LeBreton Flats 2.0 (RendezVous LeBreton) | Cancelled

[YOWflier]

Happy to stand corrected though.

[Buggys]

Originally Posted by daud

Theoretically-City of Ottawa has 50 million to invest:

a) invest in an arena that provides services and other related jobs
b) invest in technology and innovation-providing resources to startups who in turn hire graduates and increase employment
c)invest in a jobs and training program for needy families
c) invest in recreation or other facilities available to all citizens-revenue neutral
d) invest in social services-programs to assist working poor
e) invest in transportation infrastucture

The list is actually endless and they all have some merit including the arena. The thrust of the argument for the arena is that they have to demonstrate they are the best or at least a better option than the others. Perception is 99% reality.

If the arena was to succeed at getting public funds, they really need to demonstrate that it is a worthy investment and that other needs are not being neglected in the process-not easy. The underlying problem for the arena argument is the sheer volume of money that goes to player salaries. The optics are horrible and the other examples cited above do not have as much of a direct correlation though I agree, there is a discussion to be had.

The rumour from Elliott Freidman is that there was some sort of city ownership in the proposed arena and that we'll find out what that may have been after the NCC meetings and termination of the agreement with Rendez-Vous. It will be interesting to see and it would make more sense why Jim Watson wanted to muzzle Eugene Melnyk during the election if the city had some financial involvement-direct or indirect.

Look at some examples of what we could invest in. Why use public money to invest in for-profit private companies, when we could invest in items where the private sector is less likely to invest in, such as c, c, or e?

No, the foreigners comment was not targetted at the sens players. It was about the sad state of our middle class Canadians who are disadvantaged. How could we seriously be considering putting our tax money into private corporations when individual Canadians are struggling!?

[phil235]

Originally Posted by Buggys

Look at some examples of what we could invest in. Why use public money to invest in for-profit private companies, when we could invest in items where the private sector is less likely to invest in, such as c, c, or e?

No, the foreigners comment was not targetted at the sens players. It was about the sad state of our middle class Canadians who are disadvantaged. How could we seriously be considering putting our tax money into private corporations when individual Canadians are struggling!?

So foreigners are responsible for the state of the middle class. Umm, okay.

Rightly or wrongly, economic development programs typically involve an investment in private corporations where there is a case to be made that those corporations will create good jobs, which can help the middle class. There are successes and failures in that regard.

That isn’t quite the same as the city investing in a facility like an arena (and particularly one which may beowned by the city). That is an investment in an amenity that betters the city, may attract investment and talent, and can create jobs as a secondary benefit. The business case obviously needs to be scrutinized, but it’s not the simple binary choice that you are making it out to be.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Tibit from the Ottawa Citizen/Sun today. One that we already knew, but might not have made the connection with our situation. The Seattle group bringing NHL hockey back to the city is investing US $1.5 billion for the expansion team, renovations to KeyArena and the practice facility. If Melnyk were to have sold the team, a new owner would have to invest maybe US $1.1 billion ($500 million arena, $500 million team and $100 million Sesnplex).

Sounds like a bargain to me.



https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/...0-486ee722f21f

Seattle has 2.5x the metro population, 10x the hinterland population, the possibility of an NBA team, plus a massive corporate sector, including giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and Boeing.

[YOWflier]

And yet they already lost an NBA franchise, proving that such matters are more complicated than just population and SKUs.

[Luker]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

And yet they already lost an NBA franchise, proving that such matters are more complicated than just population and SKUs.

Population, median income, and corporate base are still the standard benchmarks in analysis of the viability of a professional sports franchise.

Also:

A) The new owner (Bennett) broke his lease agreement and was sued for illegally moving the team just 1.5 years after buying it from local owner and Starbucks pres who said Bennett had assured him the team was there to stay... He of course then moved the team suddenly and swiftly to Oklahoma in the summer of 2008 as they offered him a new arena, cash for relocation and tax incentives. It was not due to lack of fan support but rather a sweetheart deal bribe as Bennett was to cheap and impatient to build his own new arena and appeared to had always planned the swindle from the outset of his ownership.

