Ottawa senators take a new step towards building a new arena in the heart of the city center.
The senators and the National Capital Commission (CCN) agreed to sell 11 acres land on the Plains Lebreton for this project.
The purchase and sale agreement with Capital Sports Development Inc., the development branch of the NHL team, follows an agreement concluded with the CCN last September, for a development project including a new arena. It will allow the necessary zoning, design and approvals, as well as the decontamination of the site for construction.
“We are happy to conclude an agreement to buy and sell with the CCN to take the next step in this process,” said by a press release Cyril Leeder, president and chief executive officer.
“There are still many obstacles to be crossed, and we are impatient to collaborate with the CCN and other speakers to materialize our common vision: to create an event center on the Plains Lebreton, of which our Ottawa-Gatineau community can take advantage of. »»
The financial terms have not been disclosed.
In the press release, the parties said that “the agreement is a key step in creating a major event center and a district around the arena, including mixed development development, on the Lebreton plains”.
The new arena would offer senators a more central location than their current home of the Canadian Center draws, in the suburbs of Kanata. This suburbs, located about 25 kilometers from the city center, has welcomed the team since 1996.
The senators, under the direction of Michael Andlauer, signed an agreement with the CCN in June 2022 for the development of the Plains Lebreton. The purchase agreement is now finalized, the project can go to the construction phase.
A previous agreement aimed at the redevelopment of the Plains Lebreton and the construction of an arena, under the direction of former owner Eugene Melnyk, failed in 2019, following an argument between his trading partner John Ruddy and him.
Melnyk died in March 2022, and Andlauer, a Toronto businessman and former minority shareholder of the Montreal Canadiens, bought the team the following year.
The land transaction of the Plains Lebreton, finalized under the property of Andlauer, replaces the initial long -term lease project of 2.4 hectares, giving the project a much greater imprint.
Last September, CCN’s president-and-chief executive officer Tobi Nussbaum said that the arena was just a broader vision for the Lebreton plains, which will eventually include more than 6,000 dwellings, 25 % of which will be affordable housing, as well as parks and public spaces.
“The promise of a major event center will offer an animated and practical attraction to residents and visitors, will breathe new energy and dynamism in the heart of the national capital and further catalyze the development of the Lebreton plains,” said Nussbaum in a statement on Monday.
“This agreement is based on the two previous real estate transactions carried out by the CCN since 2022, as part of the ‘Building Lebreton’ project, which will see the construction of more than 2,000 new housing, as well as new commercial and retail spaces on the site. »»
