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Remediation of the land is viewed as one of the biggest hurdles for this project. Environment assessments of the land done by the NCC have determined that the soil is contaminated.
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We’ll have to hurry up and wait for a new home for the Ottawa Senators.
It’s anybody’s guess how long it will take before the Senators put shovels in the ground for their new home at LeBreton Flats.
Eleven days after reaching an agreement in principle to purchase 10 acres of land at the site just West of Parliament Hill, officials with the National Capital Commission weren’t ready to predict when the Senators would pack their bags and leave the Canadian Tire Centre.
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As we’ve noted in this space, getting an agreement in principle between the NCC and the Senators at the Sept. 20 deadline was only the first step in what’s going to be a lengthy process to putting shovels in the ground.
Before the two sides can even officially complete the purchase of the land, the Senators have a lot of groundwork to do in the coming months.
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The list of tasks include the design of the rink, a geotechnical report to test the soils, a transportation study, zoning with the city and remediation — just to name a few.
Working through these areas will allow the Senators and their parent company Capital Sports Development Inc. (CSDI) to determine how much this project is going to cost and the timeline of a move downtown.
“There are going to be a number of studies that the Senators and CSDI are going to undertake as part of the due-diligence process following the signing of the MOU,” Nussbaum said Tuesday after the club’s public board of directors meeting on Elgin St.
“The expectation is that will take some months. The expectation or the hope, which we communicated at the press conference, was that we sign an agreement for purchase and sale sometime in 2025.”
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Remediation of the land is viewed as one of the biggest hurdles for this project. Environment assessments of the land done by the NCC have determined that the soil is contaminated. The site will have to be cleaned up and, though the costs have been estimated, that has to be determined.
There will also be a timeline regarding just how long that process will take.
Working through these areas will allow the Senators and CSDI to determine how much this project is going to cost and the timeline of a move downtown.
The excitement of getting the deal in place has worn off and now both sides have to get down to brass tacks on the project.
But it’s clear — as far as NCC officials are concerned — that the ball is in the Senators’ court to determine how long this project will take.
“I can thankfully say that will really be determined in part by what the Senators and CSDI’s plans are,” Nussbaum said. “They indicated that they will need engage the city of Ottawa because there are municipal planning processes.”
There has been talk about how the Senators are going to pay for this and they do plan to engage with city official to discuss their involvement. A rough estimate of the cost of the project is about $1.2 billion.
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The new arena being built in Calgary has been tabbed at $927 million.
The Calgary Herald reported “the bulk of that (is the rink) at $800 million while the community rink will cost $52.8 million, the parkade will cost $35.4 million, the outdoor community event plaza $28.7 million and the indoor plaza $9.5 million.”
The outlet said the city will contribute about $515 million of the costs with “transfers from the city’s Major Capital Projects Reserve, the Fiscal Stability Reserve and the Budget Savings Account Merged Reserve.”
The owners of the Flames are paying about $338 million of the costs.
That Calgary project also is being built on 10 acres of land and it would be no surprise if the Senators followed a similar design concept.
Cyril Leeder reiterated last week that owner Michael Andlauer and the Senators have no desire to have the taxpayers fund a new arena.
They understand there’s no appetite for that, but do believe there is room for negotiation with Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe about different scenarios.
Leeder has cited the structure used to negotiate the Public Private Partnerships (P3s) for the Bell Sensplex and the Richcraft Sensplex. He said those have been successful. That’s also a scenario the city negotiated with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group for Lansdowne Park.
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Andlauer has said he’d love to see the club playing in its new home to start the 2029-30 campaign, but that feels extremely optimistic. It’s going to be years before there’s even clearance to put a shovel in the ground.
Nussbaum noted even he doesn’t know when the site will be built and fully functional because the Senators aren’t close to having that answer.
“I don’t know that they’ve identified a goal yet of shovels in the ground,” Nussbaum said. “I know different time periods were offered by them in terms of when the puck could actually drop, but certainly here at the NCC we’re not in a position to guess
“Of course, it will be there project and it will be there major events centre.”
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