LeBreton Flats 2.0 (RendezVous LeBreton) | Cancelled

[Kitchissippi]

LeBreton isn't comparable to Centretown where the lots are small or require land assembly and many of the properties call for heritage preservation. It's more like the CBD where most of the empty parcels conveniently accessible to the LRT are already planned for.

[acottawa]

I think that 10 years ago there were two pieces of received wisdom.

1) that we had hit peak oil, prices would continue to rise and people would flee the suburbs for high-rise living.
2) that millennials were different than other generations and wanted to stay in urban areas long term.

Neither of these things have come to pass, gas is cheaper than it was 10 years ago (and cars, particularly SUVs are much more efficient) and millennials seek quite content to move to th burbs as they hit their 30s. The city is facilitating this trend by spending the budget on LRT to the countryside.

In this context, it is hard to see where the massive demand for high-rise living will come from that would be required to turn Lebreton into a high density residential area.

[Kitchissippi]

It's more than just high rise living. Locating employment areas along mass transit lines just make sense. Now that Ottawa's plans are much more concrete (and less variable as it is with BRT) the Federal Government and large companies can better focus their strategy for acquiring office space in the future.

[JohnnyRenton]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I think that 10 years ago there were two pieces of received wisdom.

1) that we had hit peak oil, prices would continue to rise and people would flee the suburbs for high-rise living.
2) that millennials were different than other generations and wanted to stay in urban areas long term.

Neither of these things have come to pass, gas is cheaper than it was 10 years ago (and cars, particularly SUVs are much more efficient) and millennials seek quite content to move to th burbs as they hit their 30s. The city is facilitating this trend by spending the budget on LRT to the countryside.

In this context, it is hard to see where the massive demand for high-rise living will come from that would be required to turn Lebreton into a high density residential area.

Yes peak oil didn't pan out as many thought it would. And don't forget that millennials are not a homogenous blob of people. There have always been rural millennials, and suburban ones too. There may well have been more urban millennials moving into the city if urban housing costs hadn't started to escalate as much as they have. In addition to trends not coming to fruition, there are also unexpected effects that play into it as well.

As for demand, it will come when neighbourhoods that have already been urbanizing, like Westboro, Hintonburg, and Centretown, start to see housing and land costs rise to the point where it becomes unaffordable for a lot of people. This is where parts of the city, like Lebreton, the nodes next to Bayview, Gladstone, and Carling station, and maybe even Lowertown, start to become more popular places to build, so that developers can keep attracting the middle class condo market.

And though some might not agree with the city adopting the commuter rail model of the LRT, it doesn't mean that the suburban growth is going to be accelerated. Making access to downtown and other employment nodes easier will only make offices in the core, and its fringes, more attractive. Which also fuels demand for condos since living downtown only becomes more desirable if you are working in that area too.

All these changes take a long time. Look at Toronto. Its urban revival started in the mid- to late-80s and it is still growing and changing to this day. Given that Ottawa was not at the vanguard of this change to Canadian cities, it is probably 10-15 years behind what Vancouver and Toronto are seeing today.

But Ottawa has still made a lot of progress in just the past few decades. And it will continue to do so. Lebreton might not be developing fast. But there is only one shot to develop it. And if it takes an extra 10 or 20 years to develop it in a manner that uses the space to the maximum (as it should being in the centre of the city), then so be it.

[J.OT13]

The CBD could accommodate another few million square feet of space, but it doesn't need to be the only spot in town (along with Hull) to accommodate high-rise offices. Centretown is residential; any development opportunity shown in the CDP will be condos, mostly mid-density, a few high density. We need LeBreton to expand the office district.

The problem with the RVL and Zibi is that they have a massive chunk of land and they need to figure out what to develop first. This results is the first residents, these "pioneers", living in a construction site for a decade or so. It's hard to find those willing to go through that. If the NCC adopts a more piecemeal approach, maybe using the RVL blueprint, they can start in one corner of LeBreton (say Booth and Albert) and develop one block at a time heading north and west. This way, you don't have part of the completed development in the middle of a wasteland, but an organic development with a starting point and and a finish line.

[rocketphish]

New plan for LeBreton Flats expected today
NCC board meeting to finalize new process to revitalize downtown land

CBC News
Posted: Mar 07, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago

Just a week after the Ottawa Senators' bid to revitalize LeBreton Flats finally gasped its last breath, the National Capital Commission will announce a new plan to redevelop the area after its board meets Thursday morning.

​Senators' owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Group founder John Ruddy — the feuding partners behind the failed RendezVous LeBreton Group's $4-billion vision for the land — failed to reach an agreement after weeks of mediation, the NCC announced last week.

