LeBreton Flats 2.0 (RendezVous LeBreton) | Cancelled

[Kitchissippi]

The only other team to file a detailed development plan by Tuesday’s deadline, DCDLS Group – formerly Devcore Group – had originally proposed multiple cultural institutions around a grande allée as its anchor attraction.

But a source with knowledge of the proposals said the DCDLS Group’s proposal has evolved, and also includes “an NHL-calibre arena” as well as cultural elements.

It's funny how everyone is up in arms over gossip from an anonymous source. The media is partly to blame, but Melnyk really should have kept his composure and avoided reacting to it.

[zzptichka]

What if there is in fact no arena in the DevCore proposal and it was planted rumor all along?

After all the disappointment expressed by all levels of government and public, as well as hostile comments by Melnyk, it may actually play in DevCore favor big time once bids are revealed.

[DEWLine]

We should expect further disruptions for the people now living along Albert/Scott Street, then?

[rocketphish]

Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin files complaint with Competition Bureau over LeBreton Flats process

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 20, 2015 | Last Updated: December 20, 2015 6:45 PM EST

Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin has filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau over the LeBreton Flats redevelopment, raising concerns about collusion between the two competing teams and the secrecy of the process.

In a Dec. 17 letter to Competition commissioner John Pecman, Rubin cited “what could be a case of tendering collusion” between Rendez Vous LeBreton and the DCDLS Group, the two private sector teams that filed development proposals by the Dec. 15 deadline.

Only general details of the proposals have been released so far, but it was revealed last week that both include plans for an arena suitable for an NHL team.

Full details will be released Jan. 26 when the National Capital Commission, which owns LeBreton Flats, will hold two days of public consultations at the Canadian War Museum.

Rubin asked Pecman to investigate whether there “was or is intent at or collusion between the two bidders and their investors in both deciding to have an NHL rink as their proposed major redevelopment feature.”

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk said Friday he knew nothing of the DCDLS Group’s plan to include an arena in its proposal until he saw a tweet reporting that fact last week. He told reporters there was “no chance” the Senators would move to a downtown rink controlled by another company.

Rubin also asked the commissioner to investigate whether the “secretive and selective tendering process” adopted by the NCC contributed to the decisions by both teams to include an arena in their proposals.

Rubin, a vocal critic of the NCC, wrote that the Crown corporation “wants the tendering to proceed with little public input.” He said the agency stands to benefit directly from the proceeds of a multimillion-dollar land sale or a lucrative long-term lease.

In an interview, Rubin admitted he has no evidence of collusion, but added: “I’ve certainly heard from other people who used the words, ‘The fix is in.’ It’s hard to determine, but it looks awfully suspicious.

“I think there’s more than meets the eye here,” he said. “There’s some heavy hitters who are interconnected and involved.”

If the LeBreton process were more transparent, Rubin said he wouldn’t be raising concerns. “But the rigidity of the NCC tendering process leaves people in the dark.”

Gabrielle Tassé, a spokeswoman for the Competition Bureau, said the bureau is obliged by law to conduct its work confidentially and could not confirm whether or not it has received Rubin’s complaint.

“The bureau takes allegations of anti-competitive conduct seriously,” Tassé said in an email. “As always, should the bureau find evidence that the Competition Act has been contravened, it will not hesitate to take action as appropriate.”

NCC spokesman Jean Wolff said it would be inappropriate to respond to Rubin’s allegations or say anything else about the LeBreton Flats redevelopment prior to the public consultation in January. “To do otherwise may negatively affect the integrity of the process and the reputation of all concerned.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news...ition-bureau-over-lebreton-flats-process

[rocketphish]

When LeBreton falls Flats. Should we take it away from NCC, like, forever?

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 20, 2015 | Last Updated: December 20, 2015 6:48 PM EST

I’m growing ever persuaded that LeBreton Flats should be taken away from the National Capital Commission. Period and forever.

Think for a sec. We had a mixed neighbourhood there at one time, maybe down on its heels, maybe too loaded with industrial grit, but the place was at least alive.

If the feds had done nothing, today the area would be whitewashed, full of infill, with industrial buildings converted to something else, maybe blasted-brick places selling $5 coffee and $500 baby strollers. Whatever.