B) Moreover, Amazon was worth a few billion at the time instead of over a trillion dollars...

[rocketphish]

NCC to consider extension for RendezVous LeBreton deal today
Deal was to be killed by the end of this week, but mediator asked for an extension

Joanne Chianello · CBC News · Posted: Jan 14, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Last-ditch negotiations between Trinity Developments and the Ottawa Senators to salvage their troubled partnership have led to a request to extend the termination deadline for the $4-billion LeBreton Flats project by more than a month, CBC has learned.

RendezVous Group — the consortium led by Senators' owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity's John Ruddy — had been selected by the National Capital Commission (NCC) more than two years ago to redevelop the barren LeBreton Flats into a community that included a new sports arena and more than 4,000 residential units.

But the relationship was revealed to be toxic in late November when Melnyk's Capital Sports Management Inc. sued Trinity and project manager Graham Bird for $700 million.

Ruddy answered last month with a billion-dollar counterclaim, alleging Melnyk was trying to avoid paying for the arena because he couldn't afford it.

On Dec. 19, the NCC board decided to pull the plug on the deal it signed with RendezVous a year ago.

The termination was to take effect in 30 days, which would have left the NCC board free to make an unfettered decision about what to do at its meeting next week.

But in early 2019, the two feuding partners said they would try mediation to try to salvage their deal, tapping former Ontario chief justice Warren Winkle to oversee the discussions.

Winkle has asked the NCC to extend the termination notice until Feb. 28 while he continues the mediation, the agency has confirmed.

On Monday afternoon, the NCC board will be convening a teleconference meeting to discuss Winkle's request, but it's unclear whether they will vote on it.

If the board doesn't extend the mediation, the RendezVous deal will die at the end of this week.

Neither Capital Sports nor Trinity would comment about the request for an extension, as the mediation is confidential.

However, in a statement released on Dec. 18, Melnyk offered to take a smaller role in the partnership.

Instead of being 50-50 partners with Trinity, Melnyk proposed forgoing all revenue from the commercial development of LeBreton Flats, while Trinity would pay to build the arena.

Under this scenario, the Senators would pay for the arena's "operating and life-cycle costs during the term of its lease."

At the time, Trinity dismissed the offer, arguing it was no different from Melnyk's earlier demands that someone else pay to build the events centre.

Yet according to sources familiar with the mediation, this scenario is one of the options being considered, as well as the possibility of bringing in new people into the partnership.

This is not the first time that the partners have entered mediation, however.

According to the Trinity counterclaim, the developer and Capital Sports could not agree on a letter of intent that would set out the terms under which RendezVous LeBreton would go forward.

Just three months after the NCC chose them as the preferred developer for LeBreton Flats, the parties entered mediation to work out how the partnership would move forward.

"The mediation took place on July 14, 2016," according to Trinity's statement of defence.

"It was unsuccessful."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...date-1.4975283

[J.OT13]

If I were on the board, I would recommend they extend the deadline for a few reasons:

• After 4 years of work on this project, this seems to be the first time the two parties are sitting down to try and resolve the issues. What's another month and a bit?
• By giving them this extension requested by a reputable mediator, it protects the NCC in the case of a lawsuit should the mediation fail and the NCC scrap the deal end of February;
• By extending the deadline to February 28, Nussbaum will be in power when time comes to make a major decision. We shouldn't be tying his hands before he comes into office.

[pattherat]

I disagree with an extension of that length. 2-3 weeks max. The mediator should be able to ascertain if any movement or agreement is even remotely possible in that amount of time.

(They’ve already had 3 years on their own, the NCC doesn’t owe them anything more)

[daud]

If I were on the board of the NCC, I would vote to move on.

Zero confidence in one of the parties involved. Zero.