After a board meeting Feb. 28, the NCC said in no uncertain terms that it was cancelling the process that started back in 2015, but also "reaffirmed its strong commitment to redeveloping LeBreton Flats to the highest standards of planning, design, sustainability and connectivity."

In its statement last week, the NCC said the new process will be "timely, inclusive and creative" and will focus on community consultation and engagement.

After the last-ditch attempt making a deal failed last week, Melnyk released a statement in which he said the team was "devastated" but still "determined" to build a central area.

Ruddy's statement encouraged the NCC to continue move forward with the important work of redeveloping LeBreton, "with or without Trinity."

The relationship between Melnyk and Ruddy was rocky from the start, culminating in reciprocal lawsuits worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The news conference planned for midday Thursday will be the first major public appearance for NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum, who started on the job on Feb. 4 after leaving his former role as city councillor for Rideau-Rockcliffee ward.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is a non-voting member of the NCC board.

He told reporters after Wednesday's marathon council meeting that he's not in favour of carving up pieces of the 21 hectares of land.

"If you do it in one little chunk at a time, we saw that happen with the condos and that's all we got," said Watson, referring to the Claridge Homes development in the first, eastern phase of the LeBreton Flats redevelopment.

"I think we need a grander vision and a bigger vision … than just cutting up the pieces and doing it piecemeal."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...rena-1.5045270

[TransitZilla]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...cess-1.5046600

NCC to develop LeBreton Flats in stages

New process comes after failure of Senators-led redevelopment bid
Kate Porter · CBC News · Posted: Mar 07, 2019 11:51 AM ET

The National Capital Commission is taking a different approach to LeBreton Flats by offering up pieces of the 21-hectare property just west of downtown Ottawa for development.

The NCC is hoping that by developing the land in stages, beginning with a chunk at the eastern end near the site of the new central library and Pimisi transit station, the project will move more quickly.

The commission's new CEO, former city councillor Tobi Nussbaum, said that section is the closest to being shovel-ready.

CBC Ottawa's coverage of the LeBreton Flats redevelopment
Nussbaum said the NCC will come up with a more comprehensive vision over the spring and summer, including public consultations in June. He said he hopes to bring the results to the board in November and issue a request for proposals shortly after, opening bidding to both previous applicants and new players.

The announcement marks the latest attempt to develop the site, which has sat mostly vacant since the 1960s.

It comes less than a week after the NCC officially spiked the previous plan, a partnership between Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Development Group's John Ruddy.

RendezVous Lebreton Group planned to build a new NHL arena and more than 4,000 housing units on the site. However the partnership faltered under the weight of bitter, reciprocal lawsuits, and weeks of mediation failed to salvage the plan.

NCC board members from across the country held a teleconference Thursday morning to finalize details of the new process.

The board, as well as federal ministers Pablo Rodriguez and Catherine McKenna, had already promised they wanted to move quickly on LeBreton Flats.

The NCC had said it had a plan if the mediation were to fall through and it will build on the years of planning its employees and City of Ottawa employees spent trying to make the Rendezvous LeBreton plan a reality.

And, Nussbaum says it wants to involve the public, the city and Algonquin people, among other stakeholders.

NCC board chair Marc Seaman thanked the public for its patience at passion to start Thursday's news conference.

[acottawa]

So we are back to the 2004ish plan.

[rocketphish]

NCC to roll out LeBreton Flats redevelopment in stages — with door open for an NHL arena

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: March 7, 2019



The National Capital Commission is proceeding with the development of LeBreton Flats but is doing so in stages, starting with a three-acre site near the new main branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

As to a possible NHL arena on the 55-acre site, chief executive Tobi Nussbaum said: “That is a question to which we are very, very open.”

The NCC has broken the site into five large chunks instead of proceeding with a single vision for the area. The Crown corporation hopes to launch a request for proposal on the so-called “library site” in the spring of 2020, with a possible ground-breaking in 2021.

An NHL arena is not necessarily part of the NCC’s plans for LeBreton.

The decision comes a week after the board formally cancelled a $4.1-billion proposal, called RendezVous LeBreton, for a private-sector consortium to develop 55 acres of prime land that was razed almost 60 years ago. It included an NHL-sized arena, a Sensplex rink complex, an Abilities Centre, a hotel, commercial and retail components and about 4,000 housing units.

It was the culmination of a process that began in 2014 but blew up in spectacular fashion before Christmas with $1.7 billion in clashing lawsuits between the principal players, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, Trinity Development Group chairman John Ruddy and key project manager Graham Bird. The three main partners had spent about four years and in excess of $4 million to come up with a new urban neighbourhood, anchored by the arena and served by two brand new LRT stations.

