Senators, NCC Reach Preliminary LeBreton Deal
According to reports, the National Capital Commission and the Ottawa Senators of come to an agreement on a memorandum of understanding on the proposed construction of an arena for the team on LeBreton Flats.
Does this mean the Senators will build an arena on LeBreton Flats?
No.
They will still want money from the three levels of government to build the arena. That will be problematic for the municipal government. It would have to provide 50 per cent of the clean-up costs for the much-polluted land at LeBreton with the city portion running as high as a half-billion dollars.
Ex-mayor Jim Watson said no to that in previous negotiations with the Senators. Also the city is a ‘partner’ in Lansdowne with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group so you can be assured that OSEG will have reservations with a brand new sports and event palace so close to its interests.
And then there is the money. The city has a fiscal crisis (depending on which day Mayor Mark Sutcliffe addresses it) so offering up probably a third or more of a billion dollars is a high risk financially and politically.
With clean-up costs and money for the arena, the city could be on the hook for close to $1 billion … not good in a fiscal crisis, if that’s what it is.
So what the Senators are doing with this MOU is not moving the team to LeBreton. It’s keeping its options open. The Senators can pull out if necessary or, in other words, if the team doesn’t get money from the three levels of government for the arena.
Always smart to keep your options open.
Ken Gray
This is a release from the National Capital Commission:
The Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission will host a joint news conference today, Friday, September 20, at 1 p.m. EST
What: An update on the status of the Memorandum of Understanding between Capital Sports Development Inc. and the National Capital Commission.
Who: Cyril Leeder, president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators
Tobi Nussbaum, Chief Executive Officer of the National Capital Commission.
When: Friday, September 20, at 1 p.m. EST
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Gate 3 Media Centre.
Media/photo opportunity: Following an introductory statement from both parties, media will be invited to ask questions to both speakers.
For You:
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HUH?? Has everyone gone completely crazy??? What is the matter with all of them. I have a suggestion for a change. Why don’t they or some one just build a couple of “low rise” apartments for people who cannot afford those fancy high rises all over the city what the builders call “reasonable rent” yet all apartments especially a one bedroom apartment is $1,700 a month rent. Who in the heck can afford this? It would be great if they would build plain apartments with nothing fancy so the “simple” people could afford to move to an apartment with reasonable rent. Not everyone can afford thousands of dollars and that would be my idea for that land. Forget all this garbage about building more more sports places.
Let there not be one penny of public money in this private sector, limited audience venture. If there is lots of loose public change rattling around looking for a home, there’s a tonne of useful and valuable projects that need doing. I’d rather see a skate board park built than yet another rinky dink.
“There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip.”
That’s a very ancient saying and people would do well to recall it when listening to the Sens and the NCC announcements. Today is the beginning of the start of the commencement of the initiation of the preparation of the process to consider thinking about contemplating the organizing of the planning to work towards the development of concepts that could result in the construction of a sports facility and related components on LeBreton Flats. It is not an announcement that there will ever be such a facility.
Between today’s statements and the puck drop of the first game in a new Sens hockey arena lies a lot of territory to be travelled through and many individual steps to be negotiated. At any point and for any reason, the whole thing could crumble and die.
Basically, don’t hold your breath for it to come to fruition. It may never happen; it may take years and it is unlikely, if it does come to pass, to resemble any form they may be discussing today. Not only have the chickens not hatched, the eggs haven’t been laid yet.
Funny thing about sports franchises. More and more frequently they are relocating to a new city. If the owner of the Senators decides its time to cash in his chips and sell the team and it moves then what happens with the new arena? I guess the 67s will have a beautiful arena that will be nearly empty most of the time since junior hockey doesn’t draw as well as the professional version. This whole mess sounds like another municipal boondoggle in the making.
The overall viability of the arena is dependent on the combination of nearby parking and an entertainment zone.
My back of Jim Watson’s envelope analysis says they need 5,000 nearby parking spaces, representing 10,000 fans. As an aside, those 5,000 parking spaces will be attractive to the return to the office, but not by LRT, federal public servants. That leaves the LRT to move 5,000 to 8,000 people out at the end of the night. Some of the fans, irrespective of how they got to or plan on leaving from the arena will grab a snack and drink after the game, thus spreading out the volume of post game departures. All in all, do-able.
But that only covers 41-55 (we should be so lucky) game nights. What about the other 300+ nights. That is where the central location comes into play. Trade show and conference organizers were loathe to book into the distant Kanata based facility. Too far away from the hotel district. Concerts, especially the bigger names, will likely remain the same, as location is less relevant to their fan base. Smaller concerts, such as those that Lansdoome wants to attract to its future ~5,000 seat venue may be attracted to the new Sens arena. At issue is whether the rent is competitive. Lord knows that access to and from Lebreton can’t be any worse than the parking lot that is Bank Street before and after events at Lansdoome.
Who knows, maybe the Senators will look at what Berlin did at the Mercedes Benz arena site. Built on the equivalent of a ‘brown field’, adjacent to commuter rail (long trains that actually work). A large arena (15,000+ seats) at one end of the plaza. A mid size (5,000-7,000) seat concert hall off to the side. Nearby parking garages. With a long, wide plaza that leads towards the arena and concert hall. Lined with restaurants with large patios.
Part of what will make that work is its proximity to BluesFest. That two plus weeks of BluesFest will be a license to print money. Line ups to get a seat on the patio, so that the customer can listen to the nearby music for ‘free’, until one considers the cost of dinner and drinks. Oh, and those nearby parking garages? Another license to print money.
Consider moving JazzFest to the same area. That adds another week plus of the same type of business.
And who knows. Maybe even some more LRT customers to enhance the moribund ridership levels.
How sad another arena, and from what I saw on CTV tonight it will be years and years till it is ever built. So I guess I don’t have to worry about this, because I really don’t believe I’ll be around to see the final arena. Hopefully my grandkids will.