Lansdowne Park Redevelopment Phase 1 | Completed

[Cre47]

Update on OMB hearing with the Glebe BIA and a former (and disgruntled) councillor (who is executive director of the BIA) who is one of the appelants

Lansdowne appeals going to OMB in May


Ottawa Citizen February 10, 2011



The appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board over the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park are slated to begin on May 9 and expected to last for more than three weeks.

The OMB held a pre-hearing session at City Hall on Thursday to lay the ground work for the appeal, a process that whittled the number of appellants to 12 from 14. The next pre-hearing conference will be in March.

The OMB will hear appeals based solely on zoning issues. The Glebe BIA is one of the appellants. Its executive director, former Kitchissippi ward councillor Christine Leadman, said she did not believe that the scale of the Lansdowne redevelopment — a partnership between the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group — complied with the city’s zoning policies. She also said the project was too big to be allowed with a mere “re-zoning,” and instead required an amendment of the city’s official plan, a much more onerous process.

The OMB appeals are not to be confused with the Friends of Lansdowne court challenge, in which it charges that the city violated its own procurement rules by going ahead with the OSEG bid. That case is scheduled to start in April.

Construction on the Lansdowne site is scheduled to begin this summer.

[Cre47]

In regards to Whole Foods someone familiar at the CBC comments forum seems to have a problem with it. Actually it makes sense, it is another grocery store for the core. Even with the future Sobeys and the Loblaws location, there is still need for a couple more. That will force the locals to drop down the ridicoulous high prices at their stores.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...socialcomments

Originally Posted by jemartin

Makes absolutely no sense.

Large conglomerates decimate local business and in this case ship the profits out of country.

What makes more sense is to stop the whole approach with the current development proposal, build less and encourage local growers and small business.

As for the Farmer's Market under the current proposal? A token. It will be one fourth the size it is now.

Keep the park public, enough of this over intensification, get back to the roots of this public space.

Promote local business and local growers and vendors and keep the park in scale for the site.

Better for Lansdowne, better for the local economy and much better for the taxpayer.

[AuxTown]

There seems to be a plague of arrogance and ignorance in the Glebe. Business owners there seem to think that they should not be subject to the same market pressures as the rest of the world. Contrary to popular Glebite belief, competition is a good thing and, unless you live in some kind of Utopian world, it is necessary. A couple of quotes from an article at www.cbc.ca that I found amusing:

Stéphane Sauvé, manager of the Glebe Meat Market, said she's worried about the impact Lansdowne will have on the Glebe's streetscape.

"I'm not that scared of competing against Whole Foods," Sauvé said.

"I'm just scared of what's going to happen to the street if it gets decimated and suddenly there's bars and tattoo parlours coming in … I'm not going to be in a good location."

I don't remember bars and tattoo parlours being part of the OSEG proposal? If there is a demand for tatoos in the Glebe then so be it! Who are they to say what businesses belong in their ridiculous little neighbourhood?

Amanda Watkins, manager at the Wild Oat bakery, said Glebe businesses will face more competition when Whole Foods moves to Lansdowne Park.

That's a very good observation Amanda, it seems you are starting to grasp the principles of a free market. If your customers feel you offer something special (service, products, Glebish ambience) then they will choose your store over Whole Foods. If, on the other hand, they are only shopping their now due to lack of another viable alternative within walking distance then your business will suffer. I hate to be so blunt, but we can't cater to every small business owner who didn't plan for the future. It is a tough world out there and you can't just decide that your little neighbourhood should be free from competition just because your business isn't good enough to withstand it.

rest of article here

[K-133]

There seems to be a plague of arrogance and ignorance in the Glebe.

I call it selective ignorance.

[danny the dog]

The OMB will hear appeals based solely on zoning issues. The Glebe BIA is one of the appellants. Its executive director, former Kitchissippi ward councillor Christine Leadman, said she did not believe that the scale of the Lansdowne redevelopment — a partnership between the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group — complied with the city’s zoning policies. She also said the project was too big to be allowed with a mere “re-zoning,” and instead required an amendment of the city’s official plan, a much more onerous process.

This must be reassuring to Glebe NIMBYs since Leadman proved to be extremely competent in regards to zoning development issues in her last job. Then again I wouldn't be surprised that she pushes this out of spite now that she is no longer on council.

