With OSEG involved, is the Ottawa baseball stadium ripe for a mini-Lansdowne transformation?
Company behind RedBlacks and 67's would have foot in the door if the city wants to swing for the fences on a ballpark redevelopment
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: December 2, 2019
The site of an Ottawa sports stadium is ripe for redevelopment as a group of local businessmen is poised to join a partnership to put a pro team back on the field.
It sounds like 2009 and the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park all over again.
But in 2019, it’s in the context of baseball and the future of the municipal ballpark on Coventry Road.
There’s a common element forming between the two sites: the involvement of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
On Tuesday, city council’s finance and economic development committee will be asked to endorse a staff-recommended plan to negotiate a new baseball stadium lease with the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball club and OSEG. There would be a new baseball team created in Ottawa with the intention of playing in an independent league starting in 2021.
So far, there’s no indication that the prospective leaseholder for the stadium has any intention of pursuing a redevelopment of the taxpayer-owned property.
Sam Katz, the owner of the Winnipeg baseball franchise, said his sole focus is on finalizing a lease with the City of Ottawa and fielding a successful baseball team that will draw families to the 10,000-seat stadium.
As for the prospects of making a bigger play for the Ottawa stadium land, “that’s not something we have any focus on at this particular time whatsoever,” Katz said Monday.
However, if Katz did have a long-term goal of using more of the stadium property for something other than a surface parking lot, he’s probably wise to team up with OSEG, which, with the City of Ottawa, literally redeveloped a surface parking lot.
Is the Ottawa stadium a prime candidate for a mini-Lansdowne Live?
There are obvious parallels between the baseball stadium and Lansdowne Park.
Both have been sites anchored by municipal sports infrastructure designed for professional athletes. The lands next to the stadiums have cried out for overhauls. The sites have been blanketed in concrete. They have been underused civic attractions.
Like with Lansdowne more than a decade ago, the city has been spitballing ways to make better use of the Ottawa stadium property. Rather than going all-in and completely reimagining what could be done with the land, the city has been stitching together leases for the ballpark, hoping that pro or semi-pro baseball catches fire, securing a long-term baseball tenant.
Everyone at city hall knows, however, that the stadium site, with or without the stadium, is an obvious candidate for redevelopment since a footbridge connects the property with the Tremblay LRT station on the other side of the Queensway. In fact, the city already has eyes on the land for affordable housing.
It’s just a question of when the city wants to swing for the fences on a major redevelopment.
Now, it seems, is not the time.
So, the city will sign up another baseball leaseholder with hopes that the stadium — whose full potential as an LRT-connected sports facility hasn’t been tested yet — will return the site to the glory days of the Ottawa Lynx.
While there are a couple of independent leagues that would be viable for a new Ottawa franchise, Katz said the most obvious would be the newly merged Frontier League.
As for the prospects of one day pursuing a Major League Baseball-affiliated minor-league team for Ottawa, Katz said the possibility is always there, but for now the game plan involves independent ball.
There has been hope at city hall that Ottawa could get an MLB-affiliated team again, especially if Montreal brings back major-league baseball.
In fact, it might be one of the things holding the city back from taking on a stadium redevelopment project. Nailing down a high-quality professional baseball tenant could lead to a larger discussion about site redevelopment — just like it did for Lansdowne when the OSEG partners secured a CFL franchise.
When the time comes to think seriously about building at the stadium property, the city will need to consider how it will invite the development industry into the conversation.
On that, OSEG, whose partners are real-estate moguls with strong connections to city hall, would have a leg up. Additionally, if a lease is finalized, OSEG would have the advantage of gaining first-hand knowledge about the stadium’s condition and operating potential.
The city is happy with its business partnership with OSEG at Lansdowne Park, even if the latest financial forecasts are a bit gloomy, with no money projected to be delivered to the city through the 30-year revenue-sharing scheme.
OSEG characterizes itself as playing a supporting role in the Katz/OSEG baseball partnership. OSEG might do some cross-promotions with other sports teams and handle the game ticketing, but the company’s plan, for now, isn’t to have a major public presence when it comes to the baseball stadium.
Perhaps OSEG doesn’t have any big aspirations beyond Lansdowne Park.
But if the plan to negotiate a new stadium lease clears council on Dec. 11, OSEG will have its foot in the door at another Ottawa sports property begging for radical change.
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