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

If I were on the board, I would recommend they extend the deadline for a few reasons:

• After 4 years of work on this project, this seems to be the first time the two parties are sitting down to try and resolve the issues. What's another month and a bit?
• By giving them this extension requested by a reputable mediator, it protects the NCC in the case of a lawsuit should the mediation fail and the NCC scrap the deal end of February;
• By extending the deadline to February 28, Nussbaum will be in power when time comes to make a major decision. We shouldn't be tying his hands before he comes into office.

I agree, moreso for point #3 than the others. What can the NCC really do before the new CEO takes charge?

[acottawa]

My concern is that the mediator will want to save face and pressure the parties to hammer out another agreement in principle, which gets us nowhere.

To the extent the mediator could play a useful role it could be to get an agreement on how much the shortfall is and give Nussbaum a clearer picture.

[acottawa]

CTV reporting there are some sort of talks with DSDLS and RVL.

[J.OT13]

NCC board extends RendezVous LeBreton deal to Feb. 28

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...deal-1.4977855

[rocketphish]

NCC grants more time for mediation in bid to save LeBreton project

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: January 14, 2019

The National Capital Commission board of directors granted the Ottawa Senators and Trinity Developments more time on Monday to try to fix their relationship and continue with their vision for LeBreton Flats.

On Jan. 9, Warren Winkler, the veteran mediator trying to help Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, Trinity founder John Ruddy and project manager Graham Bird see eye-to-eye, asked the NCC for an extension of a termination notice, which was delivered to the RendezVous LeBreton group last month.

The NCC’s termination of RendezVous from the LeBreton Flats development deal was scheduled was to happen Saturday. At Winkler’s request, the termination notice has been extended to Feb. 28, the NCC confirmed Monday night.

“While the NCC has prepared next steps to bring forward at a future Board meeting, it respects the ongoing mediation process led by the Hon. Warren K. Winkler, Q.C., and will not take further actions nor make further statements on this matter at this time,” reads a Monday statement.

The NCC board has been expected to make another big decision on the LeBreton Flats file on Jan. 24 in the wake of the termination notice, which the agency issued after Melnyk and Ruddy sued each other over their RendezVous dealings. Melnyk also sued Bird, who has been quarterbacking the RendezVous development planning.

RendezVous has proposed to build an arena and a mixed-use community on LeBreton Flats.

With files from Taylor Blewett

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-for-more-time

[YOWflier]

Plot thickens. DCDLS in the mix now.

I feel as though this whole Sens/Lebreton saga could make a good movie some day ... with the right ending (Melnyk launched into the sun for one).

[pattherat]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

Plot thickens. DCDLS in the mix now.

I feel as though this whole Sens/Lebreton saga could make a good movie some day ... with the right ending (Melnyk launched into the sun for one).

Really, where is that mentioned? (Other than the other user post above)

[BlueJay]

Originally Posted by pattherat

Really, where is that mentioned? (Other than the other user post above)

CTV Tweeted this earlier on Twitter

This is great news!

https://twitter.com/ctvottawa/status...99849379016704

[J.OT13]

Hoping DCDLS have joined the mediation process in order to purchase the Sens from Melnyk. That, in theory, would solve all of RVL's issues. The plan would remain the same (urban grid, central arena, covered Line 1) with maybe the addition of the few DCDLS components that seemed to have been secured like the aquarium everyone likes so much, Farm Boy, and maybe the YMCA (as part of the Abilities Centre and Senspex).

[migo]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Hoping DCDLS have joined the mediation process in order to purchase the Sens from Melnyk. That, in theory, would solve all of RVL's issues. The plan would remain the same (urban grid, central arena, covered Line 1) with maybe the addition of the few DCDLS components that seemed to have been secured like the aquarium everyone likes so much, Farm Boy, and maybe the YMCA (as part of the Abilities Centre and Senspex).

Another possibility is a tweak from Melnyk's Dec. 18 offer: DCDLS instead of Trinity would pay to build the arena and the Senators would pay for the arena's "operating and life-cycle costs during the term of its lease."