I'm not out to defend the Glebe and all of the anti development types that definitively live there but I went to check something out today. After a conversation I had the other day made me think about it, I had a look at the resent mayoral results in Clive Doucet's stomping grounds of Capital Ward. As it turns out every poll was won by Watson. I find it interesting that the most militant anti-development Councilor running for mayor couldn't even win a single poll in the most militant anti-development ward in the city, not to mention that it was his own ward. We all know that in relation to development those who are the loudest get all the attention, and in most cases it's the opponents. However this sort of makes me wonder if there might actually be a silent majority of people in the Glebe who for the most part don't really mind Lansdowne, whereas the Doucet's and Martin's of the world would like to have the whole city think otherwise. I'm only basing this on election results, so I could be completely wrong, but I found it interesting none the less.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by danny the dog

This must be reassuring to Glebe NIMBYs since Leadman proved to be extremely competent in regards to zoning development issues in her last job. Then again I wouldn't be surprised that she pushes this out of spite now that she is no longer on council.

I'm not out to defend the Glebe and all of the anti development types that definitively live there but I went to check something out today. After a conversation I had the other day made me think about it, I had a look at the resent mayoral results in Clive Doucet's stomping grounds of Capital Ward. As it turns out every poll was won by Watson. I find it interesting that the most militant anti-development Councilor running for mayor couldn't even win a single poll in the most militant anti-development ward in the city, not to mention that it was his own ward. We all know that in relation to development those who are the loudest get all the attention, and in most cases it's the opponents. However this sort of makes me wonder if there might actually be a silent majority of people in the Glebe who for the most part don't really mind Lansdowne, whereas the Doucet's and Martin's of the world would like to have the whole city think otherwise. I'm only basing this on election results, so I could be completely wrong, but I found it interesting none the less.

You can make that point for every issue. For every person who writes a letter to the editor, attends a public forum, writes on a blog, there are at least 8 to 10 who hold (and will vote) the opposite view.

[AuxTown]

And the NIMBYs score a victory. I just wish that their motivations were truly related to saving tax dollars and not their narrow-minded selfish wishes (don't want a new stadium, want a park, happen to own a crappy Glebe business that can't survive a bit of competition, etc.). I'm scared of how quickly things could really unravel here. We risk losing any hope of a usefully redeveloped Lansdowne in the next decade, much needed infill resiential replacing a horrid parking lot, a CFL franchise, a new central movie theatre, the U20 and Women's Wold Cup, and any chance this city has of being a respected democracy.

I think Edmonton is going to have their municipal airport fully redeveloped before we get a shovel in the ground

Friends of Lansdowne scores court victory against city

Updated: Tue Feb. 15 2011 3:38:25 PM
ctvottawa.ca

Opponents of the Lansdowne Redevelopment Plan have scored a major court victory.

The Ontario Superior Court decided in favour of the Friends of Lansdowne on three key motions.

The court ruled that the Friends of Lansdowne will get full standing before the court, all evidence will be admissible, and the city must provide all the financial details about its partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

The group is taking the city to court because they say the plan should not have been sole-sourced to the sports and entertainment group, and that it is a bad deal for Ottawa residents.

[reidjr]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

And the NIMBYs score a victory. I just wish that their motivations were truly related to saving tax dollars and not their narrow-minded selfish wishes (don't want a new stadium, want a park, happen to own a crappy Glebe business that can't survive a bit of competition, etc.). I'm scared of how quickly things could really unravel here. We risk losing any hope of a usefully redeveloped Lansdowne in the next decade, much needed infill resiential replacing a horrid parking lot, a CFL franchise, a new central movie theatre, the U20 and Women's Wold Cup, and any chance this city has of being a respected democracy.

I think Edmonton is going to have their municipal airport fully redeveloped before we get a shovel in the ground

What people aginst the oseg bid have to understand is you can't have it both ways which some seem to think they can.You can't say we can not afford to spend money on oseg then flip around and sepdn money ona park very few want.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The court ruling was not as gloomy for supporters of Lansdowne Live as the FOL statement trumpets,

It was never in much doubt that FOL would have full standing before the courts,

The city will have to produce more documents about finances and such.

OSEG, as intervener, was granted the right to cross examine witnesses and documents (that FOL might present), just as can the city,

FOL failed in its request to make the city produce all memo and e-mails between city councillors and between staff on the subject of Lansdowne. I suspect that FOL was hoping to find something in this correspondence to show that there was some hanky-panky going on. Sort of a witch hunt. Now that avenue is closed off to them.

This ruling also pretty well defined what FOL must do to win their case--namely, prove that city council was provided with misleading information before they voted (presumably by city staff and the consultants they hired)

As an aside---can you imagine the howls for the heads of city staffers if the court does rule that they provided council with misleading information?

Any way -the mills of the court will grind away slowly as they usually do and we will probably have a decision in May,.

[lrt's friend]

What the FOL won more than anything is likely a delay in the court action. I hate to see the loss of a construction year.