Instead, they expropriated, flattened the area and left us with a pile of dirt. And the plan now: “… attracting a new public anchor use(s) and bringing lively civic life back to this historic capital district.” Did they seriously say “historical capital district”?

(There’s this evolved notion that LeBreton is somehow sacred “national” land that needs to mean something to all Canadians and house the hopes of our children, if not the souls of our ancestors. Just stop this. Now. It’s a pile of dirt we can’t even get Minto interested in building on.)

This is a key problem. We have a public sector owner, with all these “national interest value” conditions, going to private interests that have market-based imperatives. Seriously, when the government runs the development show, you get Tunney’s Pasture. The NCC wants a proposal that’s culturally meaningful to someone from Moose Jaw: what’s a developer supposed to do with that?

Probably the most telling result of the latest “request for proposal” round is that two of the four proponents just dropped out. And one of them was Claridge, which has already worked heavily with the NCC, including early condo building on the Flats. And they’re throwing in the towel? Humph.

The whole thing makes you nuts. There was talk in the Citizen last week about putting a science museum there. Have we all forgotten we’re spending $80 million to renovate the old bun factory off St. Laurent Boulevard, forcing it to close for two years?

If the NCC wants a museum on the Flats, just say “museum” and we’ll all go back to sleep. This takes no RFP.

Instead, we have an 87-page document that spells out NCC conditions. Honestly, it isn’t clear they’re even asking the right question.

They’ve come up with an evaluation system that awards points for various aspects of the proposal. Of the 140 possible points, 45 go to “market rationale,” 30 of which go to the public anchor use. Failure to get at least 18 points in this section means you flunk.

Pause now for a second. If it’s not a museum, what kind of “public use” is going to attract thousands of visitors, in four seasons, be lively and vital, have complimentary amenities, and have a solid business case that might return revenue to the public purse?

Sure spells arena/stadium to me.

All of which is to say, the only proposal that makes any sense right now — at least in the NCC’s framework — is the one from the Ottawa Senators group. They know how to run an arena, they have the team, and they have an owner with money and ideas. (And Lansdowne is our laboratory on what works/doesn’t.)

It does seem crazy to be talking about replacing the Canadian Tire Centre. I was working the opening Bryan Adams concert there in January 1996 — in fact, I’m still wearing the same shirts. And the building’s “old”?

The RFP document, of course, is all government weird-speak. There is a gag order, for instance, until the proposals are unveiled in late January. Thank you, NCC, for saving us from the mass hysteria that would result if the public were given actual information in advance.

And here’s what happens when too many federal planners are making the soup:

“A public exhibition of the proponent’s concepts will take place at which time members of the public will be invited to ask questions in both official languages to up to three of the proponent’s representatives and to share their opinions on each design.”

Up to three?

It’s exasperating, to the point we’d be cheering if a Wal-Mart Superstore opened with a casino on the side, a library on top and a couple of Timmy’s next door. You want peeps? There’s your peeps.

You know, the NCC has actually done wonderful things for Ottawa. But big, complex development is not one of them.

Maybe it’s time to give the job to someone else, before the whole city stops caring.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email [email protected]

Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columni...ld-we-take-it-away-from-ncc-like-forever

[zzptichka]

I don't get it. We know about another hockey arena in the second proposal only from some "unnamed source".
How about we wait until proposals are made public and then discuss? There will be whole year for that before the winner (if any) is announced.

[Norman Bates]

Right On: Kelly Egan

[Nepean]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

When LeBreton falls Flats. Should we take it away from NCC, like, forever?

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 20, 2015 | Last Updated: December 20, 2015 6:48 PM EST

I’m growing ever persuaded that LeBreton Flats should be taken away from the National Capital Commission. Period and forever.

SNIP

+100,000

Kelly Egan hits the nail decisively on the head. The only part of his column that I disagree with is the sentence, "You know, the NCC has actually done wonderful things for Ottawa."

As the saying goes, a broken clock is right twice a day. I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find some things that the NCC didn't screw up. But so what? Overall this is an atrocious institution that should be disbanded.