A last-ditch mediation between the parties failed in February and Melnyk says he is now scouting other central locations for a new arena.

The mediation, led by retired judge Warren Winkler, included talks with members of the losing bid, Devcore Canderel DLS, and the so-called Montreal group, which includes industrialist André Desmarais.

More to come.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...o-an-nhl-arena

[rocketphish]

Hey Tobi! I have a proposal for the NCC's "Library site"....

Trade it to the City of Ottawa so that the new super-library can be built next to the LRT station. Let the NCC develop the city's parcel closer to Bronson.

[Kitchissippi]

I bet Trinity is going to make a play for the land opposite 900 Albert. It would be neat if they could do something with an underground connection (or a bridge?).

[waterloowarrior]

new thread created for the Library District
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=238059

and for Building LeBreton Flats - the rethink
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=238060

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Hey Tobi! I have a proposal for the NCC's "Library site"....

Trade it to the City of Ottawa so that the new super-library can be built next to the LRT station. Let the NCC develop the city's parcel closer to Bronson.

I second that.

[rocketphish]

NCC is rushing off in the wrong direction on LeBreton Flats
One would have thought that the commission had written the entire book on how to fail at the site, but the board of federal appointees and its staff are not done yet.

Randall Denley
Updated: May 21, 2019

Public consultation about the future of LeBreton Flats begins again in June. If you care about the future of our city, it’s time to speak up.

One would have thought that the National Capital Commission had written the entire book on how to fail at LeBreton, but the board of federal appointees and its staff are not done yet. The latest chapter, as envisioned by new CEO Tobi Nussbaum, puts housing developers in the driver’s seat and almost guarantees that the waterfront attraction that should be the heart of downtown will be many, many years away.

The collapse of the most recent attempt to develop the Flats is a well-known story. Success seemed within the NCC’s grasp, at last, when two major development consortia responded to a request to develop the whole site for a mix of public attractions, retail and housing.

Unfortunately, the NCC’s first-choice bid fell apart over differences between Trinity Development’s John Ruddy and Ottawa Senators’ owner Eugene Melnyk. The NCC made a big mistake when it didn’t turn to the second proponent, Devcore Canderel DLS. That group’s idea was arguably better than the one the NCC chose.

Instead, the NCC is starting all over again, but it isn’t looking for a consortium to develop the whole site. Instead, it will sell the land off in pieces, beginning with a three-acre parcel near the new city library. A request for proposals on that is expected later this year, Nussbaum said in an interview.

The idea, Nussbaum explains, is that the LeBreton site will be developed in phases, as dictated by demand from the housing market. Phasing was part of the former plan, but the two consortia were to use profits and rents from housing and retail development to help make the whole thing work financially. The NHL hockey rink, sorry, major event centre, was to be supported by a flow of cash from the money-making elements of the plan.

Now, the NCC proposes to sell the land and use its profits to develop the public portion of the site, whatever that might include. That poses a few challenges. There is a lot more money to be made from developing land than there is from selling it, and selling provides one-time money, not a sustaining flow of cash.

Under this approach, there is no money for anything on the public portion of the site until housing developers are ready to move. Nussbaum is right when he predicts that that housing development won’t happen quickly. Ottawa’s modest condo demand and significant approved supply will hamper housing development on LeBreton. Nussbaum sees a potential solution in allowing mid-rise development and stacked townhouses, but the land cost would make those units exceptionally expensive.

The NCC is seeking public input on a new concept plan over the summer, but that will be a high-level document, not one that will or can prescribe just what will be on the site and where it will go. The two proponents spent millions of dollars figuring all that out.

Nussbaum says parts of the previous plans “really captured the public imagination” but “both of those proposals were proprietary” and are owned by the proponents. That line of thinking makes it unclear what ideas would not be proprietary, since the two consortia suggested just about every conceivable use for the site. Nussbaum says the new plan could still do things such as connect the aqueduct on the site to the river, an element of the previous plans.

The good news is that the NCC is moving quickly on LeBreton, planning to take a concept plan to its board this fall, then on to the city for secondary plan approval. Pity the organization is rushing in the wrong direction. Nussbaum is commendably enthusiastic about LeBreton, but developing and executing a plan worthy of the site is beyond the NCC’s expertise.