And lets also not forget that we will host the Grey Cup with the new stadium, probably sooner than later.

I did have a look at the Friends website and what their proposed alternative is. An incremental approach to redeveloping Lansdowne and spending millions for a temporary stadium so that a new stadium can be built elsewhere.

Making comparisons with what happened in Montreal is not easily translatable to another city. Putting up 10,000 seats as bleachers for five or 10 years while a new stadium is built cannot be appealing to potential franchise owners. You want the new franchise to get off with a blast instead of a blah.

[AuxTown]

from www.cfra.com

Ottawa Could Host Women's World Cup GamesJosh Pringle
Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Women’s World Cup could take the field in Ottawa in 2015.

Ottawa is one of seven Canadian cities in the running to host games during the event, with an announcement expected in the fall.

Mayor Jim Watson says he’s confident Frank Clair Stadium will be redeveloped on time to host the tournament.

The renovations to the stadium are part of the multi-million dollar Lansdowne Partnership Plan.

Watson says the Women’s World Cup puts pressure on the city to make sure the redevelopment is done right.

FIFA officials will visit Ottawa and the other Canadian cities this fall to determine whether the venues are suitable to host tournament games.

The City has committed up to $400-thousand in cash and in-kind services to host the 2015 Women’s World Cup and the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in 2014.

One more reason for the public to get behind this project. People may have been indifferent when this was just a stadium, but the more they see what we are missing by not having a world-class 30000+ outdoor stadium the more the more support this will get. So, we can have a local park OR we can have CFL football, MLS soccer, Women's World Cup soccer, large outdoor concerts (remember the Stones?), and an endless number of other possibilities. People will be so jealous of Ottawa when they see our brand new (refurbished) stadium in central Ottawa hosting the World Cup alongside the beautiful Rideau Canal!

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

FIFA: ‘We will have a new facility to play in’

Mayor ‘confident’ stadium will be ready should Ottawa be a host city for Women’s World Cup

By Joanne Chianello, The Ottawa Citizen March 4, 2011

— Mayor Jim Watson vowed that Frank Clair Stadium will be refurbished in time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 in the likely event that Ottawa is chosen as one of the host cities of the international event.

“We will have a new facility to play in,” said the mayor. “I’m not going to set ourselves up for failure or embarrassment.”

FIFA officially announced Thursday that Canada would host the World Cup in 2015 and the Women’s U-20 World Cup in 2014, which is considered something of a practice run for the main event.

But Ottawa isn’t automatically a host city. The Women’s World Cup will be held in six cities across Canada, but seven have applied, including Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Moncton, N.B.

Having said that, it would be a major blow if Ottawa wasn’t one of the chosen cities. The city already successfully hosted seven games during the Men’s U-20 World Cup in 2007, receiving kudos from FIFA at the time.

Halifax does not currently have an appropriate stadium for the soccer championships and Toronto didn’t bid because the world cup would clash with the Pan AM Games that will be held around the same time.

The fact that Toronto isn’t in the running works in Ottawa’s favour, said Watson, because the capital will receive all of the $2.75 million in provincial funding that’s expected, if not yet officially committed.

Last month, city council officially committed its own funds of $400,000 to the event.

“I wouldn’t have brought the request to council if I wasn’t confident that we were going to meet our commitment to have the facility ready,” said Watson, who campaigned last fall on aggressively working to attract sports, entertainment and cultural events to Ottawa.

The Lansdowne Park redevelopment, undertaken by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group in partnership with the city, will see commercial and residential construction on the site as well as the refurbishment of the stadium.

The Men’s U-20 World Cup in 2007 is one of the last times the stadium’s south-side stands were used. Soon after the event, the lower section of the stands were found to be structurally unsound and have since been demolished.

The stadium is currently scheduled to be refurbished by June 2013, in time for the women’s U-20 in 2014. Demolition is slated to start in May, but that date seems unlikely considering a court case challenging the legality of the entire Lansdowne project is due to start next month. No work can begin on the site until the court case is decided.

But there are other big projects that will be under way over the next few years that may impact the games, including the tearing up of Bank Street in the Glebe.

There again Watson promised the city would have its act together.

“There’s been a lot of foot dragging” on the Bank Street reconstruction, he said, adding that part of the project could have technically started this year, but is more likely to go ahead in one full shot in 2012.

“Obviously, we don’t want road construction taking place in 2014,” he said.

The 2015 Women’s World Cup is set to be bigger than ever, growing to 24 participating countries from 16 this year. About 52 games are scheduled to be played.

The two soccer events combined are expected to attract as many as 30,000 out-of-town visitors generate more than $12 million of economic activity as soccer fans stream into local restaurants and book hotels.

