The former All Saints Anglican Church turned community hub in Sandy Hill will become even more of a gathering space with a forward-thinking residential development called The Evergreen.
The project, launched in June, will turn unused land on the property into a nine-storey condo building that will hug the back of the church, incorporating its exterior as an exposed limestone wall in the building’s soaring lobby.
It’s an example of community-led development that has buy-in from the neighbourhood and allows the creation of further amenities for Sandy Hill residents.
“We saw the heritage (church) building as a really important community asset, a place where if we developed it in a way that people could really use the space, we thought it would be a major community asset,” says Leanne Moussa, a Sandy Hill resident who put together a group of investors to buy the church in 2015 and then set about reimagining it as an inclusive urban space called Allsaints.
“We asked people what are the amenities that are missing in Sandy Hill, what do we have that are great assets, and how can we use this property to further develop that?”
The church was restored and became home to an events space, the restaurant Working Title Kitchen and a small bakery that Moussa runs. She also had the property rezoned for further development, a process that the community association and Heritage Ottawa supported “because we worked very closely with them to make sure that we were all in step,” she says.
Then she went looking for a developer, ultimately opting for Windmill Development Group, which has a track record for thoughtful sustainable design and reimagining church properties such as Stone Abbey in Old Ottawa South and Cathedral Hill downtown. Windmill was also the initial developer behind the revitalization of the old Domtar industrial site on the Ottawa River that has since become known as Zibi.
“Anytime we’re working on a site, it is often in partnership with like-minded individuals who have a strong engagement with the community, (which) often results in strong synergies” to find the right type of development for the site, says Windmill president Jeremy Reeds.
With The Evergreen, Windmill in turn partnered with multi-award-winning Ottawa architecture firm Linebox Studio.
“Our architect has been amazing … really pulling the details from the neighbourhood so that it is a building that feels like it has always been there and is meant to be there versus something that just kind of sticks out in a neighbourhood,” says Reeds.
Linebox principal partner Andrew Reeves says the goal with the design was to “to be more quiet and let the church speak for itself because it is quite an amazing building.”
As a corner lot at Laurier Avenue East and Blackburn Avenue, the condo needed to not only respect the church, but also the calmer residential side on Blackburn and the busier Laurier.
A nod is given to the neighbourhood in both the building’s size and form as well as the materials used — the red brick of many Sandy Hill homes and the church’s limestone.
“The intention is people will be hanging out barbecuing at the street, just like the rest of the houses on (Blackburn), but on Laurier, it’s more vibrant patios and energy,” Reeves says.
Adds Moussa: “I have so much respect for what they did with the design. It’s a real nod to the All Saints building that’s there. I think they’ve done a beautiful job of complementing the site.”
It was also important to Windmill that the building be environmentally and socially conscious.
“We follow the One Planet Living framework on all of our projects, which … in the simplest form is trying to live within the resources of one planet,” Reeds says. That means the building is targeting net zero carbon operation — using non-carbon-producing energy to run the building, such as electric appliances and geothermal heating and cooling. Interior finishes also have low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and the building will be electric vehicle-ready. And socially, it takes into account how the building impacts the community.
“It’s really building a building that is the size and scale for that neighbourhood where we’ll have a cross-generational neighbourhood,” Reeds says.
To that end, The Evergreen offers 121 units that range from a modest studio with 333 square feet to a generous three-bedroom with just over 1,600 square feet. Prices start at $339,900 (at the time of writing).
Units come with hardwood floors, counter-depth appliances, in-suite laundry, waste-reducing water systems and the SmartOne digital concierge system, which allows owners to control the thermostat, open the garage doors, book amenities and receive mail delivery notifications. Many units also have a private balcony or terrace.
The building’s amenities include a rooftop terrace with generous patio, private dining areas and barbecues and, on the ground-floor, a lounge, coworking space and outdoor terrace off the lobby.
And it’s central to several areas, including the ByWard Market, Parliament Hill, Strathcona Park, the Rideau River, Rideau Canal, University of Ottawa, Rideau Centre, city hall, transit and more.
Although Ottawa’s condo market is flat at the moment, Windmill is confident The Evergreen will do well. “It comes back to the grassroots nature of the partnership. This project had the community buy-in,” says Reeds, adding that the company worked with the community to develop “something that the community is looking for and that they want and that they need.”
For her part, Moussa is “really excited about this development … This has been nine years in the making for me.”
Initial occupancy is expected in 2028.
For more on The Evergreen, see our development summary.
This article ran in the Ottawa Citizen on July 12, 2025.