The history of Lebreton is outrageous. Imagine if you traveled to a foreign country and where brought to an area in the middle of the capital city that looked like the moon. Then you were told that it used to be a thriving working class neighbourhood, but that it was destroyed because the government decided to kick everyone out of their homes. For decades afterwards the area was essentially abandoned.

What would you tell your friends back in Canada about this country? Would you call it democratic? Efficient? Just? Of course not. So why do we have to accept the NCC when everyone knows it's an insult to Canadian values?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by acottawa

What is a grand city with a metro population of a million? There is no hinterland, no empire, very little private sector. Grand costs money.

The nice parts of Rome were built thousands of years ago when it ruled the known world or hundreds of years ago when the church was collecting money from all over the world. Paris and London were capitals of large empires. Ottawa is a lot better than Canberra.

I am not slagging on Ottawa, and yes it's way better than Canberra I agree.

But cities like Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Geneva, etc. are in the same ballpark population-wise as Ottawa and are much, much grander.

As I said, I don't have anything against Ottawa.

But I don't have any illusions about it either.

[lrt's friend]

Looking at Lebreton Flats and what has happened in the Greenbelt, the NCC (and its predecessor) is better at demolitions than actually building anything.

[eemy]

Oslo, Helsinki, and Copenhagen are all their respective country's primate city though, and Geneva is the primate city of the French-speaking part of Switzerland (and also not the capital).

[acottawa]

I think people are over-exaggerating the pre-demolition awesomeness of the lebretton flats. The area was mostly industrial and the residential part had been destroyed by the great fire and hastily rebuilt on toxic soil. If the NCC had left it alone, I don't think we would be talking about how great that neighbourhood is.

In a way, I think the dithering is somewhat fortunate. The most popular thing to do after clearing so-called "blighted" neighbourhoods (which was all the rage in the 50s and 60s all across North America and Europe) was Le Corbusier style towers in a park (either ugly office complexes like Tunney's Pasture or public housing projects like Regent Park or St. James Place), both of which are worse than the moonscape there now.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

Oslo, Helsinki, and Copenhagen are all their respective country's primate city though, and Geneva is the primate city of the French-speaking part of Switzerland (and also not the capital).

Of course. Just calling em as I see em though.

[MoreTrains]

I think we need to revisit DEVCORE proposal. As mentioned before, perhaps they arent trying to get the Sens to play at their (notional) arena. Perhaps they want to bring in a KHL or AHL team? I mean, that would be pretty awesome right?

Originally Posted by acottawa

I think people are over-exaggerating the pre-demolition awesomeness of the lebretton flats. The area was mostly industrial and the residential part had been destroyed by the great fire and hastily rebuilt on toxic soil. If the NCC had left it alone, I don't think we would be talking about how great that neighbourhood is.

If the NCC left it alone it would have been able to gentrify and be cleaned up without using public money. The sale of land and purchase of land could have happened without having to keep the public in mind. It is entirely possible it would be the s**t hole of Ottawa, but it is also possible it cold have become Ottawa equivalent to the Distillery District. So it can really go both ways: A s**tscape owned by the government waiting for the 'right' proposal or A s**tscape owned by private enterprise that would have covered all the costs the area has incurred up until now.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by MoreTrains

If the NCC left it alone it would have been able to gentrify and be cleaned up without using public money. The sale of land and purchase of land could have happened without having to keep the public in mind. It is entirely possible it would be the s**t hole of Ottawa, but it is also possible it cold have become Ottawa equivalent to the Distillery District. So it can really go both ways: A s**tscape owned by the government waiting for the 'right' proposal or A s**tscape owned by private enterprise that would have covered all the costs the area has incurred up until now.

If the NCC left it alone, and CMHC had left it alone (CMHC led demolition efforts across the country and would have taken on that role in Ottawa if the NCC wasn't around) it would probably look a lot like the area surrounding it: city centre type developments, quasi-industrial uses like storage lockers or scrapyards, dollar stores, cheque cashing places, low-end rental housing, public housing maybe the odd infill for intrepid hipsters. There would probably be interesting things too (artist co-ops, microbreweries) but I don't think there is any reason to think it would have a history different from similar neighbourhoods.