The latter may be something of an issue, however. This week, Ottawa Convention Centre chairman Jim Durrell warned that Ottawa doesn’t have enough hotel rooms to support the new centre, which is booking up quickly.

Watson admitted that there’s work to be done attracting another hotelier to Ottawa, but that “it’s a good problem to have.”

The city will now concentrate on preparing to “roll out the red carpet” for FIFA and Canadian Soccer Association officials who will be touring the seven applicant cities in the fall. The host cities are expected to be announced late this year or in early 2012.

FIFA officials will consider all the activities planned for Ottawa in 2014 and 2015.

“We’ll be sitting down with them to make sure they’re comfortable with some of the projects that might be going on in parallel,” said Saad Bashir, the city’s director of economic development. “They might be OK with it, or they may request us to change our timeline so they’re not a big disruption happening during those dates.”

Watson was quick to add that FIFA’s requests had to be within reason.

“Obviously we’re not going to postpone construction on the light rail project,” said Watson.

The news that Canada would hold the Women’s World Cup was widely expected after Zimbabwe, the only other country vying to host the quadrennial event, pulled out this week.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

The FOLP are doing no favours for the people of Ottawa.

[AuxTown]

The latter may be something of an issue, however. This week, Ottawa Convention Centre chairman Jim Durrell warned that Ottawa doesn’t have enough hotel rooms to support the new centre, which is booking up quickly.

Watson admitted that there’s work to be done attracting another hotelier to Ottawa, but that “it’s a good problem to have.”

There's not question that we need a new hotel downtown and there's little question where it should be. A 20-25 storey hotel should be constructed as part of the Rideau Centre expansion and should be situated in that empty lot just East of the Rideau Centre. This would give direct access to the Convention Centre (via Rideau Centre) and there shouldn't be any height issues given its neighbours include Westin, Les Suites, 90 George, Novotel, and Claridge 1-4. The tower should be set back from Rideau Street with a 4-6 storey podium consistent with those on the other side of the Rideau. Now let's get it done so we're not scrambling when the huge conventions, World Cup, etc. come to town.

[blackjagger]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

There's not question that we need a new hotel downtown and there's little question where it should be. A 20-25 storey hotel should be constructed as part of the Rideau Centre expansion and should be situated in that empty lot just East of the Rideau Centre. This would give direct access to the Convention Centre (via Rideau Centre) and there shouldn't be any height issues given its neighbours include Westin, Les Suites, 90 George, Novotel, and Claridge 1-4. The tower should be set back from Rideau Street with a 4-6 storey podium consistent with those on the other side of the Rideau. Now let's get it done so we're not scrambling when the huge conventions, World Cup, etc. come to town.

You might as well throw in 10-15 storeys for private residences just for luck. I agree with your location or move it up to the property across from the arts court that the Rideau Centre owns.

Cheers,
Josh

[McC]

Originally Posted by blackjagger

You might as well throw in 10-15 storeys for private residences just for luck. I agree with your location or move it up to the property across from the arts court that the Rideau Centre owns.

Cheers,
Josh

sure. we could put the boots to SoHo Little Italy and invite Shangri La to come build a 40-storey hotel-condo combo on a lot that would make a lot more sense for Ottawa's new tallest (especially if they built one that looked anything like the Shangri La in Vancouver).

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by McC

sure. we could put the boots to SoHo Little Italy and invite Shangri La to come build a 40-storey hotel-condo combo on a lot that would make a lot more sense for Ottawa's new tallest (especially if they built one that looked anything like the Shangri La in Vancouver).

I was looking at the Shangri-la in Vancouver and Toronto. It would be nice to have one here. It would be good for the city. They're designed really well.

[kevinbottawa]

The design for Frank Clair Stadium was included in Architizer.com's top 10 list for sports arenas that are creating a buzz. Lansdowne is in some good company! If it's getting recognition now, imagine when (or if) it gets built.

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog...e-games-begin/

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/proj...stadium/15767/

[aesthetic]

The buildings really do look remarkably out of place in this picture: http://www.architizer.com/mediadata/...0/5570627c.jpg

What was the status on that part of the development? Is it still a go?

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

aesthetic---probably the best way to see the scale of things and the sight lines from various angles is via the video produced by Trinity Developments.

http://www.trinity-group.com/?q=node/474

[ThaLoveDocta]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

The design for Frank Clair Stadium was included in Architizer.com's top 10 list for sports arenas that are creating a buzz. Lansdowne is in some good company! If it's getting recognition now, imagine when (or if) it gets built.

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog...e-games-begin/

http://www.architizer.com/en_us/proj...stadium/15767/

Stunning!
I love it.