Ottawa city council has approved a $419-million plan to replace the aging north-side football stands and build a new arena at Lansdowne Park.
Council voted 15 to 10 on Friday in favour of advancing the redevelopment project, known as Lansdowne 2.0, ending a contentious debate that exposed deep divisions among members.
The decision paves the way for the construction of the new facilities, as well as a parking garage. As part of the redevelopment plan, the city is selling air rights for the site to developers, and it’s expected that new towers will add 800 housing units.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the project was a great deal for taxpayers because the city would only have to pay 31 per cent of the construction costs and none of the operation expenses.
He said failing to move forward with the redevelopment would cost the city millions in investment and raise the bill for the inevitable future repairs to the facilities.
“We can hold back we can delay further, or we can move forward. And I want to keep, Ottawa moving forward.”
Lansdowne Park has hosted the city’s football and junior hockey teams for decades, as well as special events, including Ottawa’s now dormant annual exhibition.
But the site sat largely vacant and underused in the years before a significant renovation in 2014 that saw the replacement of the south-side stands for the football stadium, and addition of retail and dining facilities, as well as several condo and townhome buildings.
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.
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.
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.
Critics have questioned if the redevelopment plan is a massive public giveaway to OSEG, noting the city’s women’s pro hockey team — which isn’t owned by OSEG — has warned against plans for a smaller capacity arena.
“While the normal business response to a report of chronically unsatisfactory financial results would be to assess the viability of the business model and especially management performance, we are instead choosing to double down to reward that poor management by approving the exact same business plan that got us into trouble in the first place,” Coun. Shawn Menard said at Friday’s meeting.
It’s expected the new arena would sit around 6,600 people, but the Ottawa Charge regularly sells out the existing TD Place Arena, which has a capacity of over 9,000.
The rebuilt north-side stands would accommodate around 12,400 fans.
Menard, who represents the site and surrounding Glebe neighbourhood, said Ottawa residents largely disapproved of the redevelopment proposal and there’s no need to replace the “structurally sound” south-side stands and arena.
He said the city was making a poor use of limited resources because it wouldn’t lead to any substantial improvements at the site, such as a roof for the north-side stands.
“We spend more money while we get less with Lansdowne 2.0,” said Menard, who also raised concerns about the loss of greenspace and limited transportation improvements.
Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill said even if the facilities are structurally sound, there are clearly major issues, including cracks in the pillars, “leaky roofs” and unsuitable change rooms in the arena.
He said it’s necessary to spend money for the city-owned asset, and praised Lansdowne 2.0 as a “robust” plan that was worked on for seven years.
Coun. Steve Desroches, who represents the suburban Findlay Creek-Riverside South ward, said the redevelopment was needed to make necessary accessibility improvements and continue to attract events and artists to the site.
“Without reinvestment, we will continue to lose major opportunities for culture, tourism and community gathering. We need a stable and long term vision,” he said.
“Lansdowne 2.0 is about confidence in Ottawa’s future, creating jobs, improving accessibility and renewing a public space for generations to come. Patching over accessibility issues or fixing leaks that cannot be fixed is not a solution.”
Sutcliffe said 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.
Sutcliffe said the city’s roughly $131 million share of the project will come from debt and municipal reserves, and promised 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.
Coun. Jessica Bradley, who represents Gloucester-Southgate, said financing for the redevelopment plan was murky, and relied on overly optimistic attendance projections.
She warned that taxpayers would be “on the hook” for any cost overruns or any future funding shortfalls.
Coun. Stéphanie Plante, who represents the inner-city Rideau-Vanier ward and supported the project, said she was disappointed with the hyper-partisan divide on council, and urged members to work together to solve big problems.
“My plea to everyone is to stop this back and forth, and we just work together in the future.”
Coun. Tim Tierney, who represents Beacon Hill-Cyrville ward, said he was frustrated with misinformation about the redevelopment, arguing it was a financially responsible investment that would pay dividends for the community.
Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matt Luloff agreed, and said the previous council “wasn’t bold enough,” calling the first redevelopment project a “half measure.”
“I’m asking us to be bold enough to do what we didn’t do the first time, to stop patching, stop delaying, and just build something that will truly last. Let’s not be the landlord who shrugs and says, ‘Well, it’s still standing, so it’s fine.’ Let’s be the city that fixes the structure, renews the space and leaves behind a legacy that we can be proud of.”
Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr also took issue with “misinformation” surrounding the project, pointing out that the previous council unanimously supported replacing the arena despite several members claiming now that it isn’t necessary.
“We need to replace the arena and the north-side stands. That is clear. That needs to be done,” she said.
“This is not a perfect plan. It will cost us way more if we do not proceed.”
More to come…