[MetroLakeChamplain]

There has been some talk Mr. Melnyk might ask for public money to build the arena. However, if the NCC leases the land to him for $1 over 69 years (like they did with the condo on Sussex and Rideau) wouldn't that, together with the fact they won't have to pay property tax to the city of Ottawa, result in the equivalent of a significant public subsidy.

I could also see Windmill helping out financially as an arena would increase the value of the nearby Zibi development.

Thus, I could see this project being financially feasible even without direct public financing. If Mr. Melnyk is smart he will try and get his public financial support by indirect and politically less sensitive means.

[hwy418]

Originally Posted by MoreTrains

I think we need to revisit DEVCORE proposal. As mentioned before, perhaps they arent trying to get the Sens to play at their (notional) arena. Perhaps they want to bring in a KHL or AHL team? I mean, that would be pretty awesome right?

Actually no - if that's what they're after, I wish them luck. The only hope they have for viable hockey tenant is the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL. I just can't see the 67's, the Sens / Bingo Sens (under Devcore) moving there. I am fairly certain the NHL would block any attempt for the KHL to setup here.

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by MetroLakeChamplain

There has been some talk Mr. Melnyk might ask for public money to build the arena. However, if the NCC leases the land to him for $1 over 69 years (like they did with the condo on Sussex and Rideau) wouldn't that, together with the fact they won't have to pay property tax to the city of Ottawa, result in the equivalent of a significant public subsidy.

I could also see Windmill helping out financially as an arena would increase the value of the nearby Zibi development.

Thus, I could see this project being financially feasible even without direct public financing. If Mr. Melnyk is smart he will try and get his public financial support by indirect and politically less sensitive means.

An article in the Citizen released back in February 2015 on the subject of the Lebreton bids included a couple statements from the Sens' Cyril Leeder that indicated no public money would be involved in their bid:

“I’m hopeful that the RFP will allow us to get into public consultations,” said Leeder.

But for now, like other shortlisted proponents, RendezVous is releasing few details about its plans. Leeder wouldn’t even confirm what other companies are partnering with the Senators, other than to say there are two teams working on the project: one made up for developers to construct “an urban plan with a transit focus”, and another to concentrate on the sports and entertainment facility.

The sports organization is not intending to ask taxpayers to underwrite any of its plans.

“I think the economics have changed a lot on those projects,” said Leeder. “Teams have figured out how to finance them without the taxpayers having to pay for them” referencing a new arena in Edmonton being paid for by the Oilers and related real estate.

With that said, plans can change I suppose; we'll have to wait and see what happens at the end of January...

[YOWflier]

There is precedent in this country for sports teams receiving some form of assistance from Government. Look no further than the Maple Leaves, when they obtained the postal building in downtown Toronto that is now known as the ACC as a replacement for the Gardens; I believe it was sold or leased to them for $1. I'd expect the Senators to receive similar, favourable treatment if they were to move to Lebreton and request it; dissenters be damned.

On the subject of Ottawa being "Grand", I was messing around on Google maps just now and Google told me the following quick facts about Ottawa:

Ottawa, Canada’s southeastern capital, sits in Ontario at the border of Québec. A cosmopolitan city on the Ottawa River, it has at its centre Parliament Hill, with grand Victorian architecture and renowned museums such as the glass-and-granite National Gallery, with noted collections from Canadian and Indigenous artists. The park-lined Rideau Canal is filled with boats in summer and ice-skaters in winter.

Google says Ottawa is grand therefore it has to be true.

[silvergate]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

On the subject of Ottawa being "Grand", I was messing around on Google maps just now and Google told me the following quick facts about Ottawa:

Ottawa, Canada’s southeastern capital, sits in Ontario at the border of Québec. A cosmopolitan city on the Ottawa River, it has at its centre Parliament Hill, with grand Victorian architecture and renowned museums such as the glass-and-granite National Gallery, with noted collections from Canadian and Indigenous artists. The park-lined Rideau Canal is filled with boats in summer and ice-skaters in winter.

Google says Ottawa is grand therefore it has to be true.

I wonder why Google calls it "Canada's south-eastern capital", and not just: Canada's capital, located in the south-east. Seems a tad confusing