Post-Meeting Review & Development Roadmap
A summary of your goals, the land search process, the development team, and a financing path to bring to your ownership group.
Your goals, in your words
From our meeting: Cedarview wants to stop renting and own a purpose-built clinic that anchors the practice in Barrhaven for the next generation of ownership.
Own, don't rent
- End landlord and rent-escalation risk
- Anchor the practice's long-term community home
- Real estate as a defense against corporate roll-up of independent clinics
Room to grow
- Current 6,000 SF is at capacity
- Target 10,000–12,000 SF new build
- Second level for staff offices + storage (currently renting a locker)
Build to spec
- Ground-floor clinical: exam, surgery, treatment, rehab
- Six exam rooms; adding urgent care
- Capacity for ~8–10 patients and 30 staff at once
Build requirements at a glance
The criteria that define a qualifying site — and the dealbreakers we screen out before you ever see a parcel.
How we find and vet the right land
A repeatable, owner-protective process — not a listing search. Every candidate parcel is filtered against your requirements before it reaches your desk.
Define the buy-box
Translate your 5W brief into hard screening criteria: Barrhaven, ≥0.75 acres, Animal Hospital permitted, parking, budget.
Source parcels
Active listings, off-market land, and direct owner outreach across the Barrhaven / Strandherd corridor — including raw land and repurpose candidates.
Zoning & due diligence
Confirm zone and subzone on GeoOttawa, screen overlays (floodplain, airport), and flag rezoning risk before any offer.
Shortlist & model
Present 2–4 vetted parcels with a rent-vs-own comparison so the ownership group can decide with numbers, not guesswork.
Where a vet clinic is permitted in Ottawa
Choosing the right zone up front avoids a costly, multi-month rezoning. Light Industrial is the cleanest path to an Animal Hospital build.
IL — Light Industrial
- Both Animal Hospital and Animal Care Establishment are permitted outright — no rezoning
- No size/GFA cap on the veterinary use
- Minimum lot area 2,000 m² (~0.49 acres); max lot coverage 65%
- Parking is easily met on a 0.5–1.5 acre surface site
- Phase I Environmental likely required (also a BDC condition)
Other zones & cautions
Source: City of Ottawa Zoning By-law 2008-250 · Engage Ottawa — By-law 2026-50
The development cycle, end to end
Land to opening involves 6–8 disciplines in sequence. No single licence covers all of it — which is why someone has to quarterback the process.
Site selection & due diligence
Zoning, GeoOttawa, title, Phase I ESA
Land purchase
Negotiation & Agreement of Purchase and Sale
Planning approvals
Site Plan Approval, variance, City pre-consult
Civil & servicing
Grading, drainage, stormwater, road access
Architectural design
Floor plan, specialty vet layout, code
Structural / M / E
Engineering drawings for building permit
Building permit
Submission & response to City comments
Construction
Tender, CM/GC, supervision, CCDC contracts
Fit-up & commissioning
Equipment install, HVAC, occupancy permit
Three hires — and we make the introductions
"Your broker gets you the right land at the right price. Your planner gets it approved. Your design-build firm builds it to spec. You make three hires — and I connect you to the right people."
Broker (us)
Site selection, land negotiation, and the rent-vs-own business case.
Land Use Planner
Confirms zoning, runs Site Plan Approval and City pre-consultation. Hire before any purchase.
Design-Build Firm
Designs and builds the clinic under one contract, including specialty vet fit-up.
Run in parallel: a real estate lawyer (land + ownership structure) and your financing stack (BDC + chartered bank).
Financing the build: why BDC matters
The Business Development Bank of Canada is built to fund the gap a chartered bank won't — including the specialty fit-up that makes a vet clinic expensive.
of total project cost financeable — land, construction, fit-up, working capital
interest-only at the start — you don't repay principal before the clinic opens
amortization keeps monthly debt service manageable for a busy multi-vet practice
How the 100% structure works
- A specialty-use building (medical/vet) is harder to resell, so banks discount it and cap lending at 75–80% — leaving you 20–25% cash equity.
- BDC complements the bank, often sitting in a subordinate position to bring the blended loan-to-value to 90–100%.
- Crucially, BDC's "project cost" includes the specialized fit-up — surgical suites, plumbing, HVAC, rehab equipment — that a conventional mortgage won't cover.
- Pair it with the BDC Equipment Loan (up to 125% of cost) for imaging, dental, and rehab equipment.
Source: BDC — Commercial real estate financing · BDC — Equipment financing
Recommended next steps
Deliver a Barrhaven land survey
We pull 2–4 vetted parcels — already zoned to permit an Animal Hospital — plus 1–2 repurpose candidates in your budget.
Introduce a Land Use Planner
An early zoning confirmation and pre-consultation with the City de-risks any parcel before you commit.
Connect with BDC Ottawa
A no-cost, no-credit-impact intro call builds the financing case in parallel with the land search (1-877-232-2269).
Engage Design Build Firms
Begin early conversations with design-build firms experienced in specialty veterinary fit-up.
Build the rent-vs-own model
A 20-year ownership comparison you can take straight to the ownership group to make the internal business case.