Next week, I will suggest a better approach.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa political commentator and former Ontario PC candidate. Learn about his new book Spiked at randalldenley.com. Contact him at [email protected]

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/co...lebreton-flats

[rocketphish]

LeBreton Flats needs to be the city's biggest attraction

Randall Denley
Updated: May 28, 2019

Last week, I argued that the National Capital Commission is taking the wrong approach by breaking the 53-acre LeBreton Flats site into pieces and selling them to developers when there is demand. The NCC’s goal is to use money from the land sales to build a public space along the Ottawa River eventually, but that’s not a plan that’s going to energize the public.

Instead, we need to start with a clear vision of what can be accomplished on this one-of-a-kind riverfront site. It has been more than 50 years since the federal government expropriated and then demolished the community that was on LeBreton Flats. We didn’t wait that long to turn the land into a condo development or a hockey rink. Either of those could be elements of a new plan for LeBreton, but creating them can’t be its prime objective.

The purpose of redeveloping LeBreton Flats should be nothing less than creating a waterfront people place that will be the most visited spot in the city. Ottawa should be looking at something in the same range as Millennium Park in Chicago, the gold standard for urban parks on redeveloped land. The park features public art, a band shell, restaurants, art galleries, a 2.5-acre public garden and unique water fountains. Find out more here.

Millennium Park, which opened 15 years ago, has become the top tourist attraction in Chicago with estimates as high as 25 million visitors annually. The giant silvery sculpture known as The Bean has become Chicago’s top visual image.

Millennium Park is 24 acres, a size that would fit comfortably on the 53-acre LeBreton site. Chicago is obviously a winter city like ours, but it is the buildings that make the park a year-round attraction. Imagine something like Montreal’s Biodome in Ottawa. What a natural refuge from our long winters.

Deciding what we are going to build is the first challenge. Paying for it will be more complex. Millennium Park was originally estimated to cost $150 million US but ended up at $450 million, paid for by Chicago taxpayers and private donors.

Were the NCC to carve out a 25-acre waterfront park at LeBreton, it would still leave roughly half the site for commercial and residential development. That would produce a source of one-time money for park development, but the proceeds from the sale of land would be offset by cleaning up contaminated soil on the site. However, developers of the commercial and retail land can be expected to make significant contributions to the new park. Creating this major attraction would only enhance the price and saleability of what they build.

The NCC could have made all this happen by working with one of the two major proponents who qualified to develop both the public and private parts of LeBreton. Now, the commission is leaning against this all-in-one approach, although it’s still attainable.

There is a Plan B, but it means Ottawans would have to step up to fix this hole in the centre of our city. As a community, we have always thought developing LeBreton was a grand idea, so long as we didn’t have to pay for it. It’s time to prise this project from the fumbling hands of the NCC. A lifetime of experience tells us the federal agency can’t get the job done.

There is no compelling reason why the NCC or federal government needs to retain and develop the LeBreton lands. Successive federal governments have made it clear there is no plan to build anything of national significance, unless you think a hockey rink is nationally significant.

The waterfront attraction the LeBreton site deserves will primarily benefit Ottawans and our tourism industry. It’s time for the people of this city and their municipal government to get engaged with this project, put some money on the table and make it happen.

Randall Denley is an Ottawa political commentator and former Ontario PC candidate. Learn about his new book Spiked at randalldenley.com. Contact him at [email protected].

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/denley

[FutureWickedCity]

I'm not a big fab of Randall Denley, but I concur with his idea that we need a big indoor green space to escape from the winter. I've always thought the rooftop of Rideau Center would be perfect for that - just put a glass roof over it. But I would be equally happy with something at the Flats.

[HighwayStar]

Really?? I mean really? All the work done to date being thrown away and everything is back to square one? really?

This is all just so sad. Just look at the rotting corpse of 24 Sussex to get a sense of how much urgency the NCC puts into getting things done.

Wow.

[McKellarDweller]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

we need a big indoor green space to escape from the winter.

I really think a good quality indoor waterpark with lots of natural light and things to do would do very well here long-term. The upfront costs would be high, and it may have a weak year or two of revenue before it gets off the ground, but I think it would be more than worth the effort as a draw for locals and visitors in our eight month long drabby weather season.

Some things in city building take more vision and risk than a publicly funded library, or basic quality condo apartments.

[migo]

How about earmarking a portion of the land for the development of major amusement park with a landmark ride like the London Eye?

[danishh]

The current approach, and previous approach, are entirely because the federal government refuses to actually fund the NCCs developments.

If any government was willing to spend a few billion on it, any of these ideas are possible.
As it stands, the condos are REQUIRED to fund anything, either in the previous plan (one massive site with a public component supported by condo profits), or the current one (piecemeal condo development, with the NCC reaping fees to be spent on a public component at a later date).

So, who's voting for increased income taxes this November? That's what it will take.