hold. Metcalfe Realty is now weighing whether turning the tower's empty floors into apartments makes more financial sense than continuing to chase office tenants in a soft market.
While the plan is still in the early stages, it fits a pattern playing out across Ottawa's core, where several aging office buildings have either already been converted or are under consideration for residential use. City planners and business groups have pushed for these conversions as a way to solve two problems at once: too much vacant office space and not enough housing supply.
Why This Matters for Ottawa
Ottawa's downtown has been hit hard by shifting work patterns. With thousands of federal public servants no longer commuting downtown five days a week, buildings along Albert, Slater, and Bank Streets have seen occupancy rates drop well below pre-pandemic levels. That's left landlords like Metcalfe Realty looking for new ways to keep their properties viable.
At the same time, Ottawa is in the middle of a housing crunch. Rental vacancy rates remain tight, and the city has set ambitious targets for new housing starts as part of its official plan. Converting underused office towers into residential buildings is seen by many housing advocates and city officials as a faster, more sustainable way to add units than building entirely new towers from scratch, since it reuses existing structures and infrastructure rather than requiring new construction from the ground up.
What Comes Next
Office-to-residential conversions aren't simple. Buildings designed for cubicles and boardrooms often need significant retrofitting to accommodate plumbing, ventilation, and window requirements suited to apartments. Costs can run high, and not every office tower is a good candidate structurally.
Still, if Metcalfe Realty moves forward, the Albert Street tower would join a growing list of downtown Ottawa buildings being reimagined for residential life. For Ottawa residents watching the city's housing shortage and downtown vacancy struggles unfold side by side, projects like this offer a glimpse of how the two problems might eventually cancel each other out.
No timeline has been confirmed for the potential conversion. Ottown will continue to follow this story as more details emerge.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal
