Ottawa city council will decide next week on the fate of a proposed $419-million overhaul of Lansdowne Park.
Known as Lansdowne 2.0, the project will involve the replacement of the aging north-side stands for the football stadium and the construction of a new events centre.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the redevelopment will bring in $14.4 million for new affordable housing and taxpayers will only pay one-third of the cost, with the remainder to be largely covered by selling air rights to condo developers, a tax payed by hotel and short-term rental guests and ticket surcharges.
It’s expected that new condo towers would add 800 units to the site.
“Lansdowne is a terrific investment for the people of Ottawa, contrary to the misunderstandings and misinformation that has been spread in the community. Lansdowne is a great deal for taxpayers,” Sutcliffe said at a media availability last week.
Sutcliffe said the city’s roughly $131 million share of the project will come from debt and municipal reserves, and promised there would be no tax increases as a result. The cost of the debt payments work out to $4.3 million each year to be paid out over 40 years, he said.
The mayor announced last week that construction costs were slightly lower and air rights would drive in more revenue than initially estimated after the city received bids from developers and builders.
Lansdowne has hosted the city’s football and junior hockey teams for decades, as well as special events, including Ottawa’s now since dormant annual exhibition.
It underwent a significant renovation in 2014, replacing the south-side stands and adding new retail and dining facilities, and several condo and townhome buildings. The project turned the largely vacant site into a modern mixed-used development that plays host to events like the weekly farmer’s market and annual Christmas market.
A recent review found the north-side stands had become functionally obsolete and needed significant repairs. It also found the decades-old arena located underneath the north-side stands was reaching the end of its functional usefulness, and was energy inefficient.
The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), which owns the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks and the OHL’s Ottawa 67s, both Lansdowne tenants, was tasked with overseeing the initial transformation of the site, and would take the helm of the proposed renovation project.
OSEG acts as the operator of Lansdowne, and has reported losses in each of the past ten years, and has never made any payment to the city. Under the terms of the agreement, OSEG recoups any profits first before distributing them to the city.
But Sutcliffe said the city has never had to absorb any losses because of its partnership with OSEG, and wouldn’t have to shoulder any operating costs for Lansdowne 2.0 either.
Coun. Sean Menard, who represents the Lansdowne site and surrounding neighbourhood of the Glebe, has voiced opposition to the redevelopment, claiming it was “saddling residents with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt just to replace a stadium and arena that still have decades left in their lifespan.”
“This decision will haunt this council and our city. We carry more financial and legal risks with the new deal. Residents and local businesses will suffer through ten years of construction. It is dispiriting that this is what the city prioritizes.”
Menard also took issue with the elimination of some existing public space and the lack of transportation improvements.
It’s expected the new arena would sit around 6,600 people, and the rebuilt north-side stands would accommodate around 12,400 fans. Those numbers appear in flux as an earlier report said capacity would be around 5,500 and 11,200, respectively.
It’s unclear if that new arena would have enough seating for the city’s women’s hockey league team, the Ottawa Charge. The team regularly sells out the existing TD Place Arena, which has a capacity of over 9,000.
Council will vote on Lansdowne 2.0 on Nov. 7 in a rare Friday meeting.
