2 days ago
Plans for new downtown Ottawa NHL arena move ahead as Senators, NCC finalize land deal
Plans for a new National Hockey League arena and events centre in downtown Ottawa have taken a major step forward with the National Capital Commission announcing that it will sell off 4.5 hectares of land in the city's LeBreton Flats area.
The NCC and Capital Sports Development Inc. (CSDI), a group led by the NHL's Ottawa Senators, released a joint statement Monday on an agreement in the long-running effort to develop a stadium to replace the 29-year-old Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators have played at the facility, located about 20 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, since 1996.
The site central to Monday's agreement is located at LeBreton Flats, just west of Parliament Hill.
The flats is a largely vacant area that was once the site of a working-class community and is now managed by the NCC. Parts of the area are occupied by the National Holocaust Monument and the Canadian War Museum.
There are two light-rail stations in the area.
The NCC is a federal Crown corporation that manages about 11 per cent of the land in the national capital region, and owns more than 1,600 properties, including six official residences in the capital.
Cyril Leeder, president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators, said the club was pleased to reach the agreement.
Now, he said it's time to move on to the next steps of the process in developing the project.
According to the NCC website, these steps will include zoning, design and approvals as well as decontamination of the land parcels to prepare for construction.
'There are still many more hurdles to clear,' Mr. Leeder said in a statement.
'We look forward to working with the NCC and other stakeholders to achieve our shared vision of creating an event centre at LeBreton Flats that can be enjoyed by our Ottawa-Gatineau community.'
Meanwhile, the head of the NCC, said the project will be a plus for Ontario's second most populous city after Toronto.
'The promise of a major events centre will provide a lively and convenient attraction for residents and visitors, inject new energy and excitement into the core of the Nation's Capital and further catalyze the development of LeBreton Flats,' said Tobi Nussbaum, NCC chief executive officer, in a statement.
He said that Monday's agreement builds on a pair of previous real estate transactions completed by the NCC since 2002 on a project to see more than 2,000 new housing units along with new retail and commercial spaces built on site.
In 2022, the NCC announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with CSDI.
